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That's the problem though -- there is not equality is possibilities. Analysis [1] of a study from the Pew Research Center on economic mobility [2] found that yo

That's the problem though -- there is not equality is possibilities. Analysis [1] of a study from the Pew Research Center on economic mobility [2] found that you are 10x more likely to be in the top 20% if you're born there than if you're born in the bottom 20%. Someone born in the top 20% who doesn't go to college is still 2.5x more likely to have an income in the top 20% as an adult than someone from the bottom 20% who does go to college. Moreover, it's worsened because life is more expensive in subtle ways as you move down the income bracket. [3] Even municipal fines -- as emphasized by John Oliver recently -- contribute to the problem. [1] http://mattbruenig.com/2013/06/13/whats-more-important-a-college-degree-or-being-born-rich/ http://mattbruenig.com/2013/06/13/whats-more-important-a-col... [2] http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/0001/01/01/moving-on-up http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/00... [3] http://www.slate.com/articles/life/family/2014/12/linda_tirado_on_the_realities_of_living_in_bootstrap_america_daily_annoyances.html http://www.slate.com/articles/life/family/2014/12/linda_tira... [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UjpmT5noto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UjpmT5noto

walod 12y ago
Doesn't anybody else find the "equality of opportunity" and other phrases way too abstract for analysis? There are many facets to how an economy functions and how individuals navigate it, and I think a proper analysis of the action on the ground is needed. For example how individuals learn skills and what prerequisites are needed in terms of access to information, ability to focus and think abstractly, and how one trains those abilities. This affects competition in the market, who gets rich, who gets an opportunity and so forth, and yet all the articles I see talk in these distant abstract terms, like they're appealing to someone in the government to fix it or something. Another aspect is consumer responsibility and the way we tend to buy what we want but not think of the large scale consequences. People use gmail and facebook out of habit. They buy groceries in a big store out of habit. We use products dependent on petroleum yet expect someone else to fix global warming. Being interconnected and living in a rather fragile world where systems affect each other is not a responsibility us as individuals are ready for, and I haven't even touched on civic responsibility and the need for everyone to almost be lawyers and critical thinkers for law to function. There are so many complex interconnected parts and we always fall victim to the movements of the herd
nap 12y ago
This is analysis of results not possibilities. Having possibility doesn't means you have to use it. Having possibility to walk doesn't means you will walk same route and distance as an other person who has this possibility too.
- cgearhart 12y ago
  Something is "possible" if we have an expectation that it might come to pass. How should we analyze possibilities except by looking at what actually happens? The premise of my counterpoint is that there is a probability distribution attached to what's possible, and that the distribution is not the same for everyone.

walod 12y ago

Doesn't anybody else find the "equality of opportunity" and other phrases way too abstract for analysis? There are many facets to how an economy functions and how individuals navigate it, and I think a proper analysis of the action on the ground is needed. For example how individuals learn skills and what prerequisites are needed in terms of access to information, ability to focus and think abstractly, and how one trains those abilities. This affects competition in the market, who gets rich, who gets an opportunity and so forth, and yet all the articles I see talk in these distant abstract terms, like they're appealing to someone in the government to fix it or something. Another aspect is consumer responsibility and the way we tend to buy what we want but not think of the large scale consequences. People use gmail and facebook out of habit. They buy groceries in a big store out of habit. We use products dependent on petroleum yet expect someone else to fix global warming. Being interconnected and living in a rather fragile world where systems affect each other is not a responsibility us as individuals are ready for, and I haven't even touched on civic responsibility and the need for everyone to almost be lawyers and critical thinkers for law to function. There are so many complex interconnected parts and we always fall victim to the movements of the herd

nap 12y ago

This is analysis of results not possibilities. Having possibility doesn't means you have to use it. Having possibility to walk doesn't means you will walk same route and distance as an other person who has this possibility too.

cgearhart 12y ago
Something is "possible" if we have an expectation that it might come to pass. How should we analyze possibilities except by looking at what actually happens? The premise of my counterpoint is that there is a probability distribution attached to what's possible, and that the distribution is not the same for everyone.