by Nicholas Kristof
Kristof argues that moving up in social class, no matter how hard you work, is no easy task in America.
Kristof uses examples from various studies from different countries to prove his point that if you are born in lower class, you are more than likely to stay in lower class. He explains that America might not be all that its cracked up to be, by proving that Canada and Europe's success rate in young people who work to have more status is significantly higher than America's, and they don't brag about their opportunities as much as America does.
He also argues his point using personal stories, explaining the life of his friend Rick, who raised himself and his sibling from a young age. Rick had a lot of talent, but didn't have a lot of money, and because of that the author feels as though he wasn't able to make it as much in life as he could have if he had been born into different circumstances.
He explains that there are outliers, just as every other social argument that you can make. There are people who were born into poverty who have made it big in the world and, with a lot of hard work, sweat and tears, have made it above that upper class line. However, he basically says that they are the poster children for America, they are the few who get pushed on you to "prove" that you can make it no matter where you come from. But making in big without being born into the right circumstances is highly unlikely, even though possible.
Questions/Comments/Points to Share:
How can we, as future educators, help this to become better? How can we teach our students and inspire them to work more to be able to make it out of that lower class bracket? Or can we even do that when the at-home circumstances are too pressing? What kind of impact can we have on the lives of the students to maybe make their futures a bit brighter?
My favorite part about your post was the photo. I think the quote in it added some humor but also is a scary point to consider. I appreciated how in your comments you questioned what we can do to make a change in these situations. I thought back to when we read and discussed issues of power last week and I think that sometimes we should put all that aside and simply just try to make the students look to a brighter future regardless of how much people pick apart the approaches teachers take. I think your questioning and concern will make you that better of an upcoming elementary school teacher.
ReplyDeleteI like how you compared the point Kristof makes where there is a rare chance that a child born from parents who are both 5 feet tall will turn out to be over 6 feet to being the "poster child" of America. America really does promote our opportunistic, free, hardworking ideology of society to other countries, inspiring people of all nationalities to immigrate and achieve the "American Dream." What we are quick to not inform these people about is that our society already has it made for only one nationality, economic class, and sex to really be able to achieve the notion of the "American Dream," leaving others to struggle to get by in their lifetime.
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