(1) The children of Harvard-educated people are more likely to get a Harvard education themselves. True. (2) The children of prison inmates are more likely t

(1) The children of Harvard-educated people are more likely to get a Harvard education themselves. True. (2) The children of prison inmates are more likely to become prison inmates themselves. Also true. If you want to do something about social mobility, you should presumably prioritize doing something about (2) over doing something about (1), because it affects a much larger number of people in a much deeper way. Yet, somehow, issues similar to (1) are the ones that receive a lot more air time in the media. That's because most people's underlying motivations are a hatred for those at the top, which they then hypocritically paraphrase as a concern for those at the bottom.