Re:Interview with Jeff Atwood, Co-Founder of Stack Overflow
by CharlieDigital on Wednesday January 22, 2025 @12:04PM
(#42794933)
As an immigrant, I define the "American Dream" as "opportunity regardless of social class". I think Atwood also hints at this in his blog post (as this is the reason he called out his upbringing and family).
This is in contrast to the system of nobility and "old money" in Europe and why many immigrants sought to find their way to the New World.
The idea of public education started in the US and for a long time has been one of the key public services that enabled this social mobility. In the US, historically, there were opportunities even for immigrants to become self-made men and women and their children would be better off than they were.
It's still possible, but it feels as if the cards are stacked higher and higher towards those that are already coming from some wealth. I increasingly feel like the chances that my kids are going to be better off than me are decreasing every year.
This is in contrast to the system of nobility and "old money" in Europe and why many immigrants sought to find their way to the New World.
The idea of public education started in the US and for a long time has been one of the key public services that enabled this social mobility. In the US, historically, there were opportunities even for immigrants to become self-made men and women and their children would be better off than they were.
It's still possible, but it feels as if the cards are stacked higher and higher towards those that are already coming from some wealth. I increasingly feel like the chances that my kids are going to be better off than me are decreasing every year.