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Certainly - opportunity knocking requires a good solid education, and parents need to impress on kids the importance of a good solid education. Minimum-wage jobs were, at least in my day, a stepping stone in the "free enterprise system". Today, for most, minimum-wage jobs are career level.

The "free enterprise system" has grown corrupt. The typical successful "company" keeps business competitive by gutting the middle class factory worker - replacing them with minimum wage workers to unpack boxes from overseas and repack products for Wal-Mart.

The profits go exclusively to a few owners and the responsibility for the displaced worker falls through the cracks. Interestingly, the GNP statistics allow the same weight to a widget built in China - bought for a buck and sold for 10 bucks - as a widget built in America - paying American factory workers a 10 dollar living wage to make it. We appear to be growing, but figures lie and liars figure.

People from all over the world do come here to realize their dreams - because even a minimum wage job here is better than third world life - but at what expense to America? We are rapidly becoming a third world nation - a class-based system with the rich living as kings behind walled communities, served by immigrants willing to work cheaper (often working harder too) than the laid-off factory worker.

Unfortunately, "opportunity IS beyond the reach" of ordinary citizens - unless you're connected, it's a much more difficult road then when we were growing up. Unfortunately, fewer high school and college graduates, even with a strong work ethic, will succeed these days, because the middle rungs are being stripped off the ladder.

Yes, and remember kids, "why must I sock a fella just to live large like Rockafella" :)
Get your papers.

"Unfortunately, "opportunity IS beyond the reach" of ordinary citizens - unless you're connected, it's a much more difficult road then when we were growing up".

This is typical liberal class warfare drivel, we're all living in soup lines while those eeeeeevill rich people force us to work for peanuts and subside in abject perpetual poverty.

Just take a drive through Greensboro, look at the cars, count the percentage of nicer newer cars to that of the 25 year old jalopies. Look at the homes. Even in the poorer sections of the city most are in decent repair, a far cry from some of the mud huts I saw in Brazil. Look at all the nice stores where consumers have tremendous selection of the goods and services they purchase.

The economy is changing Mr. James, we are moving into an information and service age. We will always have some manufacturing jobs, the lower skilled ones such as textiles and furniture cannot survive. Tell me Mr. James, how is a furniture company going to remain in business paying their employees $12/hour when they are bombarded by foreign goods produced for much less, products that benefit consumers by saving them money? Is that the fault of the furniture company? Do they continue to operate at a loss so that their employees can get $12/hour?

Mr. Hammack is correct in that if young people realize the importance of education, they can do anything they want in this country. If they don't realize that then they will be scanning goods at WalMart.

Dan, Nice to have you back. Hope your travels went well. Missed your contribution to the letters forum.

I think you and James are agreeing on several points, just not the conclusion. While I am not presuming to speak for him (since he does a much better job of that), I see common ground.

American opportunity is not what it used to be for the average joe or jane. CEO's and upper management, people with extensive education and knowledge, are finding that out daily. So if they are having to go back to school to learn a different profession, how do you expect the average person to fair any better?

IMO, the only people who are fairing better and making out like bandits are the ones who come from impoverished countries. For them America still is the land of opportunity.

Technical and service related job have a ceiling also. If every high school kid went to college and majored in the information and service related areas, there would soon be a glut. I used to think my job was fairly secure but they are bringing in more and more medical professionals to do the same job for less money.

From my prospective, it like American Idol. You can be one of the most talented singers to ever walk the earth but that does not mean you will win. Someone has to loose, no matter how good they are. Opportunities can and do bypass the most talented and prepared people. It's all a crap shoot.

Let me get this correct, if I have a good solid education and keep my nose to the proverbial grindstone, then I will succeed.

Well, if that is what it takes, then someone changed the rules on me. I have education beyone a bachelor's degree and have been unable to find full-time employment for over 18 months. Would someone tell me what is wrong and where I missed something?

