Albania... okay, good to know your history. Are you actually from Albania, then?... perhaps it was naive of me to not know that, but people have all kinds of random names here, so I try not to make any assumptions as to what they mean.
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Originally Posted by albania
My parents never complain about conditions in America, all I ever hear is how good we have it here.
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I will say that being a 1.5/2nd-generation immigrant of educated, European parents is a strong predictor of success (however you define that), even if your parents were forced to work menial jobs (which really sucks, btw). Did you/they speak English when you arrived? Did they come legally (you don't have to answer that, but it's an important question)? If so, those are other key variables that help, at least in sociological/anthropological studies of immigrant integration.
See, if you ask me, just about anyone CAN have the American dream... if they have the right combination of helpful variables working for them, and the right context of reception when they arrive (community, especially of other immigrants). For others who are not so lucky... particularly if they have darker skin, are uneducated, came illegally, don't speak English... it *can* take several generations for them to fully integrate and be in a position to reap the rewards of living in the US (not always, but it happens). Some of them have never integrated, especially when deep racism is involved.
Some people will say it's those people's own fault for being stuck at the bottom of the pile; others will say it's entirely the government's fault. Of course, it's a little of everything... that's what makes this kind of discussion so complicated. But having lived in a successful social democracy here in Iceland, I'd have to say that the US could still stand to learn from what other countries are doing to take care of the people within their borders.