The New Haberdasher

Moving On Up More Difficult In America : NPR

The point:  We think we are some how exceptional:  that unlike other countries in the world, work is rewarded in America with upward social mobility, that our society is meritocratic instead of aristocratic, and that anyone can be whatever the set their mind to.  Ideologically-based propositions like this are difficult to test, right?  Well, apparently not.  And what is more exceptional about America than our American Dream is that other countries have a MUCH greater equality of opportunity that is not tied to the status of one’s parents.  And it really has nothing to do with the amount of money the kids parents have, but structural features of our society, like historical trends and institutions, which prevent upward mobility.  Great listen!