As I read this I also think about the parents who work very hard, often at jobs that pay well but are otherwise unrewarding, just to get their kids CLOSE to this ideal. There are so many parents out there giving their all and making sacrifices so that their kids can get even one of the advantages you list.
Not too long ago it was a lot easier for someone working a blue collar job, 40 hours a week, to buy a house, afford one parent to stay at home with the kids, send those kids to a great school, and eventually retire with a pension. Not too long ago we were close to this ideal in this country.
Then again, it wasn't that long ago where $1B made you the richest person in the world, and $1B was considered an obscene amount of money. (BTW, it still is.)
You've reminded me of a passage in Kurt Vonnegut's Novel 'God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater':
"I think it's a heartless government that will let one baby be born owning a big piece of the country, the way I was born, and let another baby be born without owning anything. The least a government could do, it seems to me, is to divide things up fairly among the babies. Life is hard enough, without people having o worry themselves sick about money, too."
As I read this I also think about the parents who work very hard, often at jobs that pay well but are otherwise unrewarding, just to get their kids CLOSE to this ideal. There are so many parents out there giving their all and making sacrifices so that their kids can get even one of the advantages you list.
Not too long ago it was a lot easier for someone working a blue collar job, 40 hours a week, to buy a house, afford one parent to stay at home with the kids, send those kids to a great school, and eventually retire with a pension. Not too long ago we were close to this ideal in this country.
Then again, it wasn't that long ago where $1B made you the richest person in the world, and $1B was considered an obscene amount of money. (BTW, it still is.)
Absolutely.
You've reminded me of a passage in Kurt Vonnegut's Novel 'God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater':
"I think it's a heartless government that will let one baby be born owning a big piece of the country, the way I was born, and let another baby be born without owning anything. The least a government could do, it seems to me, is to divide things up fairly among the babies. Life is hard enough, without people having o worry themselves sick about money, too."