Kristof's Reasoning

In Kristof's article "U.S.A Land of Limitations" he uses a lot of good points to get across his argument that the United States may no longer be the land of opportunity everyone claims it to be. He uses the statistic that "that in the United States, there is now less economic mobility than in Canada or much of Europe" (2)meaning that we are born into a certain class and that usually means that is the class that we stay in for life. This is relevant to his text because America promises that there is wealth to be found for everyone. He also, uses the quote "in the United States, parents’ incomes correlate to their adult children’s incomes"(2) which means that children often make about the same money as what their parents make. This relates to the text by saying that there really isn't an equal opportunity for everyone in today's society because they usually only make about the same as their parents did. A final quote that really helps to support Kristof's claims in this article is when he is talking about the man Rick that he knew. Kristof says "Rick had given her $600 and skipped the medicine."(3) This basically is explaining that sometimes people in the United States cannot afford to buy medicine they need in order to stay alive. Where as, as a country we stand for the fact that people have the right to and the opportunity to have the medicine that they need making Kristof's claim become even more real.