I still contend that wealth is the greatest privilege you can have in this country. A slacker born to a rich family is going to succeed in this world far more than a hard worker from a dirt poor family regardless of race.
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Originally Posted by Edward64
It is about making your own way and succeeding because of hard work (and some luck). I'm an immigrant myself and have lived in numerous 3rd world countries.
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This is nonsense. Intergenerational economic mobility in this country is fairly low compared to the rest of the developed world. If you are born poor, you are unlikely to ever reach the upper income brackets.
Education is still one of the main determinations of success in this country. If you grow up wealthy, you have access to better schools and safer neighborhoods. Parents can afford private tutors and classes for excelling in standardized tests. Legacy admissions are still important with good schools. And if the kid fucks up all those opportunities,
just pay off people at the school to get them in.
Now if you defy those odds and get into a great school on your own from a poor neighborhood, good luck paying for it. To get an advanced degree you'll likely need to rack up $150k - $200k in loans (if you can even get them). At say 7% interest, you'll be paying up to $14,000 a year in just interest on those student loans. Good luck buying a home or getting a business loan to put that degree to good use.
And the topper on the school loan part is you can't file it away in bankruptcy. You see the wealthy people loaning the money don't want that.
If you're rich and your business completely bombs over and over, you can do it. So even if you work hard, get into a top school, and graduate with honors, you're going to be $200k (plus 7% interest) in the hole compared to your wealthy competitors.
Race does play a role. Hispanics and blacks earn 20% less than whites with advanced degrees. Asians for all the credit they receive earn 5% less with similar degrees.
America isn't a meritocracy. The President of the United States would be working at a used car lot on the sex offender registry if he wasn't born to a wealthy businessman. His kids flipping burgers. Hard work matters to an extent, but not as much as having rich parents pave the way for you.