Guess who’s losing faith in the American Dream? Everyone.

[n2doc]

chart, from the Brookings Institution's FixGov blog, is a pretty good barometer of the country's mood over the past two years: Americans everywhere, regardless of age, sex, education, party or ideology, are less likely to say that the American Dream - the notion that if you work hard, you'll get ahead - still holds true today.

Among all Americans, faith in the American dream dropped by 11 percentage points between 2012 and 2014. As Brookings' Bill Galston notes, members of Barack Obama's coalition have become particularly disillusioned: "The decline of belief in the American Dream is concentrated among women (down 14 percentage points since 2012), young adults (down 16 points), Democrats (17 points), and liberals (16 points)."

Republicans and conservatives, on the other hand, experienced smaller drops, and their overall belief in the American dream remains significantly more robust: 55 percent of Republicans believe in the American Dream today, compared to only 33 percent of Democrats.

Galston concludes that the era of hope and change may now be officially over. "The rhetoric of hope that worked so well in 2008 would be ineffective now," he writes. "In these circumstances, I suspect, citizens will be looking for leaders who offer concrete, credible plans for a better future—and who have what it takes to get the job done."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/09/24/guess-whos-losing-faith-in-the-american-dream-everyone/

[djean111]

1. "citizens will be looking for leaders who offer concrete, credible plans for a better future—and

who have what it takes to get the job done."

And - that does NOT include the TPP or any other of those "trade" agreements that give corporations power over the laws of countries in the name of making profits. That TPP is only getting the job done for corporations, and don't pee on my leg and tell me that is corporate profit trickle down and I should be thankful.

Will not be voting for anyone who favors these trade agreements, and no, the TPP is not a fucking pony. Calling the desire to get rid of pieces of excrement like the TPP a pony is just cheap deflective bilge.

[brewens]

2. I had a college history teacher in the early 80's that was not impressed with the "American dream".

He'd actually use air quotes and say it so you knew he felt it was a hoax. He'd go on about the Horatio Alger myth and the whole rags to riches thing.

They glorify those kinds of stories in such a way that we know about almost all of them, the people that made it really big anyway. The truth is that your odds are very small on hitting it big, even if you work hard. Your supposed to believe that you can, even without a large inheritence, provided you try hard enough. Failing that, you can always hit the powerball, right? Keep taxes low on those wealthy people because you aren't going to want to pay a lot of taxes when your ship comes in!

I didn't appreciate my history teacher for some years later. I kind of wish I had gotten to know him a little better. He was a real good guy I think.

[calimary]

15. And that's the crux of it, too, brewens.

"They glorify those kinds of stories in such a way that we know about almost all of them, the people that made it really big anyway. The truth is that your odds are very small on hitting it big, even if you work hard. Your supposed to believe that you can, even without a large inheritence, provided you try hard enough. Failing that, you can always hit the powerball, right? Keep taxes low on those wealthy people because you aren't going to want to pay a lot of taxes when your ship comes in!"

I'm convinced that's the crux of the whole republi-CON world-view and campaign canard: "just KEEP ON VOTING republic-CON, America! And YOU, TOO, will be RICH someday!!!!" It's that elusive, fantasy Powerball scam, politics-style. Nothing but just another three-card-monty bait-n-switch scam. Straight outta Mother Goose and the Brothers Grimm.

[1StrongBlackMan]

26. Sadly, ...

this realization/awakening is something known to PoC from the start ... We work hard, but have no illusion that forces beyond our control, e.g., discrimination, will always serve as an impediment.

But the fact that others are becoming, similarly, disillusioned, gives me hope.

[KurtNYC]

3. real wages peaked in 1968

due to a combination of factors that have little to do with political leaders.

Polls like this one are like asking how many 'believe in global warming' -- they aren't about facts and thinking, they are about feeling.

[closeupready]

4. Obama will be blamed, but fiscal conservativism is the culprit.

[stillwaiting]

6. And that's Mission Accomplished for the elite assholes.

But, Obama has done little (in my opinion) to truly fight to help turn the trend around that's been going on for the past 3 to 4 decades (i.e. Cabinet appointments, bully pulpit, etc.).

