Helen Keller on American Ideology of Individualism and Social Mobility

I had once believed that we were all masters of our fate-that we could mold our lives into any form we pleased…I had overcome deafness and blindness sufficiently to be happy, and I supposed that anyone could come out victorious if he threw himself valiantly into life’s struggle. But as I went more and more about the country I learned that I had spoken with assurance on a subject I knew little about. I forgot that I owed my success partly to the advantages of my birth and environment…Now, however, I learned that the power to rise in the world is not within the reach of everyone. – Helen Keller

What can we do to make sure that the power to rise in this world is within reach of everyone?