Not many Indian immigrants have PhD’s.
Not many bring loads of money.
And 95% of them have brown/dark brown/black skins.
Yet as a group, Indian immigrants earn more than any other ethnic groups in America, including white Americans, Jews, European immigrants, Oriental immigrants...all of them!
Proves once for all, United States is a country where opportunity exists to better your life if you work hard.
It is a matter of family culture and education and hard work, not color of skin any more.
Very good point.
I agree with your premise, and I disagree with Geithner’s conclusions, but the reason that some groups do better than others involves more than just working hard. It also has to do with how cohesive specific communities are, and how supportive and cohesive families are. Also, to some extent, what Geithner said about ‘how rich your parents are’ is also true - but for reasons that he and Obama would not likely want to acknowledge.
I personally know plenty of people, with the means to do so, who have spent a significant amount of money ($30,000-60,000 or more per year) sending their kids to prep schools with the kind of name recognition that would get them looked at by the Ivy's, irrespective of whether they had a perfect GPA. These same people sent significant donations to specific universities which they wanted their children to have a shot at. These things don't guarantee success, but they do give one a selective advantage, especially if you're not in a minority group or a demographic that gets more attention.
The solution is just the opposite of what people like Obama likely think. The answer is to downgrade the importance of whatever school you went to, give no special emphasis or credibility to those who go to ‘name’ schools, but rather base achievement estimates on criteria that are much more measurable - like standardized test scores and other performance measures (e.g. something worthwhile you did during a summer internship that wasn't at your uncle's business in Manhattan).
People like Geithner and Obama are presumed to be exceptional because of where they went to school. That, to me, is every bit as elitist as all the other things they are blaming for inequality.
Regarding hard work, I absolutely respect and agree with your admiration of this and your assertion that hard work ‘can’ lead to success. However, we have to recognize that mediocrity combined with politics and/or lack of ethics rises to the top significantly more often than does talent and hard work. Is Hillary the best and/or smartest lawyer in the world (if reports that she didn't pass the DC Bar are true, the answer is obvious). One need look no further than Obama to know that you don't have to be the hardest working, or the most brilliant, etc., to gain position, money, and security in life.
Yes, we do need to change the system, but in a way that would make it much harder for political movers and shakers like the Clintons, and Obama, etc., to achieve more than those who actually have innovative ideas and work hard.