Poverty, Privilege, and the Dead American Dream

Once upon a time, I believed in the American Dream. 

In fact, I once believed myself to be living proof that it existed. I bought into the notion that if one worked hard enough, one could be upwardly mobile no matter the adversity they faced. I thought that the only limitations to achievement in the United States were laziness and stupidity. I looked around me at all the people who were not achieving some form of the American Dream and decided that they were to blame for their circumstances.  Read more.