U.S.A Land of Limitations: Quotes

Is The United States Truly a Land of Opportunity or One of Limitations? (Quotes)


        

 In the article, U.S.A., Land of Limitations?, by Nicholas Kristof, he addresses the problem of the gap between the different levels of economic status. In the article, Kristof includes a quote by Alan Krueger, a Princeton economist. Krueger indicates that the income one's parent(s) attains correlates to their own future potential income. Krueger states, "The chance of a person who was born to a family in the bottom 10 percent of the income distribution rising to the top 10 percent as an adult is about the same as the chance that a dad who 5 feet 6 inches tall having a son who grows up to be over 6 feet 1 inch tall...It happens but not often" (Kristof). Krueger's statement reflects how difficult it may be for a person in United States to better or improve their economic status to a level beyond which they were born in to. In the United States a person's future success is related to the success and economic stature of their family and those born in to certain economic groups or classes rarely escape that status. Kristof's quote further implies that if the United States is a "land of opportunity", then why is it so difficult and challenging for a person to improve their economic status beyond the level that they were born to or a level beyond one in which their parents were classified as.  

          As the article develops, Kristof explains how the class gap has grown over the years and it has become more difficult for one to improve their social status due to strict social boundaries. Kristof states, "Remember that disadvantage is less about income than environment. The best metrics of child poverty aren't monetary, but rather how often a child is read to or hugged. Or conversely, how often a child is beaten, how often the home descends into alcohol-fueled fistfights, whether there is lead poisoning, whether ear infections go untreated. That's a poverty that is far harder to escape" (Kristof). In this quote the author is explaining that it is not always money and finances that prevent someone from improving their social status, but it is the impact of the environment in which they were raised. Changing the environmental circumstances of one's self is a daunting predicament. Kristof uses this statement in the article to denote how children are limited and influenced by their environment which can prevent them from moving out of poverty as their environment has influenced their behavior, expectations, and opportunities sought. Their environment restricts the opportunities that they see as available.

           As the article concludes, Kristof includes a quote that reveals the meaning behind his writing. The quote reads, "Meanwhile, more children in America live in poverty now (22 percent at last count) than at the start of the financial crisis in 2008 (18 percent). They grow up not in a "land of opportunity" but in the kind of socially rigid hierarchies that our ancestors fled, the kind of society in which your outcome is largely determined by your beginning" (Kristof). The quote explains how strict social boundaries make it difficult for people to overcome status and progress their lives. A person's outcome is based on the success of their parents and family. This quote directly reflects the meaning of the article. The author is trying to show how the United States is advertised as a "land of opportunity", but yet their are many people who struggle to overcome the economic and social barriers that they were inadvertently assigned to. Most born to poverty remain in poverty and those fortunate enough to be born in to middle and higher classes most likely will remain within those classes. 

          The article written by Kristof made me think about the reading Power, Privilege and Difference, by Alan G. Johnson. Johnson discusses how social boundaries which are man-made do not exist in the natural world. Johnson states, "Most of what we experience as 'real' is a cultural creation. In other words, it's made up, even though we don't experience it that way" (Johnson 21). Johnson is explaining how social boundaries as real as they may seem to society are not real and are made up. The boundaries of social class that Kristof discusses, are made up by our culture, and it is that culture that prevents certain social classes from improving their economic  status.

           Kristof's article brought to my attention an issue I have personally never considered before. I never realized that the economic gap was extreme and has worsened since the financial crisis of 2008. I have also attained that your parents income will be an indicator or prediction of what your future financial opportunities may be. For example, my mother is a Special Education Teacher with a Master's Degree and our household is considered to be middle class. I have decided to pursue a career in Special Education. In the future, I will be making about the same salary as my mother does and over time most likely attain the same middle class status.  It appears that in my own life and environmental circumstances, that what Kristof stated in his article is a reflection of society in the United States.

         To support the discussion of the economic gap in the United States and further my understanding of how wide the gap is, I came across this information from a website titled, Nine Charts about Wealth Inequality in America, which depicts various graphs about the inequality of wealth between social classes, race and gender. The one I found to be the most relevant to the article mentioned above, when the link is opened is graph number 3. This graph shows the income differences among various races. 

         The graph depicts the wealth of those who are White, Black and Hispanic. The graph on the left shows the increase of income from 1963 to 2016 for people who are non White, Whites, and Blacks and the graph on the right shows the income of those who are non white, White and Hispanic. Even though the graphs depict different racial groups,the graphs show the large income gap between those who are White and those who are not. The economic gap has also increased drastically since 1963. The graph is a visual representation of the large income gap Kristof discusses in his article. If you wish to look at the other graphs that depict the income gap, click on the following link to view them http://apps.urban.org/features/wealth-inequality-charts/.

Talking Points

Based upon the text can the United States truly be considered a land of opportunity? Why is it that the outcome of the child's future depends on the income and economic status of their parents? Is there anyway to decrease the gap between social classes without becoming an economic democracy? I would like to think there is an answer to these questions, but I cannot come across one. I believe there must be a way to solve the income gap in the United States and lower the strict social boundaries that are in place, in order to provide equal opportunities to all who reside. One's outcome in life should also not be determined by that of their parents and should be based upon their skills, abilities and drive to want to improve their economic status.

Works Cited

Johnson, Allan G. Privilege, Power and Difference. Mayfield Publishing Company, 2001. 

Kristof, Nicholas. “U.S.A., Land of Limitations?” The New York Times, The New York

          Times, 8Aug.2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/opinion/sunday/nicholas-                kristof-usa-land-oflimitations.html.                                             

McKernan, Signe-Mary, et al. “Nine Charts about Wealth Inequality in America                            (Updated).” Nine Charts about Wealth Inequality in America (Updated), 4 Oct.                  2017,http://apps.urban.org/features/wealth-inequality-charts/