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Its like the American dream in reverse. Thats how President Barack Obama, ten days after taking office last year, described the plight of Americans hit by the faltering economy. His catchy description fell short the dream has turned into a nightmare for tens of millions.
So much so that an opinion poll this week showed that 43 percent of those surveyed thought that the American Dream is a thing of the past. It once held true but no longer does. Only half the country believes the dream still exists, according to the poll, commissioned by ABC News and Yahoo against a background of dismal statistics on growing poverty, inequality, unemployment, and Americans without health insurance.
Before turning to the gloomy numbers, a brief detour to the meaning of the phrase the American Dream, long a familiar part of the U.S. (and international) lexicon. The survey defined it as if you work hard, you get ahead. Thats neat shorthand for the concept that the American social, economic and political system makes success possible for everyone.
In 2009, the Bureau said, 3.8 million people joined the ranks of the poor by falling below the poverty line, defined by the government as an annual income of below $22,000 for a family of four.
In contrast, the net worth of the 400 richest Americans rose by a healthy eight percent in the year to August, according to a list by the business magazine Forbes published a week after the poverty figures. That perpetuated a rich-poor gap of proportions similar to the 1920s, before the Great Depression. For most of the past four decades, the annual incomes of the bottom 90 percent have changed relatively little while those of the top 1 percent have tripled.
In terms of equitable distribution of income and wealth, the U.S. is closer to Iran, Argentina or Mexico than to Canada or Germany."
I wonder how long it actually takes you post with all those fonts and bold words..
Can't you ever post like a normal person?
People still take the phrase 'American Dream' seriously?
How many times through books/movies/music do we have to be reminded it's not what it seems?
I wonder how long it actually takes you post with all those fonts and bold words..
Can't you ever post like a normal person?
America goes from the norte polo to Antarctica.
Until you realize that ? You're a fool
Damn that Obama is a mighty powerful dude.
Ending Americas dream in a year or so. What a badass.
America's dream must have been awfully flimsy to be whoop assed so easially.
"For most of the past four decades, the annual incomes of the bottom 90 percent have changed relatively little while those of the top 1 percent have tripled."
