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It's not fantasy in other countries and it would be better if it wasn't fantasy in the US either.
The conservative mantra seems to be 'just accept that it's ****ty and don't try to change it, because this is AMERICA'.
Your cynicism is toxic.
That halfwith description sounds far more like the liberal view of America. 'just accept it's ****ty, it isn't your fault you're failing, here's some government cheese to sooth your pain'.
Conservative view of America 'don't accept it's ****ty, work your ass off to better yourself, improve your situation and have some self respect because this is AMERICA'
Liberals are the ones constantly whining about how unfair everything is and how no one has any power to change things.
But when you look at those billionaires' life histories they rarely started out dis-advantaged. Mark Zuckerberg is viewed as a self-made billionaire but his father hired a professional programmer to tutor his son in programming at an early age, he went to a top-level private high school, and onwards to an elite ivy league education. His parents are both wealthy professionals. Self-made? Maybe. But with a heck of a lot of advantages along the way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ellemint
His father was a dentist, I believe his mother is physician --- that already puts the family that Zuckerberg grew up in in the top 1 %. Put Zuckerberg in a poor inner-city family, in an inferior school that maybe didn't even have computer programming classes, no special tutor, parents working two jobs each with no time to help with homework---and I doubt he would be where is he is today. He started out extremely privileged, and his natural intelligence was nurtured by the opportunities provided to him. Few people have those opportunities.
What does Zuckerberg success have to do with programming, an elite high school or university?
Facebook isn't Google. The success of Facebook wasn't in programming, but in the concept. Anyone could have come up with the concept, in fact others did, MySpace and Friendster to name two, but Facebook had a better mousetrap.
Yes, actually. If the government says to employers, "you have to pay your employees $15/ph" that nearly double the min. wage now...... So where do you think that money comes from? Do you think Santa brings it? Do you think it just materializes in a safe in some back room somewhere?
Ask yourself, what is the purpose of a business in the first place? To make a profit, right? So in order to do that, a business, by definition, has to make MORE money than they spend, correct? So if you tell employers that they have spend more in operating costs by paying employees more, than in order to fullfil their goal to make a profit, they're going to have to make that much more money. This means higher prices on the goods and services they provide, which means your dollar isn't going to go as far, which is what inflation is. It could also mean cut backs and layoffs and less business expansion, and businesses trying to do more work with less man power, and it will mean some businesses just closing up shop altogether or just not starting in the first place. In fact it almost certainly will mean that.
These are really simple concepts to understand. I mean, a five year old with a lemonade stand could grasp them. If he sells 50 cups of lemonade a day, and on average it costs him $10 to make that lemonade, he has to make more than $10 to be profitable doesn't he? That means that if operating costs go up, like say, the price of plastic cups increases, he's going to have to charge more to make up the difference. Why is this so complicated for some people?
LOL - every time I see someone post a message like this I love to post about the girl at Jones High School here in Orlando, a predominately black high school, whose family was so poor she had to do her homework by candlelight.
"Elease Samms graduated as Jones High School's 2008 valedictorian, leaving for an Ivy League university with the help of a small Winter Park foundation touched by her story of success despite family hardship."
Elease gets a stipend to help offset her school costs at Cornell. She made the decision to succeed despite the obstacles.
His father was a dentist, I believe his mother is physician --- that already puts the family that Zuckerberg grew up in in the top 1 %.
Put Zuckerberg in a poor inner-city family, in an inferior school that maybe didn't even have computer programming classes, no special tutor, parents working two jobs each with no time to help with homework---and I doubt he would be where is he is today.
He started out extremely privileged, and his natural intelligence was nurtured by the opportunities provided to him. Few people have those opportunities.
It's not a level playing field. Do you really think so? Do you really think that the chances of success are only individually determined? That a person born to an affluent family who receives a top notch education and has access to the social network of powerful people who can help with job success is on the same playing field as a person born in the inner city who is forced to go to a school that has an 80 % graduation rate, lives in a crime-infested neighborhood, never plays golf or socializes with people in positions of power---you really think everyone has equal opportunity in the U.S.?
We don't all start out with the equal advantages. And it is more difficult to better one's socio-economic status in the U.S. than it is in many other first-world countries.
And that's not just my opinion. The research bears that out. It is far more difficult for poor people to succeed in the U.S. than it is in Canada or some other nations. There are far more barriers to rising through the socio-economic ranks in the U.S., which is a highly unequal , class-conscious, racist and sexist country, than in countries like Sweden.
You can blame lack of success on individuals. But why is it that on average a poor person in Canada can manage to maybe rise to lower middle-class more often than in the U.S.? Canadian poor people are smarter or work harder than American poor people? No, it's because there's a better public education system, better more equal health care, cheaper university education, more government assistance for immigrants, less discrimination---things that benefit entire groups, allowing them to succeed.
Everyone has equal opportunity in this country, but you are quite right when you say that not everyone has equal advantages. There's a difference.
Well obviously we are all multi-millionaires here. Though seeing you know nothing about me, I am as rich as you are from what I can tell.
I think there is a Katy Perry song out there about you.
See? Instead of opening your ears and learning, you are just being testy, defensive, and ridiculous.
I remember the exact day I learned the importance and advantage of learning from more experienced people. Super valuable.
As for Zuckerburg having an advantage, that is correct. But it wasn't the money his parents had. It was how much they cared about his education, his opportunities, and his future. Same as many much less wealthy, less well-connected Asians.
I think there is a Katy Perry song out there about you.
See? Instead of opening your ears and learning, you are just being testy, defensive, and ridiculous.
I remember the exact day I learned the importance and advantage of learning from more experienced people. Super valuable.
As for Zuckerburg having an advantage, that is correct. But it wasn't the money his parents had. It was how much they cared about his education, his opportunities, and his future. Same as many much less wealthy, less well-connected Asians.
I didn't know multi millionaires listened to Katy Perry, tell us more about your life as a "multi millionaire."
As for Zuckerberg, I never said anything about Zuckerberg.
Geez.
I hope you are pretending to be this obtuse.
Otherwise... sad.
I just find it funny what people try to claim about themselves on the internet....as for the Zuckerberg part, that is actually true, I wasn't the one who was talking about Zuckerberg.
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