I found Dalton's claims that American society is far from operating as a strictly merit based system to be persuasive. He based most of his theory on the Horatio Alger myth. He stated that the myth "conveys three basic messages: 1. each of us is judged solely on his or her merits; 2. we each have a fair opportunity to develop those merits; and 3. ultimately, merit will out" (272-273). Dalton gave several examples to prove that he believes that each of these messages are false. He stated that if everything is really about merit, then that means it's not at all based on "pedigree, race, class background, gender, national origin, [or] sexual orientation" (273). And if you believe in the myth of Horatio Alger then maybe you believe that that is true; but all of those factors play a huge role in our lives when determining how successful we can be.
I found that one of his most interesting and persuading examples was when he was discussing racial discrimination, specifically about black people. He described a situation where a student asked him how to deal with the fact that one of her professors had written a recommendation for her in which he called her "the best Black student to have ever taken his class" (273). Because of her race there was a stereotypical view that she's not as smart, but she was very smart. So why can't she just be the best student and not the best black student?
I did find Dalton's excerpt to be persuasive and thought that he proved his points well. However, I do believe that hard work and perseverance can definitely get you places, no matter who you are. All odds regarding race, background, and everything listed above will always be against you or for you, but you have to be able to look past that and decided what being successful means to you and work for it.
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