Page 13 - Freedom in the world_Neat

years. While Congress has addressed a few of these deficiencies, more aggressive action is
called for if the American method of choosing political leaders is to match our nation’s
democratic ideals.

Today’s American lives in freedom. The self-correcting democratic system will continue to
protect that freedom so long as its institutions remain robust and Americans remain willing
to scrutinize and improve their own conditions and practices. It is our hope that this report
helps to catalyze that process.

Equality Of Opportunity Under Globalization:

Full Chapter

Almost since the founding of the republic, equality of opportunity has been recognized as
a value that is fundamental to the American idea. From the beginning, Americans believed
that their society was in a basic sense different from Europe, where a man's destiny was
largely determined by his social class. In the United States, by contrast, a man's success
depended on his ability, ingenuity, and character. The phrase "the American Dream"
expresses the ideal that everyone, no matter how humble their station, has the potential to
attain a degree of middle-class prosperity.

The United States has often observed its commitment to equality of opportunity in the
breach. Under slavery and segregation, blacks were denied practically every avenue to
prosperity, save for those involved in businesses that catered specifically to the black
community. Other nonwhite groups faced similar, if less systematically applied,
discrimination. Until relatively recently, women were discouraged from entering the
professions and excluded from positions of authority. More generally, in America, as in
every other society, the wealthy and increasingly the well educated enjoy advantages that
they are able to pass on to their heirs.

Yet despite its failure to live up to its ideals consistently, for many in the world the United
States remains the land of opportunity. America is today, as it was a century ago, a land
where both freedom and the chance to succeed beckon to those in other nations who
suffer poverty, repression, or both. Where previously wave after wave of European
immigrants sought a better life, today immigrants from Latin America, Asia, the Middle
East, and Africa do the same. Darker-skinned people were for years denied entry to the
United States. The fact that the current immigration flow is overwhelmingly drawn from
non-European populations represents a dramatic change in American policy. The proven
ability of these new immigrants to hold down jobs, raise families, learn English, and
assimilate into American society is an impressive achievement by global standards and a
reaffirmation of the idea of America as the land of opportunity.

Page 13 of 168