Cynthia Tucker has an excellent column out today about how hard it actually is for people to move out of their economic circumstances, and a very effective counterpoint to conservatives' favorite "responsibility" argument. I can't really put it better than she does, so I'll just let you read the article.
Saturday, February 05, 2005
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3 comments:
Good column. I wish more people would right like that. The only thing I disagree with her about is that the meritoracy is receding...I don't think we ever had a meritocracy in the first place; just the stupid mythology that in American you "can" rise above your station. The fact is, and has always been, that whatever else America is, it's also a nation of poor people who for the most part stay poor, or get poorer. The rest of stay just as firmly stuck where we are, except perhaps for minor slides up and down the income scale. For every poor couple that turns a kid into a doctor, there are countless others who turn kids into welfare recipients, drug addicts, or just plain-old hard working employees...at Wal-Mart. I've never thought all men were made equal; but all men(and women) deserve to have an equal shot at greatness.
Exactly, Alex. May this blog and the Democratic Party explode with such economic populism!
I really like how she phrases it as children choosing the wrong parents. It puts the issue in its proper context.
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