This pretty much sums up my problem with the idea of the American Dream, European Dream, or whichever Dream you care to mention
http://www.ted.com/talks/alain_de_botton_a_kinder_gentler_philosophy_of_success?language=en#t-413574
It is probably as unlikely today that you will succeed to the level of Bill Gates in the 1970s, as it was to rise to the ranks of the French aristocracy in the 18th century, but the problem is it doesn't feel that way. It's made to feel, by the media and other outlets, that if you have energy, a few bright ideas, a garage, you too could start a similar company
The problem with the idea of a meritocracy is that if you believe the people with the hard work, talent and energy deserve to rise to the top, on the other side, and in a far more nasty way, you believe that the people at the very bottom of society also deserve to be there.
In the middle ages if you met a very poor person, that person would be described as an "unfortunate." Literally someone who had not been blessed by fortune. Nowadays, typically in the United States, if you meet a person at the bottom of society that person may be referred to as a "loser"
I will support any politician left or right who has great meritocratic ideas. However I believe it is an insane proposition that we will ever make a society that is genuinely meritocratic. It is an impossible dream. There are simply too many random factors. Accidents, accidents of birth, illnesses etc, we will never get to grade people as they should be graded
Didn't read the article but have no quarrel with the ideas expressed in the quote.
The Declaration of Independence, which is a bedrock formative document in the USA, has this to say:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Please note that "being happy" is NOT one of the certain inalienable rights. The PURSUIT of happiness is such a right.
I listen with amazement to people who say the American Dream was ALWAYS a myth and that it isn't easy to go from being poor to being middle class. Was it somehow easier when folks went into the wilderness where there were no roads, no towns, no support network, hostile (rightfully so!) natives, no doctors, etc., and hacked a farm out of the forest?
I don't go shopping in the malls all that much but I really didn't think it was all that hard by comparison - not even on Black Friday - which hardly ranks up there with being a member of the Donner Party.
Is it easier to do well if your parents did well before you? Yep. It's generally true. And it's pretty much always been true throughout the history of the world. Unless your parents were in the ousted bunch after a rebellion, of course.
Is it easier to do well if you are born handsome or pretty, or with parents who raise you right and teach you useful life skills? Yep. That's generally true. And it's pretty much always been true throughout the history of the world. Unless you were born handsome or pretty and your city just got sacked, because then you got to be some rich person's sex toy.
Has it been easier in the USA before now? Of course. Boom times are always easier and these aren't boom times.
Has it been harder in the USA before now? Absolutely!
Has it always been hard to go from the bottom to the top? Absolutely!
Has it always been hard to go from the bottom to the middle? Yes.
Could we make it easier for folks to get from the bottom to the middle? Yes.
Is giving people money the way to do it? No. It will just make them lazy, dependent and complaisant. They will consistently want more for doing less and feel less and less appreciative for the assistance they get.
How about making college educations free? (Or at least subsidize them to the 90% level?) Sounds great.
We pay for the first year. If the grades are a C average, we continue to pay. If the grades are below a C average, we don't. Once the student gets their average back to a C, we start paying again.
How about making day care free to parents who are working or in school? Sounds great. We'll get larger middle class families and poor families will have a much easier time improving their situation.
How about not paying people who could not afford to raise children when they got pregnant to have more children? How about fining them instead? How about giving the children to people who can afford to raise them. After all, as so many of you have argued, it's not fair to children to be raised by parents who lack successful life skills! How about making it extremely inexpensive and fairly fast to adopt children who don't have parents so those kids get a better lot in life?
What about health care? Well, with those huge medical school bills gone and some reasonable tort legislation in place to prevent crazy malpractice award amounts, we could get medical care much more affordably. Those are the two biggest drivers for high medical costs.