{"id":891,"date":"2011-08-12T15:22:02","date_gmt":"2011-08-12T22:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/archives\/891"},"modified":"2011-08-13T19:19:29","modified_gmt":"2011-08-14T02:19:29","slug":"upward-mobility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/archives\/891","title":{"rendered":"Upward mobility?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0;float:none;height:30px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/archives\/891\" send=\"false\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"recommend\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>Part of the bedrock of \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/bostonreview.net\/BR30.3\/zinn.php\" target=\"_blank\" data-mce-href=\"http:\/\/bostonreview.net\/BR30.3\/zinn.php\">American exceptionalism<\/a>\u201d is the belief that America is the land of opportunity. Whether you\u2019re pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps (and defying the laws of physics!) or picking yourself up from the ditch, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.homeofheroes.com\/hallofheroes\/2nd_floor\/opportunity\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" data-mce-href=\"http:\/\/www.homeofheroes.com\/hallofheroes\/2nd_floor\/opportunity\/index.html\">you can accomplish anything you want in America<\/a>. You\u2019re only limited by your levels of effort and determination.*<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the evidence doesn\u2019t support such optimism. Indeed, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.canadiancrc.com\/Newspaper_Articles\/Ottawa_Citizen_Study_most_follow_fathers_financial_footsteps_22APR06.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" data-mce-href=\"http:\/\/www.canadiancrc.com\/Newspaper_Articles\/Ottawa_Citizen_Study_most_follow_fathers_financial_footsteps_22APR06.aspx\">according to one researcher<\/a>, \u201cthe rags-to-riches story is especially unlikely in the U.S.\u201d. Compared to most other Western countries, social mobility is extremely limited in the United States. If you\u2019re born into a poor family, chances are that you\u2019ll stay poor. Below is an interesting graph from the OECD that compares \u201cthe extent to which sons\u2019 earnings levels reflect those of their fathers\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Can anyone offer any thoughts?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/ScreenHunter_01-Aug.-07-22.47.gif\" target=\"_blank\" data-mce-href=\"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/ScreenHunter_01-Aug.-07-22.47.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"background-image: none; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-top: 0px; border: 0pt none;\" title=\"ScreenHunter_01 Aug. 07 22.47\" src=\"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/ScreenHunter_01-Aug.-07-22.47_thumb.gif\" alt=\"ScreenHunter_01 Aug. 07 22.47\" data-mce-src=\"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/ScreenHunter_01-Aug.-07-22.47_thumb.gif\" data-mce-style=\"background-image: none; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-top: 0px; border: 0pt none;\" border=\"0\" height=\"487\" width=\"510\"><\/a><br data-mce-bogus=\"1\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\" data-mce-style=\"font-size: xx-small;\">*Of course, if you fail, it\u2019s your own fault, but let\u2019s not dwell on that\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Part of the bedrock of \u201cAmerican exceptionalism\u201d is the belief that America is the land of opportunity. Whether you\u2019re pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps (and defying the laws of physics!) or picking yourself up from the ditch, you can accomplish anything you want in America. You\u2019re only limited by your levels of effort [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8,15],"tags":[37,86],"class_list":["post-891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-politics","category-economic-issues","category-modern-culture","tag-inequality","tag-mobility"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=891"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":898,"href":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891\/revisions\/898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}