The absence of class consciousness in the United States is due to:
a) the ideals of equality of the founders and lack of an inherited aristocracy.
b) the image of America as a nation of immigrants, for whom anything is possible.
c) the reality of upward movement as a result of three centuries of economic growth.
d) the existence of ties and loyalties based, for example, on race, religion, and ethnicity, that cut across class lines.