Is the United States still the land of opportunity? An expert analyzes today’s ‘American dream’

Throughout history, millions of people have seen the United States as the land of opportunity or the so-called “American dream.”

However, others who have failed to achieve it for various reasons affirm in their helplessness that it is false. While others say it’s true.

The truth is that everyone lives their own story and therefore has their own view of things. Because history has also witnessed many who went from poverty to millionaires and who today are an example of improvement for many.

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Is the United States still the land of opportunity?

The ‘American dream’, the idea that people in the United States can get ahead on their own, is currently a ‘sham’, says economist and philosopher Daniel Markovits in an interview with the BBC.

He calls it the “meritocracy trap,” a socio-economic system that not only prevents the middle and lower classes from striving to climb the social strata, but also affects the wealthier classes.

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The philosopher indicates that “we see it as a way of giving everyone a fair chance at success”.

He, also a professor at Yale University, confirms that the view that in his country those who persevere achieve their goals is incorrect. Because according to him, there is segregation in this day and age.

Why is the United States no longer the American dream?

selective clubs

For the professor, currently “the United States has become a very rigid and selective class hierarchy in which the elites are separated from the rest of society.”

He explains that members of the wealthiest families, they claim, “marry in different patterns, raise their children in different patterns.”

And most importantly, they invest huge amounts of resources in their children’s education so that the children can win in the meritocratic competition.

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A clear example of this is that of the prestigious American universities of the so-called Ivy League: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton and Yale, many top executives, businessmen, economists, politicians and decision-makers in the country.

Markovits says Americans and immigrants don’t start the same way from their early school years to enter them, but the pursuit of these prestigious institutions is determined by the wealth of the families.

The rich are also hurt

The economist says that after investing tens of thousands of dollars in education in elite schools, that investment is recouped through income.

“We have a higher education system that makes people great bankers, for example, but not great citizens; fantastic managers of large companies, but not good bosses in the traditional sense,” says the university professor.

What can we do?

At the University of Oxford, a private UK institution similar to the Ivy League, the director of admissions Samina Khan says they have managed to take up to 60% of students from public institutions.

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“We are very interested in attracting students from different backgrounds, because diversity of backgrounds means diversity of thoughts,” Khan said in a statement to the BBC.

Markovits says that the way of parenting in European countries is a good example of an inclusive social policy.

“Ordinary people in the United States are much less likely to climb the social class hierarchy than ordinary people in Germany or Denmark and most of Europe.”

In Scandinavian countries, such as Sweden or Denmark, there are no elite schools and almost everyone attends public schools, according to official data from those countries.