The American Dream for the middle class is no longer available due to rising income inequality and a lack of social mobility. In David Wallechinsky’s essay, “Is the American Dream Still Possible?” he explains a survey taken of the middle classes and shares that half of the employed responders say they have experienced increased healthcare costs or a cut in health benefits.
Wallechinsky explains that everyone wants to live the American Dream. They would like to live in a decent-sized house, have cars, and have money to pay their bills. Many Americans can’t remember anything but their economy, while it skyrockets inequality, in which living standards for many Americans are staying, while rich people are pulling away. A well-known team of inequality researchers—Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez, and Gabriel Zucman—has been getting some attention recently for a chart it produced.
“This line captures the rise in inequality better than any chart or simple summary I’ve seen. I went to the economists with a request: Could they produce versions of their chart for years before 1980, to capture the income trends following World War II? You are looking at the result here.”
In D. Leonhardt. article, he explains that many Americans can’t remember anything but the economy’s skyrocketing inequality. For years, Americans are assumed to have bad capitalism and are cruel. Then came America’s big U-turn, when we deregulated, de-unionized, lowered taxes on the top, ended welfare, and stopped investing as much in the economy in education, and infrastructure. The fact is, we’re falling behind. While median per capita income in the United States has stagnated since 2000, it’s up significantly in Canada and Northern Europe.
How do we solve these financial problems? One thing we need to do is research and understand the problems. “Once we find our research and understand the situation, we should tell someone like an adult or guardian about the study and make it reassemble to explain. Then, when the adult understands, it should spread out so everyone should know.” Why Is the Middle Class Ruined by Rising Income and the Lack of Social Mobility?
