American Dream Lost
It’s been awhile since marriage and 2.5 kids in a suburban home behind a white picket fence told the real story of America. But is the American Dream Lost? If so, can we get it back? (Event photos.)
In a time of unparalleled creation of wealth, the spoils of the American dream are increasingly going to the top 1% (amid forces that are overwhelming and global), while unemployment, plant closures and foreclosures plague far too many Americans. At the same time, the family has taken a hit – with 40% of births now occurring outside of marriage (much higher among minorities and low income Americans).
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What our deeply divided political dialogue doesn’t ever quite get to, however, is that the two data-supported trends are closely related (NY Times: Two Classes, Divided by “I do”). You might say that both are American “asteroids,” getting bigger and closer over time, the longer we ignore them. And until we cross the partisan divide and realize that team effort wins the day – as we would behave if these were real asteroids we must deflect to protect life on earth (uh, the movies people), we’re stuck in a do-loop of failure to communicate.
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Kay Hymowitz
Kathryn Harker Tillman
Andrew Gillum
Richard Albertson
Bill Mattox
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Join the Asteroids Club
Imagine there is a giant asteroid heading to earth, expected to destroy life as we know it. There’s no question we’d stop the incessant partisan bickering and do everything within our power to deflect the asteroid. Right?
Village Square launches “The Asteroids Club”
The Asteroids Club is a new approach to communicating about the civic problems that polarize – and paralyze – us. (You know, the ones which are hurtling toward us through space and time at an alarming rate of speed.) The concept grew out of the field of moral psychology, which tells us that people are more likely to find common ground when they unite to fight common threats. Like any good club, we’ve got a motto: “I’ll help you deflect your asteroid, if you help me deflect mine.”
