Upon reading this article I didn't quite understand it at first. I read over two or three times before I started to understand how different my life is from the lives of those that Kristof is describing. He writes about wage gaps and the differences between people who were raised poor or born into families with money. He says,"Remember that disadvantage is less about income than environment". He writes a few different examples that explain that disadvantages can be related to undiagnosed health problems or even how many times a child is hugged. Reading that made my heart break. I never had to worry about those things. I came from a family that had enough time to spend with me and could make enough money to take me to the doctor when I wasn't feeling well. I was not at a disadvantage growing up and it has shaped the way that I've looked at the world.
Sometimes it's hard to admit that one is born with privilege but I know that I was. It makes me think about how different my life would have been if I was born into a different economic class. I never have to worry about if there will be food on the table or if I have enough money to put gas in my car. I'm lucky enough to have my grandparents help me pay for college and as Kristof says, it is because they did well that they are able to help me. I will never have to face the world where I won't succeed at something during my lifetime. I was set up to do well and that isn't true for everyone. I feel as though something needs to change so that everyone can have an equal opportunity to succeed.
Although I understand the basis of this article I'm not sure that I could highlight all of Kristof's points and explain the article to someone. It felt like he mostly had anecdotes with some facts sprinkled in. I'm interested to see what others from class took away from this.
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