ABSTRACT
The millions of immigrants who gave up citizenship in Europe and came to America were energized by belief in the equality of opportunity for a new beginning. The emphasis on equality of opportunity is modified by recognizing differences in aptitudes and qualifications. Equality of opportunity is becoming less sustainable today in the face of enormous inequalities of family wealth and power in a complex and heterogeneous society. The modification holds that everyone has the opportunity to make full use of their personal qualities for getting ahead and moving up in the stratification system. The tendency to perpetuate the self-made myth stems from the attribution of personal success to the motivations and actions of single individuals. With the loss of jobs, no source of income, and being faced with increasing economic hardships, the Department of Agriculture reported that forty-six million Americans signed up for food stamps in 2012.
