American Dream Dies in Our Wallet

Frank Rich: 'Outrageous gap' between rich and poor makes a joke of it

(NEWSER) - The death of Robbins Barstow, an American dad whose home movie of his family's vacation to Disneyland in 1956 is in the Library of Congress, has Frank Rich lamenting the loss of the American dream. Or more precisely the Disneyland Dream, as Barstow labeled his film. Watching it now brings back "all the sunny idylls of 1950s pop culture," but something deeper than nostalgia is at play, writes Rich at the New York Times . It recalls an era when "economic equality still seemed within reach" for the "vast middle class." More»

Blame our culture of entitlement, victimhood, and greed

(NEWSER) - These days, America seems defined by a near-ubiquitous “simmering resentment, frustration, and anger,” writes Charles Hugh Smith on his Of Two Minds blog. Why is that? Smith blames:

• A culture of entitlement: From Social Security recipients to Wall Street welfare queens, “most of us have to elbow our way to the crowded public trough” for government cash.
• A culture of victimhood: We reward victimhood, and punish thrift and carrying one’s own load. And so we all feel inclined to get our claim on victimhood.

Woman fears return to hot-dogs-and-beans era

(NEWSER) - An angry black middle class voter confronted President Obama at a Town Hall meeting yesterday, saying: "I'm still waiting " for change. The woman, at the meeting arranged and broadcast live by CNBC, said she was "exhausted" defending the president, "exhausted defending the mantle of change that I voted for, and deeply disappointed with where we are right now." She said she and her husband "thought we were well beyond the hot dogs and beans era of our lives, but it's starting to knock on our door. Mr. President, I need you to answer this honestly: Is this my new reality?" More»

Watchers see ploy to hold on to middle class post-recession

(NEWSER) - Wal-Mart will discount around 10,000 items in the face of dipping sales, even as other retailers report increases in business. The move could be a ploy to hang on to middle-class shoppers, who flocked to the big-box behemoth in the depths of the recession but have been upgrading as the economic outlook brightens, analysts tell the Wall Street Journal . Not so, says Wal-Mart. More»

Hopeful responses to Zogby poll fall off dramatically from last year

(NEWSER) - Just 57% of Americans think the “American Dream” is achievable today, down 10 points from around a year ago and from 76% in July of 2001, pollster John Zogby writes. He splits “American Dreamers” into four categories: Traditional Materialists, Secular Spiritualists, Deferred Dreamers, and Dreamless Dead. Over the last year, he writes, the “Dreamless Dead” have jumped from 12% to 20% of the population. More»