Opportunity for All

My colleague recently posted a blog entitled "Inequality Leading to More Inequality" discussing how economic inequalities are hurting America by creating unequal opportunities. His basis for this argument is that "dumb rich kids" have a greater chance of finishing college than "smart poor kids". He fails to recognize that even though it may be easier for a rich kid to enter college, it is not any easier for that kid to graduate. The fact that the "smart poor kid" is able to attend college shows that economic inequalities do not prevent this opportunity. History is full of examples of relatively poor, underprivileged American citizens who have obtained higher education and gone on to achieve great success in their chosen profession. A recent example is the newly appointed Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor, a product of immigrant parents who grew up in the projects in The Bronx New York. Another example is President Bill Clinton who was born into a poor single-parent household. Any American who is willing to work hard to achieve their goals is provided an equal opportunity to succeed. Granted entry into college may be harder than it is for a rich kid, but clearly the opportunities exist.
The blogger makes vague statements about how the government needs to step up to reduce economic inequalities, but makes no indications of how this should be done. The fact remains that this is a free capitalist society. Experience tells us that communism doesn't work, and it's not our government's responsibility to spread the wealth equally across the population.

Equal Entitlement

Equality is an inalienable right which is guaranteed to all American citizens by the Declaration of Independence. Equality is an extremely important part of the American Dream, but to what extent are we naturally equal, and how far does government need to go to insure equality for all?

Obviously there are some who are created smarter than others, those with better athletic abilities, and even those with more of an artistic ability. Clearly people are not created equal but they are, in fact, created different. However in a free society all people should have equal opportunity to pursue there own happiness and self actualization.

Recent developments in the United States involve taxing all to provide some people, who are less fortunate, access to important things like healthcare and education. Many would argue that for the overall good of the country all citizens should have access to education and healthcare which could ultimately lead to greater prosperity for our nation. Is this really fair? Does this sort of taxation not take away some amount of freedom and equality from those who work hard to earn their money?

To be a leading super power in the world requires a healthy, educated population. The benefit of a free society is not to receive money from others, it is to have the ability to be free and lift one's self up. As Winston Churchill put it "I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle." We should all have an equal opportunity to achieve our own pursuits, but only through hard work and dedication, and not by exploiting the labors of others.