So, I believe that it does take a good solid education. However, there are more things at work today than there were 10-30 years ago. Sadly, those things are not good either.

The problem here is that a truly free market does not exist. The market is freer than in some other countries, but if you think we have a free market, then you are deluding yourself.

Our market is deluged with opportunity-crushing regulations. Go try to start your own business. You'll see what I mean. A great many people who wish to start their own businesses simply cannot do so because of the alphabet soup of regulatory agencies they must go through, licensing fees, legal fees, self-employment taxes, etc.
Small business is the backbone of a healthy economy, but this government has no love for small business. They're in bed with the large corporations, assuring them huge success while stifling their smaller competitors.

Then, of course, is the fact that the government steals 50% of our wealth through income taxes, capital gains taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, etc and then flushes it down the toilet. That certainly doesn't do the economy any good.

As for education, the government has a monopoly on it. Liberals go out of their way to talk about how evil monopoly is, but then they wholeheartedly support giving the government a monopoly over several things, particularly education.
A couple of people here have complained that education isn't good enough now. It's no wonder with the government's monopoly over it. The fact that everyone must be educated lowers the value of education. With the very brightest students mixed with the poorest, the curriculums are geared to the lowest common demoninator. The brightest students suffer for that, for they cannot live up to their fullest potential.
Standards are kept at abyssmal levels because otherwise it "wouldn't be fair" to the less talented students.
Then there's budgetary problems. Students who don't perform are hustled through the grade levels anyway, because if they failed and had to repeat grades, then each year class sizes would grow more and more. And class sizes are already a problem. The net result is that we have people graduating from high school who can't even read.

It's long past time for a free market in education.

Many think that all of this proves that free markets don't work, but of course they're not looking at the real problem, which is actually government regulation. This creates a vicious cycle, for those people who are so misled believe the answer is to pass more regulations, which of course will exacerbate the problem.

We need to repeal laws, people, not pass new ones. Government is the problem, not the solution.

I love it when someone says Government is the problem.

I want to hear that the next time the "government police officer" responds to a crime perpetrated on you.

I want to hear that the next time the "government fire department" comes to put out a fire at your house.

I want to hear that the next time you go to the "government library" to get a book.

I want to hear that the next time you drive on a "goverment street" that has been paved using our taxt dollars.

There are some things that I believe the government does quite well- one being not trusting to the private sector things that have no business there- such as education.

Jim,

I've never said the government shouldn't provide police. That's one of the few things government should do.

Why can't we have private fire departments? Do you think that if the government stopped providing fire departments that no one would do anything to protect themselves? What would you do if suddenly there were no government fire departments? I don't know about you, but I would get together with the other members of my community and our insurance companies, pool our money, and have one built. Ever heard of a volunteer fire department?

Government libraries operate on stolen money. How about private libraries? Are you telling me that it's impossible for someone to open a business in which they loan books to people?

As for roads, I'm still kind divided. I can see good and bad points on both sides of the issue of whether or not government should provide roads.

As for schools, it's the exact opposite of what you say. The government has no business whatsoever forcing everyone to pay for other people's education and forcing children to go to school. The former is theft, and the latter is involuntary servitude.
And I really hope you're not trying to tell me that educating children is something that government does well.

"Just take a drive through Greensboro, look at the cars, count the percentage of nicer newer cars to that of the 25 year old jalopies. Look at the homes."

That's great, but tell me, how far in debt does the average consumer go while paying for those nicer cars and those fine homes? Stop in front of one of those homes, open the mailbox and take a look at the credit card bills inside. According to an article on msn's website (http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/SavingandDebt/P70581.asp):

-- About 43% of American families spend more than they earn each year.

-- Average households carry some $8,000 in credit card debt.

-- Personal bankruptcies have doubled in the past decade.

Can the average American really afford these opportunities as things stand today?

Oh, and then again, its not always WHAT you know, but rather, WHO you know, in order to get ahead in this world.
I still say, kids, get your papers, but while you are doing it, get in with the rich kid crowd.

