Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic » in reply to Sorry, didn't know you were moving the goalposts.

Same goalposts. Different view of the field.
Mary Anne — (archived)

In the article you referenced, education was listed as an important factor to "middle-class millionaires", an oxymoron to which I will return. The fact that there are institutions called schools that provide services in the United States for those in grades K through 12 does not make access to education equal. Even among public schools, the level of inequality based on funding via local property taxes has provoked lawsuits on behalf of the students (and, yes, teachers) in underfunded school districts. This includes rural districts as well as inner city districts. Equal opportunity? I don't think so.

The term "middle class" defines a wide swath of Americans. Those who come from the upper middle class, like me, have an annual family income in excess of $100,000/year. We own several cars. We can go to the doctor whenever we don't feel well, and even when we do, for a check-up. We can afford nursery school tuition, and to send our children to private colleges. We can supplement their educational experiences, and we can afford to live in a community that has environmental attractions for good teachers. Those in the lower middle class can't always afford this, especially the medical benefits. My youngest daughter's classmate literally lost her job because her family couldn't afford to get her a physical for her working papers, and have no medical insurance to offset that cost. My daughter, on the other hand, doesn't have to worry about that.

I see people from all ranges of the income scale, except for the super-rich. The difference between the poor and the rest of us is not, as you imply, lack of ambition. It's ignorance. People come in every week to find ways to improve their lives and their children's lives, but the biggest problem is not their unwillingness to work at it. The biggest problem is trying to isolate the questions that they really need answered, because they don't know how to get there from here.

You want to frame the question as one that takes money away from people who have it because they don't "deserve" it. I want to frame the question to reflect what I see: the deck is stacked against people who don't have a good education (as opposed to 13 years, maybe, in a child warehouse) and who don't have money. People who become these middle-class millionaires have at least one of those essential ingredients, besides their native talents, and most have both.

America is supposed to be a land of equal opportunity. Well, is it? Is it really?

Log in or register to post.

The whole thread (73 posts)