The Economist features this story about the likelihood of social mobility in the American society (the possibilty to earn more money then your parents). My feeling coming over here from time to time now is that chances are much better then in 'Good Old Europe". But it's just about chances. there are enough opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic...

"equality sociThe past couple of decades have seen a huge increase in inequality in America. The Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think-tank, argues that between 1979 and 2000 the real income of households in the lowest fifth (the bottom 20% of earners) grew by 6.4%, while that of households in the top fifth grew by 70%. The family income of the top 1% grew by 184%---and that of the top 0.1% or 0.01% grew even faster. Back in 1979 the average income of the top 1% was 133 times that of the bottom 20%; by 2000 the income of the top 1% had risen to 189 times that of the bottom fifth."