It's truly a win for the financial elite when the fiscal conservatism and austerity measures of the past 3 to 4 decades can be blamed on "liberalism".

[PeoViejo]

5. People must be waking up.

"The reason they call it the American Dream is because you have to be asleep to believe it."

George Carlin

[world wide wally]

7. We needed someone far stronger than Obama turned out to be. It was clear from the start that

Republicans were out to destroy him, and even if they had to take down the country along with him, the so be it. And they did.
Think back even to Reagan and you can see the anti-American values of the Republican party in action.
Reagan busted the unions to weaken the working class.
Bin Laden couldn't have imagined a better ally than Bush.
Now we have a totally dysfunctional, hostile house of reps.
What is even worse is that apparently a majority of American voters seem to support this and now want to give them more power.

I need to go read up on New Zealand.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. The dream has evaporated into dreary reality.

“Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” John Steinbeck

[marions ghost]

9. These numbers are significant

Waking up America? I hope so..........

[jwirr]

18. Or giving up? I hope not.....

[Zen Democrat]

10. The American Dream is a fantasy. Such phrases mean whatever you want them to mean.

[daleanime]

11. K&R....

[Android3.14]

12. I still believe that hard work helps to get you ahead

But that belief has taken a beating since the late '80s. I'm working five times as hard and 1.5 times as many hours as I did when I was just out of college, but I make 1/5 of what I did in 1988.

[1StrongBlackMan]

13. I haven't gone to the source; but ...

I wonder if they broke it out by race? If they had, I hope the had a "What F@%king American Dream" response, so African-Americans could appropriately respond.

[jwirr]

24. Yes, it is interesting that they did not break it down by race. Because since they did not this does

not show the whole picture. The results would be much worse. It would also be interesting to see how Hispanic people would respond. They probably came here with great hopes only to see that they had landed in a false paradise. The Native American's Dream would be somewhat different than the rest of us have. I don't think I have ever heard one of my relatives talk about an American Dream.

[Paper Roses]

14. I'm an old timer, born in 1942. I see the American dream as a nightmare.

Nothing in this life has prepared me for what is happening in the world today. I may be near the end of the line but I have children and grandchildren. I worry about what they will face. Not a good feeling at all.

Growing up, my family never had much but we were fed and clothed. Wars were not something that was in the everyday conversation. If you earned --maybe--8 to 10 thousand dollars a year you were doing well. Perhaps the figure was even less. I never knew what my dad received for pay.

The older I have become, the more disillusioned I am. Now I try to live on meager SS and go without. So do millions of others. We all know this is not uncommon. What I cannot come to grips with is the whole picture.
I am overwhelmed and disillusioned and know I am not alone.

American Dream? Does not exist any longer in my opinion.

[Stargazer99]

17. Born in 1940 and you express exactly what I feel

I've seen it much different. Employment by one member of the family supported the same with medical, dental and vision as won by unions. There was a law on how much interest that could be charged. Not days the excessive rate of interest is killing the lower classes.

[jwirr]

30. You are not alone. I was born in 1941. Much of what you talk about is what I went through. We

grew up in a world that was at first satisfied with simple living.

Then along came the 50s and we started believing the bigger, better and more was the road to success. And for many it did seem like a better life. My family was not one of them. We lost our farm to what eventually became corporate farming and remained poor for years. But as you said we were fed and clothed and had a home over our heads.

Then in the 60s & 70s we became a materialistic people who could not get enough and at first we made enough to be able to afford to live like that. By the end of the 70s prices had gone up and workers were feeling the pressure. I was a divorced mother with three daughters and one of them severely disabled. Poverty was a very familiar situation to us. But I did thanks to grants etc. manage to get a MSW.

