As a young person living in the UK, it seems to me as if 'social mobility' is the zeitgeist, for lack of a better term. Everyone's talking about it. There are

As a young person living in the UK, it seems to me as if 'social mobility' is the zeitgeist, for lack of a better term. Everyone's talking about it. There are two main issues I have with the idea. The first is that it presupposes a system in which some people are poor, and as long as it's possible for some of those poor people to climb out, we're doibg okay. I don't think that the issues surrounding that are worthy of further comment. The other problem is that under capitalism it's fundamentally impossible outside of limited cases of entrepreneurism. In order for a working class person to have the same lifestyle as a higher status person, they must not only match, but exceed the expectation placed upon an otherwise equal higher status person, because they have a head start. Take homeownership in the UK. A 20something that has had a leg up into the housing market via parental donation or loan has an entrenched advantage forever. I could earn 60K GBP whilst my middle class (via birth) friends earn 40K and forever be 'behind' them in wealth terms. I don't really have much more to say on the topic because I'm not sure how it could be fixed or what that even means, but it's been a central theme in my life since attending University.