American has always been seen as
the land of opportunity. As American we have been told that if you work hard, you have the ability to succeed. Isn’t
this at the core of the American dream?
The paper provide below, published by the Brookings Institution, is
challenging this idea. In comparison to
other developed nations, is U.S.'s success system really all that merit
based? In the fight against inequality
in America, do those who have been born into poverty really have the ability to
change their socioeconomic statues just by working hard? For those of you who studied abroad, it may be interesting to compare the United States with the place you studied in regards
to ability people have to work out of their socioeconomic class.
this was really interesting to read. I've never really thought about it that way but people do want to give opportunities to people who's, say parents, already have made a name for themselves. People who are hiring or giving opportunities would love to chance to be paired with someone who is well known or has a close relative that is upper class hoping they could hopefully end up meeting at some point. It does explain why the rich get richer so much easier than the poor getting rich.
ReplyDeleteA part of me greatly agrees with this article. I do believe that the United States is not completely a merit based nation. As difficult as it is to believe, sometimes it matters more who your father is than what you are capable of doing. Everyone should have the same opportunities to get a good job and building their career with hard work and not because of who you know in the system. As Aaron says, this is why the rich get richer and it is something that should change.
ReplyDeleteThis article helps to explain inequalities that I believe are present in every society such as birth circumstances, family situations or simply luck. It reveals that America is not based on merit as much as most people believe it is or hope to believe it would be. However, to me this article seems quite biased. Instead I believe the majority of people in America do benefit from it's meritocracy standards.
ReplyDeleteWhether or not those who live below the poverty line actually have a chance to work their way to the top, the American culture and society as a whole says, "yes they can." We've seen it portrayed countless times in movies, TV shows, and books; it is the infamous "American Dream." I agree with everyone above me that once you take a closer look, the U.S. may not be as merit-based as it seems from an outside prospective. Obviously it makes sense that those who are born into wealthy families will have a better chance of obtaining wealth themselves, because they will have had access to much better resources throughout their lives. However, that is not to say that hard work can't prevail, it just has a bit of catching up to do.
ReplyDeleteThere is opportunity for the people who work hard, but the opportunities are not equal. People with connections have advantages. Two people who have same qualification and skill can end up in different posts in a same office. One guy might just remain as normal office employee while the other guy who has his family involved in the company might end up as the CEO.
ReplyDelete