Has the Dream been Deferred?, IV (or, the issue of Opportunity)

The Hollywood ideal, an NPR report I heard declared, that the American dream is having money, a big house, a family, and pretty much everything we want, is true. At least for the old-school foreign movie directors that came and got rich. Even the actors portraying a person in pursuit of that dream, be it achieving it or failing to get it, get paid millions of dollars to play the part. Why can't the rest of us get that?

Honestly, I'm not sure it is real.

Again, the ideal of opportunity came thanks to how conceited this country was (is). Promises to foreigners--shoot, also given to evicted Oklahoma farmers to head into California--presented a white lie. Were there jobs in California? Yes. Was it the type of job they marketed? Kind of. Were the workers going to get the benefits promised? No.

The same for modern advertisement. Is the situation in the U.S. better than any given third world country? Yes. Are there more jobs here than there? Yes. Is the pay higher? Yes. Can anyone get those jobs? No.

Recently, I applied for and was given an internship position. The organization is pretty bureaucratic--and it had never been as apparent as now. "You know so-and-so?" I was asked. I answered with a smile, "Yes, I'm related to so-and-so." My boss then declared, "That contact was a pretty big reason why you are here."

I was taken aback. I have not spoken to this particular distant relative in a long time, and it made me wonder if I would have been able to get the internship without that relationship--even if my skills would have been greater.

There are so many jobs out there that require previous experience it is almost impossible to get that experience. Confused? So am I.

Truth is, opportunity does not knock once anymore. Well it does, but only to certain people.

Statistically (statistics are very depressing, by the way), women still get paid less than men do, even if the position is the same and the output is greater. Racial discrimination still exists . . . but I'm not going to get into that right now.

The problem isn't that the job market is licking its wounds, although that certainly hurts prospects. No, even when a bear economy was the last thing in Wall Street's mind an inequality has existed. I dare say that in times of apparent plenty is when the gap between social classes widens.

The solution? Don't make me laugh.

The only solution is straight socialism--at least the concept. Put it into effect . . . and that doesn't work either.

So what are we to do? Endure. And stop lying. Stop trying to bring more opportunists and needy people to this "land of plenty" when the "plenty" is not for everyone. It's only offered to the elite. The rest of us are never good enough.

Maybe we can learn something from the Ivy League schools: they do not offer merit-based scholarships anymore. All scholarships are need based.

This is all very confusing.