Unemployment, and so on

[eppie]

Each contribute to the whole of the problem, which is that most of us ordinary people are trapped in a economic pit where the sides are too steep for us too climb toward that dream of upward social mobility. I think this is the true American Dream, that we can use our talents and efforts to improve our lives and those of our children.

Could you elaborate? The first and second sentence seem to be contradicting eachother. Do you believe the American exists or not?

Unlike the Marxian social utopia, I want things to be based more meritocratically.

I agree but to make your society a meritocracy I think you can still move a lot to the left. Most countries that I know of (netherlands, denmark, Sweden, Germany, France) are far better in this sense than the US is.
The single best thing for a good meritocracy is getting a good, free and equal school system. In the US your daddy buys you into a top university and this enures you of getting a good job. Whereas a poor guy growing up in some getto will maximally go to some ciommunity college and when he applies for a job all those other that went to better Universities will be chosen before him. (that there are a few exceptions to this only confirms this 'rule').


I think your (and teh american) view on meritocarcy is being able to get filthy filthy rich and when your are there having to pay as little tax as possible.
My idea of a meritocracy is giving everybody a good chance of getting a good education and becomeing whatever they want (of course within his abilities....some people are smarter than others). I am OK with such a person becoming a miljonair but he needs to contribute to society to keep it this way.


The american dream is a mistake in probability calculus.
It is like letting playing blackjack with 6 decks where all the aces have been removed....yes you can still win but your chances are far lower than that of the guy next to you who is playing with a deck of only aces, kings and queens.

If you grow up under the poverty line (1 in 6 americans I read today.....49 miljon people) in a bad neighbourhood with very crappy schools your effort to work your way out of there is 100 times as big as it is for the guy that grows up in a mansion in beverly hills and who's father is paying for him to go to Yale. And once this poor guy manages to work his way out of the slums and applies for a job together with the guy from Beverly hills, the chances are 99% that the BH guy gets the job.

I am OK with people having different chances in life (we are not all the same) but there are limits.

You don't get an equal share of the pie. everyone gets an equal place at the table, everyone gets enough to eat, and after that, you get the serving you deserve based on your value to the society.