DARRYL: "I have education beyond a bachelor's degree and have been unable to find full-time employment for over 18 months." to DAN who thinks "This is typical liberal class warfare drivel."

PAUL: I disagree with some elements of your discussion: "Go try to start your own business. You'll see what I mean." My wife and I are small business people. Getting a license was nothing, as-was the Fed Tax ID. It may be that her business as a sales-rep and mine as an consultant are easier to set-up than a store front operation, and we did spend a few thousand in legal fees. But Self-employment taxes are a Joke - sometimes I feel guilty.

PAUL: I Totally agree with other elements: "This government has no love for small business. They're in bed with the large corporations." In fact this is my #1 peeve - especially at the Dubya Group's unbelievable give-away program to the CEO's that financed his campaign - you'd think the words "conflict of interest" would be discussed - HELLO AMERICA -- That was a Hint.

That said, Clinton's WTO and NAFTA have probably done more disruption and harm to the average Worker - these programs have effectively destroyed America's Manufacturing base.

I argue that it's NOT that "the government steals 50% of our wealth through income taxes, capital gains taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, etc." - that's bogus, for example: If all your medical expenses and retirement benefits etc were fully funded with this 50%, you really would have no rational gripes. Of course they're not, because what matters is "the government flushes it down the toilet." - which takes me back to Dubya's corporate welfare programs.

Let's work on what we can

- We can change / repeal / or do something to NAFTA and the WTO to make it fair, but there's no merit in stomping on Bill C. - he's outta here.

- We can coax / push / demand or do something to stop the current administration from giving away what's left. (learn about the finances of Stanley Tool Works from 2002 on - it'll drop your jaw.)

Education: Please don't dump everything on "liberals". It seems the current Republican administration has taken the historically local responsibility for education and made it federal through the "No Child Left Behind" act.

I agree we have over homogenized it, with "the brightest students mixed with the poorest" - I sure hope you meant to say ""the brightest students mixed with the DUMBIST" - was that a Freudian slip?

I totally disagree with privatization of education, however. One of the things that made America GREAT was that Reading Writing and Arithmetic were required for all. We've let it get weakened, but heaven forbid we go back to the middle ages, which seems the ultimate goal of education privatization. "My kid can read, yours can't, so my kid'll be the leader". Remember - POL-POT had all those with glasses slaughtered by the uneducated youth - the concept was if you had glasses, you could read and were presumed educated and therefore a potential threat to the Power of PolPot.

Anthony, I think looking in people's mailboxes may be illegal, I wouldn't recommend it.

I guess I'm not an average American, as I earn more than I spend, I pay my credit card in full every month, and I pay more than the minimum required on my car payment.

Some people get in over their heads because they are never taught about personal finances and make poor decisions. Luckily my parents taught me about that. When I wanted a car at 16 they told me to go get a job and pay for one, which I did.

I agree with you that the buy now pay whenever lifestyle can be dangerous if one is not careful, but neither your nor I can control other's poor decisions.

Jim and Paul,

For your information, in the early years of our country, many or most of the fire departments were private, especially, but not restricted to rural areas. They operated in conjuction with fire insurance associations, called mutuals. Mutuals were organized and owned by the people needing insurance, and the fire department operated with the mutual insurance company.

The mutual association didn't charge premiums as companies do today, but rather, when a loss occurred, the association paid the claim and assessed all members an amount to pay for the claim. You will see some old plates called fire markers which were attached to the house to show that the policyowner was in good standing with the insurance company. If a member didn't pay their assessment, the association went and removed the fire marker. When a fire occurred, and the fire department responded, they looked for the fire marker. If the policyowner hadn't kept their assessments current, then the fire department didn't put out the fire. That is the hammer that the association had to be sure that members paid their assessments, and it worked pretty well. Before you say that the association was a bad insurance company, you need to understand that the members were themselves the owners, so it was the policyowners' neighbors that were making that decision. So, Paul is right, we don't need government to provide services for us, such as fire protection, we have just become lazy and reliant on government to do it for us, and that comes as a price in the form of property taxes.

