It literally pays to have friends in high places. A 2022 study found that economic connectedness across class lines is strongly associated with upward mobility out of poverty. What economic connectedness means is the rate at which people with low income are friends with people with high income. The researchers stated, “if you plop a kid from a disadvantaged background into a community with more economic connectedness, their income in adulthood will be, on average, 20 percent higher. That’s huge. It’s similar to the effect of going to a four-year college.”
You can find the article here. https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2022/08/01/1114661467/why-the-american-dream-is-more-attainable-in-some-cities-than-others
So much for the American Dream. This rather robust finding indicates that those who never have such an opportunity likely will not climb out of poverty any time soon, especially now with the recent ruling from the Supreme Court.
The next elections are indeed crucial, because this slow erosion of the society we have built up must be stopped. I am certain that eventually the old white guys who planned and have been managing this evil will finally die, and there won’t be enough of that sort left to support their oppressive policies. However, I fear that by the time that natural outcome is achieved, we won’t have much left to salvage.
Please keep working against the oppressors. If enough of us stand firm, we can prevail.
Copyright © 2023 Teresa Chupp. All rights reserved.
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