[svandamme]

That he made it , is great , it prooves that some people can pull themselves up by the bootstraps if in a position to do so

but it does not prove that "anyone" can make it like he did

It's not clear if this kid is black, hispanic, or native american

It is clear , he was educated, brought up with a skill-set he was able to put to good use
hell, he wrote a book, so i assume he does have a way with words that makes him stand out from the real bums, that do not have his ability with language, like he does

Maybe he even has a certain natural charm, that helped him in this ordeal, you can say what you want, but some people just manage to create luck based on their smile and way with people...

i'm not making excuses for all "bums"
but to claim that "anyone" can make it, despite their previous history , is just a big generalization .. Some people have the bad luck of being born in the town they were born, with the parents that they got, and the piss poor parenting or situation they started life with... And if you never learned to speak elegantly, if you never learned anything other then bad things, then eventually, you do get stuck with tunnelvision and for lack of a better word i'll invent one, tunnelbehaviour