Then came the 80s and the trickle down theory and out sourcing of our jobs. After that it has been all downhill for all of us but the rich. I probably could have made the dream work for myself in the 80s but that severely disabled daughter need 24 hour care. Instead of placing her in a center I did what my training had taught me to do - keep her in the best placement - at home. When she was in school or at the day center I worked low income jobs part time wherever I could get them. I took care of her for 45 years.

Bill Clinton seemed to be an answer to our problems but life for many of us did not change and many of the trickle down programs were left in place to continue destroying the middle class. As someone who was poor I will tell you that without a prosperous middle class life on the bottom is hell.

Since the turn of the Century it has only gotten worse. No one seems to be safe from the greed of the 1% anymore. I agree I am afraid for our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

The American Dream had become a wish for healthy food on the table, clothing even if it is used, a roof over our heads, healthcare and hopefully a job that can pay for our needs. Notice that education is not even listed anymore.

[ballyhoo]

16. It is now the American Nightmare. There will be no

recapture of anything lost because what existed in the past as far as base precursors to success have vanished. After this next election the Republicans will be in control in reality rather than just apparently like has happened since Bush. The one per cent rules this country now and will continue to do so until there is an event that wipes everyone out where a restart has to begin. I think that will occur relatively soon based on what is happening now in the middle east. But, if not, soon anyway, for we can't go on like this... Living has become too much of a chore.

[Rex]

19. The American Dream was always a hoax, propaganda from the Ownership class.

Oh sure, you can work you ASS off...but that has nothing to do with getting rich. Most rich people got that way due to connections in social circles or family.

[TBF]

35. True - some of us after WWII had half a chance -

I grew up in the 60s/70s with parents who were factory workers. I did work hard - but was lucky enough to be working in the house rather than out in the fields. I was able to get myself through a state university and make my way in the workforce. I didn't make millions but I did ok. I consider myself one of the very lucky ones to be able to do that. I come from a pretty large family and I've heard of one from the current generation who has followed with the same kind of drive & will be attending my alma mater next fall. So, in 30 years one more has made it through that threshold and may be able to find a decent job (as opposed to Walmart or McDonalds). And she'll likely do it with more loans because tuition is way more than $800/semester now. The multiples of other siblings/cousins are struggling through community college, military, low paying jobs.

[whatchamacallit]

20. The PTB view this as good news

They've always thought the middle class was too "entitled". This brings expectations in line with the reality they've been working to create.

[blkmusclmachine]

21. That's what happens when you have 2 Corporate Parties representing the 1%, and NOBODY

representing the 99%.


DC is a racket

[1StrongBlackMan]

32. The "American Dream" mythos is, far more, steeped in ...

{1SBM whispering} white privilege and religious tradition, than class politics; though it is arguable that the economic ruling class may have been at its root. But it is white privilege and religious tradition that sustains/sustained it.

[davidthegnome]

22. I'm not sleeping right now.

So, I don't actually believe it. Not in general, as a concept that applies to everyone, in any event. The very rich are already living it, the rest of us... not so much.

Say you are born into a middle class family, even upper middle class. You have a college fund already setup, your parents and family overall instill within you the notion that hard work will make you successful, perhaps one day even more so than they are.

You go to high school, you get decent grades, which takes you to college, perhaps even a decent school. Of course, that college fund your parents setup about 18 years ago and worked to add to, while a significant amount of money, is no where near enough to compensate for the rising costs of living. So you pick up a job while going to school. This (for a great many of us, anyway) requires either decent public transportation (not widely available in America) or your own vehicle. Most of us have to get our own vehicles. So you've got work, maybe 25-30 hours a week, school and classes and homework take up most of the rest of your time. Perhaps you are an excellent student, you never stay up too late, never go out and party, you are far more focused on your future career than on your social life, friends, significant others, whatever.

Then one semester you get sick. It's a flu that leaves you bedridden for days, or something even worse. That job you picked up at a local retailer quickly went to someone else willing to work for nine dollars an hour or so - your boss needed someone NOW. You start falling behind on those car payments a little. Through hard work and diligence, you find another job, and just when you're almost caught up with all of your bills again... damnit, that car breaks down and needs a new alternator - and a new transmission too. Finally, it's time to apply for a student loan or three...

