On Twitter, entrepreneur Carol Roth asked people to submit stories of bootstrapping in America with the hashtag #IBootstrapped. Stories poured in. People told Roth of growing up poor and now owning a business, being the first person in their families to go to college, working hard and achieving success.

Some of the most powerful accounts came from people who truly struggled, were homeless, never finished high school, had teen pregnancies — but made it anyway. The American Dream is alive in each one of those stories.

Telling Americans they will never win if they weren’t born rich isn’t just factually wrong, it discourages people from even trying to make it.