You got help from alignment of many FACTORS: gender, parents, white privilege/skin color, immigration status, religion, sponsors, luck, e.g. arrests for minor offenses so inducted into the Prison Industry and trained to be a life-long criminal in an inescapable prison cycle or involved with violence like mass shooting or a street gang, health - mental and physical, timing & systemic elements like current laws, e.g., are marijuana or alcohol legal and at what age.
"The American Economy Is Rigged"
And what we can do about it
By Joseph E. Stiglitz on November 1, 2018
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-american-economy-is-rigged/
"Americans are used to thinking that their nation is special. In many ways, it is: the U.S. has by far the most Nobel Prize winners, the largest defense expenditures (almost equal to the next 10 or so countries put together) and the most billionaires (twice as many as China, the closest competitor). But some examples of American Exceptionalism should not make us proud. By most accounts, the U.S. has the highest level of economic inequality among developed countries. It has the world's greatest per capita health expenditures yet the lowest life expectancy among comparable countries. It is also one of a few developed countries jostling for the dubious distinction of having the lowest measures of equality of opportunity.
The notion of the American Dream—that, unlike old Europe, we are a land of opportunity—is part of our essence. Yet the numbers say otherwise. The life prospects of a young American depend more on the income and education of his or her parents than in almost any other advanced country. When poor-boy-makes-good anecdotes get passed around in the media, that is precisely because such stories are so rare."
It is just a truth of American society - the poor get caught up in so many "traps" it is unusual for any of them to escape poverty.
"Perhaps the defining moment exposing the lie was the 2008 financial crisis, when the bankers who brought the global economy to the brink of ruin with predatory lending, market manipulation and various other antisocial practices walked away with millions of dollars in bonuses just as millions of Americans lost their jobs and homes and tens of millions more worldwide suffered on their account. Virtually none of these bankers were ever held to account for their misdeeds."
Sadly, a contributor to inequality is GLOBALIZATION as manifest in union busting and relief from US environmental regulations.
"Rigged rules also explain why the impact of globalization may have been worse in the U.S. A concerted attack on unions has almost halved the fraction of unionized workers in the nation, to about 11 percent. (In Scandinavia, it is roughly 70 percent.) Weaker unions provide workers less protection against the efforts of firms to drive down wages or worsen working conditions. Moreover, U.S. investment treaties such as the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement—treaties that were sold as a way of preventing foreign countries from discriminating against American firms—also protect investors against a tightening of environmental and health regulations abroad."
Congress bowing to special interests in the financial community brings more inequality - big money gets more money!
"Many other changes to our norms, laws, rules and regulations have contributed to inequality. Weak corporate governance laws have allowed chief executives in the U.S. to compensate themselves 361 times more than the average worker, far more than in other developed countries. Financial liberalization—the stripping away of regulations designed to prevent the financial sector from imposing harms, such as the 2008 economic crisis, on the rest of society—has enabled the finance industry to grow in size and profitability and has increased its opportunities to exploit everyone else."
"You're Right, the 'System' Is Rigged Against You. Here's How to Hack It."
Life isn't fair. Work around it.
Sam McRoberts 1 Dec 2017 CEO of VUDU Marketing, Author of Screw the Zoo
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/303891
"Have you ever spoken to someone who believed that their misfortune or lack of accomplishment was a result of the “system” being rigged against them? Or do you believe that that system is rigged against you? You may actually be right, at least to some extent, but once you understand how a system works, you can find ways to exploit it in your favor."
A lot of people have to work much harder than you to get thru the gauntlet of obstacles rigged against them. So they need to understand and then work hard, hard, hard, be persistent to overcome the rigged system.
Socioeconomic status.
Nepotism and cronyism.
Appearance and salary.
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
This is just a tip of the iceberg list as my intro shows. Don't overlook the fact LUCK plays a role, sometimes a big, big role!
"The system isn’t perfect. Hell, in many ways it’s downright unfair. But even committing yourself to changing the system full-time, you still have to live and subsist in it today. While you fight for change, it’s in your power and your best interest to turn the system to your advantage in whatever ways you can.
Instead of resenting it, learn it, and make it work for you. Then, when you find yourself in power, if you still don’t like the way things are, you can use your power to start changing it."
RESEARCH AND DUE DILIGENCE!
Example of rish people getting special treatment in America. Got money? Statutory rape is OK.
"For years, Jeffrey Epstein abused teen girls, police say. A timeline of his case"
BY Julie K. Brown Nov. 28, 2018
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article221404845.html
"
2005
March: A 14-year-old girl and her parents report that Jeffrey Epstein molested her at a mansion in Palm Beach. She said a female acquaintance and classmate at Royal Palm Beach High School had taken her to the house to give him a massage in exchange for money.
April: Palm Beach police begin trash pulls at Epstein’s home, discovering a telephone message for Epstein with the girl’s name on it, and a time that matched the time that she told police she was there. They find the names and phone numbers of other girls on message slips in his trash.
October: With the police probe in full swing, one of Epstein’s assistants calls one of the girls just as she is being questioned by police. Investigators begin interviewing more girls, as well as Epstein’s butlers, who tell them that Epstein had frequent visits from girls throughout the day. On Oct. 20, they execute a search warrant at his house on El Brillo Way in Palm Beach.
2006
May: Police sign a probable cause affidavit charging Epstein and two of his assistants with multiple counts of unlawful sex acts with a minor. The Palm Beach state attorney, Barry Krischer, instead refers the case to a grand jury."
The list goes on and on thru 2018; Epstein gets a plea deal despite what would put anyone else in jail for life because Epstein had powerful help, inducing US Presidents.
Epstein got 13 months in jail!
