While reading the article U.S.A, Land of Limitations? written by Nicholas Kristof, many connections, questions, and comments came to my mind. Kristof talks about the economic gap in America and how that effects students and the future generations of America.
First off, in Kristof's article, he gets question going in the readers mind of is the United States really the "land of opportunity" or is it better described as the "land of limitation"? As I went on reading I was able to connect to what he was talking about. I come from a very small city has a very high poverty level. Many kids growing up were unmotivated to do good in school because they already knew they were set up in a place where people like them are "supposed to fail". Many of my friends decided to either drop out or not pursue a higher education because they needed to work full-time to help their parents provide for the family. Like Kristof said it is so easy to say "I grew up poor, but I worked hard and I made it. If other people tried, they could, too.". But everyone is different and everyone's circumstances are different, for some people, they don't have the choice to become successful.
I think it is very important to give everyone; rich, poor, black, white, asian, latino. Everyone deserves an equal chance to be successful in this world. But it isn't that easy because when you come from a rich family or if are privileged you are automatically starting ahead of everyone else.
Above I attached a video I found on YouTube and I connected this video to the article that we read. The video shows a good visual representation of the economic/race gap or "life race" as the narrator calls it that sets underprivileged kids back from winning or being successful.
I think a very common question would be "how do we end this limitation and actually become a land of EQUAL opportunity?" I cannot answer that question because as I see the rich will always be rich and not have to work as hard to be on top. Whereas the poor will have to work ten times harder to become on top.
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ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post. I agree with your opinions about equality.I think that often when children are young, if they grow up in poverty they don't have the confidence to keep trying with so many limitations. They often give up. This is why I think mentoring programs can be so helpful. I loved the video you chose. That is a perfect representation of how even though we all start at the same time we are definitely not starting out equal. Great job.
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ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post, and I think that if there is a possibility for everyone to become more equal in their socio-economic status, we should try and close the gap.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100% Caitlin. It is time to find a way to become the land of equal opportunity, if not, then the problem just grows. Also, great video choice.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the video you posted and how it shows that not everyone is equal in the opportunities they receive in life. It was very concrete while also not over simplified.
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