Forty years. That is how long it has been since the monumental civil rights acts passed that granted everyone an equal opportunity to succeed in this country. In that time, we have also seen the rise of a welfare system to give people a second chance if they have fallen off the ladder of success, and the establishment of affirmative action to give minorities a step up in order to achieve equality.

But something went wrong along the way. Why after 40 years of generous compassion unrivaled in the rest of the world, have so many been left behind?

Leftists reply that there is an institutionalized racism that is holding most blacks and Hispanics back. Although some racism most certainly remains, and unfortunately probably always will, this seems a shallow argument. Laws forbidding discrimination based on race or gender have now been in place for a long time, and the deep-seeded hatred that was seen in Mississippi during the '50s and '60s has all but disappeared in an era of increased understanding and awareness.

After some research and deep thought into my ideology and of what I believe are the ingredients for individual success, I have narrowed the reasons for America's socioeconomical inequalities down to two main explanations: an over-reliance by minorities, particularly blacks, on politics to seek advancement, and a faulty mindset for much of the black and Hispanic populations. I also sought advice from some prominent conservatives such as Thomas Sowell, an economist, and Walter Williams, a syndicated columnist, both who happen to be black.

The last 30 years have seen a huge political investment, in mostly liberal politics, by blacks and Hispanics in order to obtain economic success. The ironic thing, though, is that many other minorities have sought very little, if any, political action, but managed to achieve tremendous economic success here in America.

When is the last time you have heard a group of Orientals complaining of white oppression holding them back? Despite this lack of political voice, Chinese immigrants have had a dramatic rise from poverty to affluence, according to Thomas Sowell in his book entitled Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality?

He goes on to speak of many groups that have gone to other countries, started at the bottom, and eventually achieved prosperity. There are the Chinese in Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and the United States; the Germans in the United States, Brazil, and Australia; and the English in Argentina. Also in Argentina, the Italian immigrants took little part in politics, yet have achieved economic dominance in many of the industries and skilled occupations there.

To be sure, there are an abundance of great success stories among the black and Hispanic populations here in the United States. Many more than the press and groups such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People would have you believe. The fact remains that they would rather highlight failure and attach some sociopolitical meaning to it than acknowledge success.

Sowell sums it up by saying, "It would perhaps be easier to find an inverse correlation between political activity and economic success than a direct correlation. Groups that have the skills for other things seldom concentrate on politics."

This most certainly isn't an insinuation that the aforementioned groups are superior to others. It just highlights the fact that if you focus on self-improvement, a great work ethic, and don't concentrate too much on perceived or real environmental conditions, there is nothing that can hold you back.

Which brings us to what I believe is the definitive problem for many of America's minorities and impoverished peoples: a faulty mindset. There is not some great white conspiracy designed to keep the black man down. Instead, I believe that many in the black community, especially in the inner city, have the mindset that "I am a black man in a white man's world, with no hope to succeed."

The problem with this is that even if it were true, which I sincerely doubt, then you have already lost. Those who think in this way have convinced themselves that they can't succeed and, therefore, they won't.

Can you imagine what would have happened if the Penn State football team had gone into Ann Arbor thinking there was no way they could beat Michigan? Chances are they would have lost, and probably quite badly. But because they had faith in their abilities and approached the game with a winning attitude, they came out victorious. That analogy can be attached to nearly every facet of life. Sure you may fail sometimes, but you get back on your feet, learn from your mistakes, and try again.

There are numerous examples of people who have had the odds stacked against them. There was Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist and a Jew, who during World War II was imprisoned in the death camps of Nazi Germany. His whole family, parents, brother, and wife, all died in the death camps or were sent to the gas ovens. He himself suffered torture and innumerable indignities, but he realized that he still had "the last of the human freedoms" -- the power to choose his response. The Nazis could control his environment and torture his body, but because he was self-aware, he could decide within himself how all of this was going to affect him. His personal strength was an inspiration even to his guards. After the war, he became a renowned psychiatrist and wrote many influential books.

Others who may come to mind are Helen Keller, Ghandi, and Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, was born poor in the backwoods of Kentucky. Yet he became the epitome of the American Dream by educating himself, and believing that "work, work, work is the main thing" needed to achieve success.

Walter Williams offers this perspective: "More than anything else, wealth results from a state of mind and a set of values. Government is not a source of wealth. Governments, including ours, are essentially parasitic: they consume and dispose of wealth produced by private individuals.

At the individual level, being well off at least requires motivation, self-discipline, self-respect, honesty and respect for others."

Conservatives recognize that there is no inherit superiority of one group over another, and instead of searching for excuses, realize that those individuals who work hard and pursue the tools needed to succeed, will do so under free market competition.

Granted, there are some other factors that have led to the disparity in success for different groups of Americans. We have a welfare system that discourages work and encourages illegitimacy and laziness. We have a public school system, especially in the inner city, where kids graduate without being able to read their own diplomas and where teachers love the union more than they love the kids. And we have a society that through the tax system discourages success and encourages mediocrity.

But these are problems that span all of America's subpopulations. The disparity for some minorities such as blacks and Hispanics comes from the misguided focus of energies and a self-destructive mindset.