But if the communications addressed to generations of Americans continue to reiterate the gospel of success, it does not follow that Americans in all groups, regions and class strata have uniformly assimilated this set of values.  There is no swift and unbroken passage from the values expressed in the popular culture to the values by which men actually live.  It would be equally mistaken, however, to assume that the two are wholly unrelated simply because they are not identical.  It is a matter for inquiry, not a matter of supposition, to find out how widely the values under examination have been assimilated (1968, p. 224)