Thraxle piss off with that American Dream bullshit. You can act like you're in control of your own destiny, but the fact of the matter is, hard work is often times not rewarded. We see this in the millions of poor people who work three jobs just to feed their families yet still can't get anywhere. What's really rewarded is your race and your socio-economic standing. I think if you were black you would be singing a much different tune, because you would not have it so easy no matter how hard you worked. Blacks without a criminal record had the same chance of getting a call-back for a job as whites WITH criminal record/conviction. Black-sounding names were half as likely to get a call-back for a job as white-sounding names, even less than half as likely in some cases.

I'm certainly not saying you didn't work hard. But the fact of the matter is, hard work does not factor into success anywhere near as much as you would like to think. I know it's disconcerting to think that your success does not come from your hard work alone, but it's the truth. You were lucky to even have your parents own a home. I can't find the statistics now, but I think it's something like poor whites are able to pass home ownership and the finances that go with it to their children 300x more often than poor blacks. Just the fact that your parents OWNED a house gave you a leg up on your lower-middle-class black "rivals".

I mean seriously, think about it, lots of people work hard, but not a lot of people are even mildly successful. Why is there such cognitive dissonance between your "just world" worldview and reality?

"The United States of America is easy to navigate for people who are smart and motivated."

It could be even easier.
One year elite university costs you 1000$ in Germany.

My immediate boss is black.....and a woman. She has no college degree. Yeah, life is tough...

Ah yes one individual disproves thoroughly-researched statistics from well respected sources. Good job Thraxle, thank you for that wonderful contribution.

It's almost as if you, as a middle-class white man, have no idea what poor people of all races actually have to go through!

Next time try actually engaging with the argument instead of posting some shitty one-liner that does nothing to further our discussion.

Shocking that you have to tell a mod these things, really.

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

marx, there are PLENTY of supports for minorites and poor people to go to the best colleges for free, IF they deserve it.

look up some ayn rand dude. communism failed in russia bc it was premature. russia was still basically a third world country before lenin highjacked the october rev. communism is supposed to take hold in a highly developed country, not cuba. the revolutions we have seen have just been changes of power where a new oligopoly replaces the old power structure.

ive read lenin and he is a snake charmer. his words sound great but in hindsight he just seized his own power and killed his opponents.

what you are describing is the fairy tale my friend.

...wow... I'm not even dignifying that with a response.

Except this one.

good marx, its refreshing for you to be quiet

to veta and thrax

i was very much like you veta when i was in school. except that im not an athiest. but to the point, you will see (bc you are smart) that things are not so different elsewhere. brazil has its own contradictions, as does germany. you would probably like germany though.

all im saying is that in high school you saw the world one way, in college you see it another and i was pissed off to realize a lot of people get fed a bunch of bullshit in high school. most dont care to leave that state of ignorance. the real world is different then the ivory towers of college. its good that you are thinking about things, but maybe one day you will think how can i fix this, instead of running away.

there is good in the US dude, to say not is absurd

good marx, its refreshing for you to be quiet

to veta and thrax

i was very much like you veta when i was in school. except that im not an athiest. but to the point, you will see (bc you are smart) that things are not so different elsewhere. brazil has its own contradictions, as does germany. you would probably like germany though.

all im saying is that in high school you saw the world one way, in college you see it another and i was pissed off to realize a lot of people get fed a bunch of bullshit in high school. most dont care to leave that state of ignorance. the real world is different then the ivory towers of college. its good that you are thinking about things, but maybe one day you will think how can i fix this, instead of running away.

there is good in the US dude, to say not is absurd