Look at the slogans Republican presidential candidates are running on: “Make America great again” (Donald Trump); “Believe again” (Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal); “Reigniting the promise of America” (Senator Ted Cruz of Texas); “Restore the American Dream” (former Senator Rick Santorum)’ “Heal. Inspire. Revive” (Ben Carson). Notice a theme here? … […] Read more »
The rise of Neo-Nativism: Putting Trump into Proper Context
… Simply put, Trump’s candidacy taps into a deep, visceral fear among many that America’s best days are behind it. That the land of freedom, baseball and apple pie is no longer recognizable ; and that ‘the other’—sometimes the immigrant, sometimes the Non-American , and almost always the nonwhite—is to […] Read more »
Is the American dream really dying?
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who’s running for the Republican presidential nomination, issued a stark warning recently. “Today, for the first time in history, a majority of Americans believe that our kids will have a worse life than we do,” Cruz told conservatives in South Carolina. … Cruz is right […] Read more »
Battleground 2016: Economic security, equal opportunity, and a fair shot at the American Dream
Celinda Lake, Daniel Gotoff & Matt Ogren, Lake Research Partners The findings from the most recent Battleground survey underscore the deep sense of anxiety and frustration that have defined the national mood for well over a decade now—anxiety over an economy that voters see as rigged against the interests of […] Read more »
American Dream? Or Mirage?
… Recently, studies by two independent research teams (each led by an author of this article) found that Americans across the economic spectrum did indeed severely misjudge the amount of upward mobility in society. The data also confirmed the psychological utility of this mistake: Overestimating upward mobility was self-serving for […] Read more »
Many Feel the American Dream Is Out of Reach
Despite an improving economy and jobs picture, the public is more pessimistic than it was after the 2008 financial crisis that it is possible to work hard and become rich, according to a New York Times poll. … Notwithstanding the bleaker view of upward mobility, a majority of those polled […] Read more »