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America divided – this concept increasingly graces political discourse in the U.S., pitting left against right, conservative thought against the liberal agenda. But for decades, Americans have been rearranging along another divide, one just as stark if not far more significant – a chasm once bridged by a flourishing middle class.
Peter Temin, Professor Emeritus of Economics at MIT, believes the ongoing death of “middle America” has sparked the emergence of two countries within one, the hallmark of developing nations. In his new book, The Vanishing Middle Class: Prejudice and Power in a Dual Economy, Temin paints a bleak picture where one country has a bounty of resources and power, and the other toils day after day with minimal access to the long-coveted American dream.
In his view, the United States is shifting toward an economic and political makeup more similar to developing nations than the wealthy, economically stable nation it has long been. Temin applied W. Arthur Lewis’s economic model – designed to understand the workings of developing countries – to the United States in an effort to document how inequality has grown in America.
The 2017 World Economic Forum had the answer: "The people who have not benefited from globalization need to try harder to emulate those who have succeeded," and, "'People have to take more ownership of upgrading themselves on a continuous basis.'"
(Score: 5, Insightful) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Tuesday May 23 2017, @10:51AM (10 children)
"Ah the American Dream. Other countries don't have a dream. You don't hear about the French dream or the Pakistani dream, do you? We don't have a dream here in Britain. And do you know why that is? Hm? Because we're bloody awake, that's why!" --Al Murray.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @01:07PM (8 children)
> We don't have a dream here in Britain.
Years ago a Brit (highly skilled toolmaker) told me the difference -- "In America, everyone has at least a tiny chance of growing up to be President, but in England I have no chance of growing up and becoming the King."
Once the Brits could see an infinitesimal chance in the legend of Arthur, the sword in the stone? But now their chance of making King is truly zero.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @01:31PM (1 child)
> but in England I have no chance of growing up and becoming the King.
This is a stupid comment. The prime minister runs the country. Of recent prime ministers:
* Theresa May, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, Margaret Thatcher, John Major have a pretty middle class background
* David Cameron has a pretty upper class background
How does that compare to recent US presidents? How many recent UK prime ministers are related? How does that compare to US presidents?
It seems to me US is much more similar, politically, to 18th Century UK, before e.g. the Great Reform Act (I don't know 19th Century so well).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @07:40PM
And don't forget that with a population of about a quarter that of the US, and the PM being up for election whenever the Parliament chooses to have an election, the likelihood of any given Briton becoming the PM at some point is significantly higher just because there's a much smaller population and much larger number of elections.
(Score: 4, Informative) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Tuesday May 23 2017, @02:04PM (1 child)
You say that like it's a good thing.
A one in 300million chance (assuming, incorrectly, that all US citizens have an equal chance at the presidency) is as good as no chance at all. In fact it's WORSE than no chance at all: Too many Americans think that that 1 in 300million chance is proof that they live in a perfect political system that never needs to be corrected and would never abuse them or anyone else. It's identical to the belief that the one in however million chance of starting a company in your garage and becoming the next Google billionaire means that capitalism is perfect and works for everybody. Or that "anyone" can start rapping and be the next Eminem/ Jay-Z. For every such success story, there a thousand or more equally talented / hardworking / worthy attempts that failed. [xkcd.com]
And of course it's all propped up by the divine American myth of meritocracy - that those who work hard will inevitably be successful. Well as more and more americans are discovering, hard work is not enough - those in power (be it politics, business, rap or anything else) have skewed the system so that it is insanely biased in their own favour, but of course it suits them to maintain the myth of a "level playing field" where young hopefuls believe that all that stands between them and a megayacht full of strippers is hard work and determination. In actual fact they stand very little chance, and are really only there to be exploited.
See also excellent sibling post about dynastic American presidents vs "ordinary background" British Prime Ministers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @03:55AM
https://web.archive.org/web/20120129050323/http://conceptualguerilla.com/?q=node/4 [archive.org]
"But here's something I’ll bet the dittoheads haven’t thought of. Maybe they're the chumps. Maybe they've been sold a bogus "American dream" that never existed. Maybe "the rules" they play by were written by the people who have "made it" -- not by the people who haven't. And maybe --- just maybe -- the people who have "made it" wrote those rules to keep the wannabes chasing a dream that's a mirage. "
(Score: 2) by NewNic on Tuesday May 23 2017, @05:27PM (3 children)
Nice quote, but wrong. Ask yourself why a US citizen such as Arnold Schwarzenegger will never run for President.
On the other hand, there is nothing to stop an immigrant becoming Prime Minister of the UK.
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @10:40PM (2 children)
Because he wasn't born in the US. If he dreamed of being the President of anything, it would have been Austria.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @03:16AM (1 child)
Thank you for pointing out the obvious part of the GP's post, the real point was that in the UK an immigrant could become prime minister.
At the moment I think its probably a good rule for the US or we'd see some weird loopholes used to impeach Trump and get us President Putin.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 24 2017, @05:31AM
The relevant part is that he's not eligible because he wasn't born here. So, it doesn't much matter whether or not be wants to.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @07:31PM
Teacher: That's called the American Dream. Do they have a German Dream?
German exchange student: We did once, but the rest of the countries didn't like it much.