Page 46 - February_2016_Life_In_Naples_Magazine
P. 46
DOCTOR’S CORNER
GENETRHEANTEIXOT N
by Allen Weiss, MD, MBA, FACP, FACR reunion—as I did this past year—can attest to the wide range of
President and CEO, NCH Healthcare System accomplishments of classmates. In my graduating class we had a
two-time United States House of Representatives member. (We
T he American Dream has been that all children— also had an individual who spent 20 years behind bars.) Almost
regardless of their family, social background, economic universally, our upwardly mobile parents had high aspirations for
resources, or any other tangible asset—can become more their children much the same way their parents, many of whom
successful than their parents. were immigrants, had sacrificed so their children, our parents,
But for the next generation, moving up the ladder could be first-time college graduates and professionals.
is no longer the norm. This upward mobility of success,
affluence and influence is now being challenged. In fact, more Now, the inequities in America are placing these success
than ever before, more children have less of an opportunity to stories and in some cases, the Horatio Alger stories, in jeopardy.
advance their lot in life.
There are two broad areas of inequity, according to Putman:
This disquieting trend is well outlined in Our Kids by Robert • Inequality of income and wealth. The distribution of
Putman, a professor of public policy at Harvard. He shares income and wealth in today’s America has never been so great.
life stories of high school classmates who graduated fifty-
plus years ago. Anyone who has attended a 50th high school
46 Life in Naples | February 2016