Dan:

"Anthony, I think looking in people's mailboxes may be illegal, I wouldn't recommend it."

I know, I was only trying to segue from the idea of driving around looking at people's cars, to the idea of looking at their finances. Sorry, I didn't mean for anyone to think I was really recommending that.

"I guess I'm not an average American, as I earn more than I spend, I pay my credit card in full every month, and I pay more than the minimum required on my car payment."

No according to the statistics, you wouldn't seem to be an average American in that respect.

"I agree with you that the buy now pay whenever lifestyle can be dangerous if one is not careful, but neither your nor I can control other's poor decisions. "

I agree of course -- my only point is that these nicer cars and homes are not necessarily evidence that the owners are financially well-off or secure.

Thank you, Dean Wormer.

James D. Rockefeller,

You must make a lot more money than me. Apparently the progressive income tax isn't so compassionate to those who are low-income and self-employed, as I am.

I won't say how much money I made last year, but trust me; it wasn't very much at all. Nevertheless, the government saw fit to steal 22.7% of my money in income taxes alone. Before I was self-employed, I made about 10% more money, yet I paid only about 10% in income tax. Kind of screwed up when you have to pay twice the tax for making less money just because you're self-employed.

Actually, I would still have gripes if all 50% of my tax money went to pay my healthcare. The main reason for that is I should be able to provide myself with healthcare rather than having the nanny state confiscate my money and do it for me. Another reason is that it wouldn't take anywhere near the full 50% to provide healthcare for myself.

Yes, let's abolish NAFTA.

True. I shouldn't have blamed all of education's woes on liberals only. Republicans are just as bad.

By "brightest and poorest," I didn't mean the smartest and those with the least money. By "poorest" I did mean dumbest, basically.

If all education were private, we wouldn't see the situation you describe. Since the government would no longer have a monopoly on education, the free market would provide private schooling at affordable prices. The vast majority of people would send their children to school. Some wouldn't be able to afford it themselves, but, as with healthcare and everything else, private charity would help such people. Corporations and organizations would offer scholarships. Pretty much everyone who wants to go to school would. The few who do not wish to go to school wouldn't, and everyone would be better off because of that. Of course, I'm talking about the current troublemakers in public schools who accomplish nothing except to distract the students who try and cause the teachers to spend half of their disciplining rather than teaching. Those kids would learn a trade instead of being educated.

Paul: If you're self employed and paying that, you might want to get a better accountant.

The free market providing private schooling at affordable prices sould alot like the disaster experiment privatizing the prisons. We'll have to agree to disagree - our school systems are REALLY screwed up (I have substitute-taught during off periods of work, so I have some real life experience here)- but I'd much prefer to fix'em then dump'em.

At one time or another we all feel put upon by the system. The issue of education and the condition of our public schools is key to the future of our country and people.

Evaluating the schools is nearly impossible because so much is mandated by government at all levels.

The question of privatization is taking care of itself as more and more people are choosing private educational systems. And, they still are helping pay for public schools which spend more and more for less and less. Soon they'll be spending it all for nothing!

All this drivel about being connected is a bunch of baloney. If you only prepare yourself to flip hamburgers, guess what...you'll flip hamburgers. Find a nitch no one else can do or wants to do and you'll be successful. Maybe not rich, but successful. Practically every day the papers carry stories about people who are successful and who were not "connected."

Education gets you only so far. It's who you know, not what you know.

Education will get you to the door. After that it is blood sweat and tears, ie hard work. That and only that will get you anywhere. It makes no difference who you know when it comes to bottom line it still all comes down to guts, grit and determination.
This comes from one with a pile of diploma's. All that sheep skin and a couple of bucks will buy you a cup of coffee unless you are willing to bust butt and work.