It doesn't take long, before someone in even seemingly enviable circumstances can fall off that track for the so called American dream. Even if they are responsible and make every effort to do everything right. The vast majority of us don't have the advantages mentioned in this hypothetical - but I know a few people who had very similar opportunities. Of those few, almost all of them broke their American dreams over the hard American reality.

I do not believe in the American dream because I have lived an American life. The people I know who work the hardest are not wealthy - even those in the middle class are hanging on by a thread. I'm talking about people who work 80-100 hours a week, went to school, have degrees, and generally behave responsibly.

Overall, I know of perhaps two or three "well off" people who actually work for a living. The few millionaires I know were either born into wealth or inherited it - and are not very decent people.

The hardest working person I know earns forty thousand dollars a year. While the laziest, most narcissistic, most unpleasant shit I have ever met brings in millions through a history of family investments, property ownership, and so on and so forth.

The truth is that, generally speaking, people who work hard can get by - usually, if they're lucky and have good people around to lend a hand. But the idea that they end up living some kind of American dream fantasy? I don't think so.

[marions ghost]

28. You describe the situation well...

All bets are off for the middle class these days.

The 1% likes their chattle desperate and overworked. Nice and compliant.

[n2doc]

31. Yep

It used to be, going to a state school was cheap enough that one could work their way through, or their parents could pay the few thousand a year for costs. No longer. The people I know who are sending their kids to schools and 'living the dream' are all upper middle class/wealthy, with MD's, or established law practices, or politically-connected builders/contractors. Their kids go to the 'good' schools, given every test prep known to man, and are expected to go to good universities from day one.

For most, unless a child is extremely smart AND driven, they are relegated to the crappier schools, and/or laden with massive debt loads.

[Skidmore]

23. Perhaps it is time to dream a different dream.

I've been reading about this organization this morning.

http://www.newdream.org/

I think they are on the right track because if we don't reject the consumerism of the current iteration of the dream, there will be so much more lost.

[BrotherIvan]

33. Thank you so much for sharing that link

That is just what we need to talk about: redefining the dream. Our definition is impossible for young people to achieve and is it what will make them happiest? Because workers are no longer being paid a fair/union wage, getting that house with a fence and a car and a couple of kids means working until you drop, going into debt up to your eyeballs, putting your children into debt servitude for the rest of their lives, defining oneself by your possessions, with nothing at the end but a kick in the ass from your boss out the door, the meagre promise of social security, and the fear of crushing medical bills. That dream only exists to make corporations money.

I'm over at that site reading, but I do wish this was something we talked about much more. I find that Europeans can more quickly grasp these ideas because they haven't been so brainwashed and broken, robbed of self esteem by downsizing and workplace totalitarianism, and beaten over the head with constant fear by the media. They are trying out new ways of living and designing their lives, and "work as much as possible to make as much money as possible so you can buy as many things as possible" is usually much farther down on their list.

[KansDem]

25. Aw, c'mon guys! Turn that frown upside down! You gotta have...

...HEART!!!

I posted this not to be a smart ass but as a reminder that this is the propaganda we grew up with (see Rex, no. 19, above).

[alarimer]

27. The American Dream was always bullshit.

We are conned and lied to from day one. From our parents, teachers, politicians, the American Dream is a pack of lies we are meant to swallow to keep us docile and compliant.

[Cary]

29. This is the great "conservative" achievement

Sow discord and discontent, bring everyone's boat down, consolidate even more power in the top 1%, and be more like Mexico with more millionaires per capita than anywhere in the world and a $5 average wage.

This is their utopia. Why they don't just move to Mexico, I don't know.

What's truly disturbing is that some of us unwittingly play into their strategy by fomenting our own discord and discontent, and then bashing anyone who dares to point that out.

[woo me with science]

34. kick

[woo me with science]

36. kick