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1 February 2012 Matt Perkins Harder for Americans to Rise from Lower Rungs The economic mobility has been brought up by many people in the past. But as we inch closer to Election Day, more questions are rising. Jason DeParle, writer for the New York Times wrote an article that brought up the issue of our economic mobility in comparison to the other major world competitors. In the article he states that Denmark and Western Europe are at a much higher level of economic mobility that the United States is right now. He brings up the point that America is not as economically mobile as our neighbor Canada. He also thinks that it is unfair for people who are born in poverty, to not get a fair chance of working their way out of poverty. Former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, and now Republican candidate told us that the movement into the middle income is greater, in Europe, than America. Representative Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican states that the United States lacks behind our other competitors. These problems are worth taking a look at if the United States wants to stay the country it has always represented.  One of our founding fathers, arguably one of the most well known men in United States history made his way through the class systems of the 18th Century. When Benjamin Franklin was young he only had enough money to afford to go to school for two years. Benjamin Franklin worked his way through his childhood apprenticing and working his way through the economic chain. Through the years Franklin made discoveries pertaining to electricity, helped write the Declaration of Independence, and became Ambassador to France. Benjamin Franklin did not start his life out rich. Franklin went from a family that only had enough money to send him school for two years, to a very famous man in American history. Another famous American is Steve Jobs. Steve jobs started his life adopted by a working class couple and eventually created Pixar and Apple, the United States most valuable business. These are two very famous examples of economic mobility and there have been many more since America was created.  The reason this issue is raising concerns is because people think that the Franklins and the Steve Jobs of the country are not getting their chances to overcome the lower rungs of the economic ladder. America is known as the land of opportunity and some think America is losing that title. The idea was brought up in the article that immigrants would not want to come to America if it has poor economic mobility. In recent years five studies have shown the United States to be less economically mobile than similar nations. What the studies are showing is that children born into poverty are less likely to live lives out of poverty because they tend to follow their parents footsteps in education and job habits. Miles Corak, an economist at the University of Ottawa stated “Family background plays more of a role in the United States than in most comparable countries,” If fighting through the lower rungs of the economic ladder is much harder for people in poverty, then progress should be made on this issue. This article suggests that it is unfair to people who are born in poverty to have a fair chance in America. John Bridgeland former aide to President George W. Bush helped start Opportunity Nation, a plan to restore opportunity in the country. This plan sounds very good and helps people that are really in need of help, but the government should not step in for every case. What this article is suggesting is that the government should give people in poverty help instead of having them earn it. This article is pointing out that it is unfair for anyone in poverty to stay in poverty. One might disagree with this because people have the chance to raise money for college so that they can have an upper hand in the work force. This article is leaving out that some people in poverty could have goals in working to get a college degree. It is saying that children are getting left behind. This is simply not the case. The school system in America does not say that if you are in poverty you can only participate in public schools until the eighth grade. Did the article want to leave out the simple idea of goals? What some of these children are experiencing is a decrease in goals because, as the article stated, they tend to stay in the same path they’re parents went. Do children have a lack of goals? While there are two different groups of people that this article addresses (the poor and the idle) only one of the groups should really be helped because that is not what the government is for. America is the land of opportunity, not the land where government gives the indolent chances when they are not willing to work themselves. Benjamin Franklin did not achieve what he did because he was apathetic, he had goals and he strived to get to where he wanted and that is what some people need to do today.
 * Summary **
 * Relevance **
 * Evaluation **
 * Questions **
 * 1) What types of people are suffering from this mobility difficulty?
 * 2) In the plan to help those in poverty, who would get helped?
 * 3) How many of those talked about in the article graduated high school?
 * 4) Are most people willing to work jobs that are not pretty, but will help them get a college education?
 * 5) Do these people have aspirations to get somewhere in life.
 * 6) What are some these people work ethic like?
 * 7) How long has they’re parents and family been in poverty and stayed there?
 * 8) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">What do they think should be done to help them?

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> **Bibliography** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> 1775, and the American Revolution. "Benjamin Franklin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2012. < <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin#Declaration_of_Independence] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">DePARLE, JASON. "Harder for Americans to Rise From Lower Rungs - NYTimes.com." //The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2012. < <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">>.

"About Opportunity Nation | Opportunity Nation." //Opportunity Nation//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2012. <http://www.opportunitynation.org/pages/about-us/>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">"Quick Biography of Benjamin Franklin." //ushistory.org//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2012. < <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">>.

"Steve Jobs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs>.

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