jhaneyiii

Robert,

You are a great inspiration. Ever since watching inequality for all I have been a big fan of your work and message.

A lot of the American public has been lead to believe that where a person ends up in life is solely a function of how "hard" they worked to get there. This is not true in the majority of cases and a person's economic position in life is far more a function of where they were born and who their parents are. The lesser off are vilified and stereotyped as being lazy due to this belief and therefore somehow deserving of their place in society. This prevents a great deal of good legislation like increased minimum wage, accessible health care and education etc. because a large portion of America believes if someone didn't "work" for it then they don't deserve it.

My question is, how do we change this very American perception such that we can start to look out and provide for the many rather than the few and pass meaningful legislation to make many American's lives better?

As a student who recently paid off nearly $100k in student debt over the last 8 years I thought about 9 myself.

Most of my emotions centered around the inequity and unfairness and the thought that "I had to pay for it, so everyone else should too!" and the notion that I should get something as well. I came to the conclusion that this was a self centered and selfish thought process that probably prevents a lot of good things from happening in our country.

We should be the proponents of legislation and movements like this not because we got something in return, but because having been through it we realize the tremendous value in changing the system and that the current state of affairs is untenable. I really don't think there necessarily needs to be a plan for us to make sure we can at least end the cycle for future generations.