Kristof

U.S.A., Land of Limitations?

By: Nicholas Kristof

August 8th, 2015

"Talent is universal, but opportunity is not"
-The quote means that there is plenty of people with talent everywhere but there is not enough opportunities for them. There's so many talented people in the world who work so hard and should be on top but because of lack of opportunity they stay where they've always been, at the bottom. This quote is relevant because his friend was extremely talented but never had any opportunities to show that he didn't have a successful life like he should've.

"Remember that disadvantage is less about income than environment"
-I feel as though having a high income or even having an income where you could just get by is important because everyone needs money. You need money to survive Having money to provide yourself with shelter, food, etc is very important. But I feel like someone's environment is everything. People who have money and a crappy environment where their parents are not involved in their life or not around usually grow up struggling in many ways because of lack of support by family. I personally rather have barely any money and a great home environment  where I'm surrounded with family who loves me and does the best with what they have for me.

"The chance of a person who was born into a family in the bottom 10 percent of the income distribution rising to the top 10 percent as an adult is about the same as the chance that a dad who is 5 feet 6 inches tall having a son who grows up to be over 6 feet 1 inch tall,"Krueger observed in a speech. “It happens, but not often.”
-This quote is basically saying that if your born in a low income family its less likely that you'll reach  the top 10 percent as an adult. I disagree, I feel like yes, it may be challenging with less income to rise to the top but if your dedicated, motivated, challenge yourself and work hard anyone can make it. It will be even harder without opportunity but you have to create your own. Its relevant to the text because Kristof talks about different social classes.

Point to share:
"Rich kids make a lot of bad choices" Professor Reardon notes. "They just don't come with the same sort of consequences"
-This quote is saying there are many children born in a rich family that get into trouble but don't have to deal with the same consequences someone poor would have to deal with. Kids that are born into a rich family can make bad choices and get into trouble and their parents are more likely to buy them out of trouble or know someone higher up who can get them out of trouble vs someone who is born into a poor family who has to most likely deal with consequences of their action because they have no other choice. This quote is relevant because its talking about land of opportunity.

Link to reading:
-https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-usa-land-of-limitations.html?_r=0