Quote:
Originally Posted by bigrobwoot
Everyone has an opportunity to do well in this country, but not the right to do well in this country.
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Where you're off the tracks is that this statement is patently false.
There are many, many people that try as they might cannot make their lives significantly better than their parents. It's probably hard to believe or accept if you don't know people like that who have been hit by hard times or bad luck to the point where the best they can do is to just get by on Medicare/Medicaid/Disability/Social Security no matter how hard they wish for a better life. Personally, I don't know folks that are really quite that hard up, but I do know some that are just a heart-attack away from it... and I can see how easy it would be to end up on the down-side and addicted to welfare, especially if you happened to be born into those conditions where you grew up without even a hint that life could be better than it is.
My point is that as a successful society, we have the ability to make it a right to everyone that they have their most basic needs met, thus giving them a real chance to improve their lives, and more importantly ensure their kids lives will be better than their own. The problem is that doing so is expensive in the short term, even if in the long term it will keep America on the top of the heap economically. People seem to miss out that the US is on the short road to mediocrity, and that we're getting driven there by the rich folks/corporation that have been concerned with today's profits over tomorrows opportunities for the last 20-30 years. We need to reinvest in our nation's base, the way we did in the 50's right after WWII ended, if we want any chance of keeping up with China.