The (Easy?) Road to the White House

President Obama's speech today to students all across the United States is problematic, because it tokenises the successes of a few while ignoring a deeper problem in American society. Obama's speech only makes sense if there were truly equal opportunity and access to education for all students in the country. Reality shows that this is far from the truth.

Students do not only drop out of school, because they do not try, but some do so because their family's financial circumstances do not allow them to even finish high school. If a student's family has to choose between sending their children to school or working full-time to make ends meet, it is not hard to see where the obvious choice lies.

Furthermore, even if students try hard, there is no guarantee that they will be able to go to a university that prepares them for occupations that the President speaks about, such as being a senator, doctor, innovator, etc. This is NOT to say that one must have an advanced degree to become these things, but it helps infinitely. In California, such universities start at the price tag of $9000+ per academic year for student "fees" and the price tag is much higher for private institutions. Living expenses included, one year at a good university can exceed $25,000. Fiscal irresponsibility has scaled back Cal Grants, which would have allowed students of low-income to afford tuition. However, the bigger problem lies in those middle-class families who are not poor enough to qualify for Cal Grant and not rich enough to pay for college. This also does not address the fact that undocumented students cannot qualify for any public financial aid at all. The United States only believes that education is a right up through high school; higher education is not seen as a right. Which of the occupations the President described is realistically attainable with, at best, a high school diploma/GED?

Another problematic part of Obama's speech is his condemnation of those who quit school and thus are quitting on their country.  This is a whole new can of worms, but I think the best way to summarise the problem is to quote the First Letter of John, "We love because He first loved us."

While President Obama is very correct is saying that nobody's current situation forces their destinies to be a certain way, it is also very inconsiderate to think that one's current situation does not have a role to play in one's future. Sometimes no matter how much hard work one may contribute, the road to the White House is not accessible to her/him.