Romney self-made? Not exactly

I can only assume that letter writer Mike Callahan is being sarcastic when he refers to Mitt Romney as a "self-made man" ("Experience counts," Oct. 8). From the moment Mr. Romney emerged from the womb, his arrival no doubt paid for by the best insurance money could buy, he was enveloped in a life of wealth and privilege.

Mr. Romney lived in all the right neighborhoods, grew up knowing all the "right" people and attended, at his parents' expense, all the best schools from pre-school through university. Of course, he never had to worry about paying back crippling student loans or holding down multiple jobs to pay expenses. Undoubtedly, he had accumulated more of the "right connections" by the time he reached kindergarten than most folks accumulate in a lifetime. Can anyone possibly deny that these connections were a major part of his success?

You can call Mr. Romney lucky or you can call him blessed. But to call him "self-made" is ludicrous and false and an insult to the millions of young people every year who, on their own, or with the help of their parents, work their way through state universities or community colleges or take on expensive student loans to make their dreams come true. These are the real self-made folks.

Mr. Romney started his climb up the ladder in the middle while most of us start at the bottom. Mr. Romney did well, but how could he not? He had lots of help, the kind of help most of us can only dream about.

Ann Power, Catonsville