12.        Which factor offers more opportunities for success in our society: education or
money and property? In my view, education has replaced money and property as the
main provider of such opportunities today. I base my view on two reasons. First,
education—particularly higher education—used to be available only to the wealthy but
now is accessible to almost anyone. Second, because of the civil-rights movement and
resulting laws, businesses are now required to hire on the basis of merit¹ rather than the
kinds of personal connections traditionally common among the wealthy.
      Education probably always played a key role in determining one's opportunities
for success. But in the past, good post-secondary education was available mainly to the
privileged² classes. Because money and property largely³ determined⁴ one's access to
higher education, money and property really were the critical factors in opening doors to
success. However, higher education is more egalitarian today. Given our vast numbers
of state universities and financial-aid programs, virtually⁵ anyone who meets entrance
requirements for college can obtain an excellent college education and open up 
windows of opportunity in life.
      Another reason those opportunities will be open to educated young people from
middle-class and poorer backgrounds is that hiring is more meritocratic today than ever
before. In principle, at least, we have always been a society where all people are equal;
yet in the past, children of the wealthy and the well connected could expect to obtain
higher-status jobs and to receive better pay. But the laws and programs resulting from
our civil-rights struggles have produced a modern business climate in which jobs are
available on an equal-opportunity basis, and in which candidates⁶ have a legal right to be
judged on the merit of their educational background and experience.
      In conclusion, education is probably the main factor in opening doors to success
for young people in our society. The fact that education has supplanted⁷ money and
property in this role is owing⁸ to a more egalitarian system of higher education, as well
as to more merit-based hiring practices mat generally value individual education over
family fortune or connections.

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