In 1931, the great American writer and historian James Truslow Adams coined the term "the American Dream" in his novel, The Epic of America. This dream, Adams declared, was predicated on life being "better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability of achievement regardless of social class or circumstances of birth."
In 2012, eighty-one years after Adams forged our national ethos, only six percent of children born to parents at the bottom of the socio-economic milieu make it to the top.
Children in many European countries have greater socio-economic mobility than those in the United States. And although the U.S. leads the world in educational attainment among 55- to 64-year-olds, it ranks fourth among 35- to 44-year-olds and 10th among 25- to 34-year-olds.
How distant is Adams' dream from the reality of America today?
Over the past year, Opportunity Nation has been working to hasten economic mobility for Americans.
We've forged a coalition of more than 250 partner organizations; hosted regional summits on opportunity on college and university campuses across the country; met with dozens of elected officials to sound the alarm about declining mobility in our country; and are actively engaging with political candidates across the divide about the roles they can play in advancing mobility.
This September, Opportunity Nation will host its second national Summit to shine a spotlight on one of the earliest and most critical rungs on the ladder of opportunity: ensuring that the rising generation is equipped with the skills needed to compete in the current and future economies.
At the Summit:
Opportunity Nation will be presenting this Summit at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 19, 2012 along with lead partners TIME Magazine, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Steering Committee members Year Up, Jumpstart, United Way Worldwide, World Vision, CFED, Points of Light and America's Promise Alliance.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Or if China and India are too far, consider Mexico. NAFTA supposedly cemented free trade, but we can't go to Mexico to sell our labor. It would be great if we could. Mexico has a huge English-speaking tourism sector in which we could easily outcompete the Mexicans. They have to learn English; we don't.
But there's the hypocrisy of globalism. It applies only to capital on purpose, in order to continue and increase the economic imbalance. It wouldn't benefit the 1% if we could go to Mexico to live and work.
I wonder what the criteria for making it to the "top" might be. It can't consist of becoming part of the 1%, can it? Can 6% of those born to bottom of the socio-economic milieu make it to the 1%? So the American dream is just a crass materialistic grab for money and possessions, if I understand correctly?
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Ok, look, I agree with everything pretty much, but we have to stop framing the American Dream as "making it to the top." That just encourages the greed that we see. In every society there will be those who "make it to the top." Kadafi made it to the top. See how that works?
The American Dream was about living comfortably, not luxuriously. The American Dream was a couple with 2.5 kids living in a house with a "white-picket fence" around it. It wasn't wealth. It was simply comfort without the constant fear of falling into an abyss.
And that's what we need to get back. We don't need to get back the ability to make it to top. That is still there for those ruthless enough to go for it. What we need to get back is the ability for ordinary men and women to live comfortable lives without having to be exceptionally heroic super-achievers.
Good living has nothing to do with the ability to buy JUNK. Instant gratification should be viewed as a very expensive trap geared to make others (who didn't earn it) rich.
I used to blame the schools until I had children of my own. Then I could see for myself that the biggest problem isn't the teachers, but rather the parents.
We enrolled our children in a no-frills no-nonsense private school to ensure that they would be surrounded by children with parents who are as dedicated to their children's education as we are.
The moon is relatively close, but only the very rich can hope to get there.