As a country...
As a country, we are delusional. To the point that it is truly harming us, because it allows for people not to see the real issues, and instead focus on the strawmen erected by the 1%.
See: these (interactive) polling results from CNN: What it takes to get ahead
The world may be flat these days, but the path to success differs around the globe. In some countries, education and hard work are enough. In others, connections and bribes play a big role. Pew Research surveyed people and asked them which factors are absolutely necessary to get ahead in their nation.
73% of Americans think it takes hard work to get ahead, and only 18% think that belonging to a wealthy family is necessary.
It is to weep.
I won't even address the fact that only 14% of us think that being a man is necessary. But then again, I also won't address Satya Nadella's inane comments about oh hai, women, good karma is NOT asking for a raise and waiting for it to come to you!
We are truly screwed if such a small percentage of our population has realised that, at this time in history, the decks has been totally dealt against us, and that being born into wealth is truly the only mostly reliable path to it.
We so love the execeptions, the teen mom who goes on to Harvard (most are stuck in poverty, never able to move up in the world), the African American man who gets an education and ends up in a position of wealth and power despite a childhood in abject poverty, the proverbial immigrant off the boat with no money who ends up building an empire. They make good stories, wonderful (I'm sure) novels, but they don't make for good social policy, and that is what we do here. We make -or rather we allow the powerful to make- decisions and choices for our nation that name being exceptionally bright, driven, and lucky (fex) the expected median.
See: these (interactive) polling results from CNN: What it takes to get ahead
The world may be flat these days, but the path to success differs around the globe. In some countries, education and hard work are enough. In others, connections and bribes play a big role. Pew Research surveyed people and asked them which factors are absolutely necessary to get ahead in their nation.
73% of Americans think it takes hard work to get ahead, and only 18% think that belonging to a wealthy family is necessary.
It is to weep.
I won't even address the fact that only 14% of us think that being a man is necessary. But then again, I also won't address Satya Nadella's inane comments about oh hai, women, good karma is NOT asking for a raise and waiting for it to come to you!
We are truly screwed if such a small percentage of our population has realised that, at this time in history, the decks has been totally dealt against us, and that being born into wealth is truly the only mostly reliable path to it.
We so love the execeptions, the teen mom who goes on to Harvard (most are stuck in poverty, never able to move up in the world), the African American man who gets an education and ends up in a position of wealth and power despite a childhood in abject poverty, the proverbial immigrant off the boat with no money who ends up building an empire. They make good stories, wonderful (I'm sure) novels, but they don't make for good social policy, and that is what we do here. We make -or rather we allow the powerful to make- decisions and choices for our nation that name being exceptionally bright, driven, and lucky (fex) the expected median.