There was a time when Americans presumed they would be better off than their parents, and parents hoped they would live to see the day when their kids prospered. But is that still possible today? Is there an expectation that if you work hard, you will naturally prosper? There are competing polls on how Americans view their circumstances. Patrice Lee writes for the Independent Women’s Forum.
In June, a CNN poll found that 63 percent of Americans believe their kids will be worse off than they are – a stunning reversal from CNN data at the end of the last century (1999)– when two thirds of Americans predicted that children would grow up to have it better than their parents. That touched off a host of commentaries and criticisms like “The American Dream is Dead, and Good Riddance,” “The American Dream is Out of Reach,” and “The American Dream: Is It Slipping Away?”
A new Fox News poll provides another perspective. When asked “However you define it, do you believe you personally have achieved the American Dream, you’re on your way to achieving it, or do you feel the American Dream is out of reach for you?” 33 percent of Americans said they achieved it and 39 percent said they are on the way to achieving it. When looking at the age ranges, not too surprisingly, most of those over 55 years have achieved the American Dream compared to those under 55 who are largely working on it. However, across all age ranges about a quarter have given up hope or think it’s out of reach.
What has happened in our country to make one out of four people of all ages give up? How very, very said it is.
There IS hope for these folks, but it comes not in a government subsidy, but through a thriving economy. But thriving economies don’t happen by chance. They’re the product of concerted efforts to keep government to its core services, businesses free to compete and innovate, and ensure men and women are able to tap the skills that interest them and that the marketplace needs. We see the opposite approach from the federal government, and we see the predictable results. Thankfully, we have reformers in the General Assembly who are leading this state back, in concert with the governor. It doesn’t happen by chance. It happens when the right policies are followed — and we know which ones work, and which ones don’t.
