suc·cess [suhk-ses]: the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.

In my American Studies Class, we discussed success and what constitutes success in the context of jobs. The discussion took the route of the question: Is it better to have a job that you do not like that pays well, or a job you love that does not pay as well. I doubt that the class realized that an article came out just that day on Americans trying to succeed in business to help them live a more comfortable lifestyle. The article talks in length about how Americans enjoy much less mobility in terms of economic status than other comparable countries such as the United Kingdom and Denmark: "At least five large studies in recent years have found the United States to be less mobile than comparable nations". 

Rosie the Riveter, a classic symbol for
women of hard work leading to success
 post WWII.

A distinctly American value in my opinion is the ability to improve yourself financially, and try to surpass your parents. In the North Shore, a few northern suburbs of Chicago, known for being a wealthy community, children tend to follow similar patterns their parents took, speaking contextually about jobs and earnings. Unsurprisingly, the article mentioned something quite similar: “Family background plays more of a role in the U.S. than in most comparable countries”. I would accredit this trend of being well off in the North Shore to two factors. The first factor would be that in our North Shore society, living comfortably is valued and even expected. The second reason I believe is the precedent set on education. If my guesses are correct, than we can understand this cycle of stability in the community. 

However, earlier on in America's foundation, this continued wealth was not the case. In class we looked at an NPR interview conducted with Bill T. Jones, a famous American dancer and choreographer. He spoke about his upbringing and said "'I was in school was so that I didn't have to be out there with [my father]'". Here, Jones is explaining the privileges he was given from the sacrifices his father made by working "out there" as a laborer in the cold. After Jones received his college education, he was certainly able to succeed financially even though it was not an academia related field. For Jones, it was easier to excel more than his father had because his father was not a rich man. In a wealthy area like the North Shore, and in a country like the United States without large opportunities for financial mobility, how can we succeed more than our parents did? 

New Year, New Opportunities?

Since its founding, the United States has been a land of opportunity. Immigrants came in hoards looking for a new fresh start, a chance to leave the past behind and make a better future. Not much has changed in the past 200 years, as I find myself thinking of what New Year’s Resolution I will make. I always consider the New Year to be a chance to improve myself and my life, even if it may be less drastically than immigrants who are moving to turn over a new leaf. 

Is America a land of opportunity for all though? In my American Studies class, we recently finished reading A Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Ironically enough, I sometimes believe that Douglass too, a slave from his birth in 1818 until 1838, also believed America was a land of opportunity despite being treated harshly and put down by his white slave owners for so long. On page 38, Douglass says that his worst master of all time, Mr. Covey, "succeeded in breaking me. I was broken in body, soul, and spirit". Douglass was still American just like his slave owners even though he was black, but from his description of being mentally defeated by Mr. Covey, it does not seem like he felt America was the land of opportunity. 

When Douglass reached the North though, he was able to further his education and speak publicly about abolition and try to bring freedom to those who were still enslaved. Douglass was just one example of someone in history denied opportunities for a better life. Despite the passage of time, some people still lack opportunity. Poverty is widespread throughout all of America. There is a major lack of opportunity for people in poverty to escape it and live a better life. 

So what do you think- is the United States a land of opportunity for everyone? Does everyone deserve the chance to turn over a new leaf with the new year?