everyone has the same "Basic" equality opportunity in the US, what they DO with that is the difference. some of it is education, some of it is living environment, but most of it is.. each individual's drive -effort- desire. that effort would reflect into the other aspects for the opportunity- making the effort would improve the individual's education, and would improve their living environment post education once they got a job that arose from the effort they made IN their education throughout the process. an innercity kid who has a decent family life but has the drive to do the work in school and keep their nose clean- will get scholorships to school, will get to attend a better university and -provided they chose the right major and get the degree- get a good paying job allowing them to remove themselves from the innercity "ghetto" into a more affluent section of the city they live in (or move elsewhere)
the less the individual makes the effort, the less equality opportunity they ultimately have, the more effort, the greater opportunity.- there are caveats to this etc. farmers can and will put in great effort but the payout can be minimal vs the effort put in.
being a lazy ass = bitching about no equality, since the best you will be is lower middle class- if that(unless you win powerball)
making the effort to get a good education- even from an inner city school CAN equal a higher quality college education and and atttending an ivy league college and that CAN equal a higher quality of life since you made the effort to maximize the opportunity you got.
IF everything collapsed...death rates in this country would be horrific the first year. the elderly the sick, those with conditions that means they need medicine taken daily. (diabetics and similar people- once the meds are gone.....) the population of the country would most likely drop by a good 30-50% in that year as the more healthy of us adapted to the environment around us. #1 water, #2 food #3 shelter. those in the cities would have issue with #1 & 2 if everything collapsed- we'd need to have open spaces for gardens, and raising livestock.