In many cases, it's true, although having connections helps, a lot. OTOH, some people think they exist only to get in the way of others who are trying to do something and a large part of succeeding has to do with making these connections along the way. Obviously, being born into a wealthy family doesn't hurt, but even then, some don't want to use what comes along with that, some fail even with the free money and some just can't get out of their own way.
Expectations need to be managed- I have read comments from people who came here recently (the past 20 years) and they're confused because they haven't been able to get very far, even though they heard the 'streets are paved with gold' and 'you can be anything' comments. I also know immigrants who left places like Mexico because they had no opportunities, at all. One worked for a landscaper and when I met him, he was in his middle-40s. He didn't read or write and had never come to school because his village didn't have any. I know someone else who, in her words, "I came here just so I could work". She doesn't read or write very well, either- same reason. What she has learned happened after she came here.
The problem I have with many who were born here- they achieve nothing and complain about it, even though school is free if they would just go and try to learn, but many say "There's nothing for me there", "I hate school", etc. That leaves them with few options. OTOH, people from other countries come with the clothes they're wearing and a few dollars, find a place to stay with family/friends and the first thing they do is get a job working for someone who speaks the same language. They gradually learn English (from those people or a program for English as a second language) and pretty soon, they save enough money to find a different place, learn to drive (legally, or illegally) and if they avoid criminal activity (this is a very real problem), they can drive farther for better jobs.
One way for them to advance further is to learn to do something well and start a business serving their own people. I see lots of people from other countries with small shops, driving trucks with their own name, landscaping companies, construction etc- these tend to be more Hispanic people but the small shops are often owned by Russian and Eastern European people and those are frequently technical businesses, like computer/handheld repairs or tailors/shoe repair, auto salvage, scrapyards, retail. I know one Russian woman who rented a corner in a computer store, repairing smart phones, selling accessories and parts. The manager of the store is from Ukraine and IIRC, she had gone there because she knew this, but she had an idea and he helped make it happen. Eventually, she got her real estate license, bought a building with apartments above the first floor and opened a store selling healthy pet foods and supplies.
By education in USSR/Russia, she was a mechanical engineer but when she came to the US, she couldn't get a job in engineering because they said she needed a diploma from an American school. I'm not sure I buy that, I think she may have hit too many dead ends and people who didn't want to let her test for the material at a college- if you know this material, it doesn't matter which language is used or where it was learned- the concepts and formulae are the same.
Your last paragraph is exactly the reason we don't want to be taxed heavily but it also has to do with the huge population here- it's a lot easier to support a small number than literally millions. If the link is accurate, Norway has 123K unemployed- Chicago, Illinois has about 100K and that's just one city. (second link)
Unemployment Rate in Norway remained unchanged at 4 percent in September. This page provides the latest reported value for - Norway Unemployment Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.
tradingeconomics.com
Nearly 100,000 Chicago-area residents are out of work, and at 6.2% the Chicago metro area has the highest unemployment rate of the nation’s 50 largest metro areas. Illinois as a whole isn’t doing much better, with a 6.1% unemployment rate.
www.illinoispolicy.org
