When I was growing up, my parents enjoyed life with each other and with my brother and me. They read books and newspapers and discussed ideas at the supper table. My father always had a job. My mother worked part time as well. The money coming in placed us in the middle of the middle class, far from the one-percent, but we never missed a meal or suffered major medical expenses that weren’t covered by insurance. We were part of a loving church community.

Why shouldn’t I be judged by a higher standard of accountability than children born in circumstances like New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof describes: “But if you’re one of the one-fifth of children in West Virginia born with drugs or alcohol in your system, if you ingest lead from peeling paint as a toddler, if your hearing or vision impairments aren’t detected, if you live in a home with no books in a gang-ridden neighborhood with terrible schools — in all these cases, you’re programmed for failure as surely as children of professionals are programed for success . . . When kids in poverty stumble, it’s not quite right to say that they ‘failed.’ Often, they never had a chance.”

To whom much is given is much required. Hold all of us accountable. If we blame poor Americans who make irresponsible choices, Kristof says, blame rich Americans who are irresponsible as well. You could start with the ones who scammed Americans with mortgage abuses.