The Myth Of The American Dream.
"Self-Made" Millionaires & Billionaires Are Becoming More Of A Rarity.
The American Dream.
Something we are all told as children was possible as long as we worked hard, made the right choices, and followed the law. This couldn’t have been further from the truth as it misses an important fourth factor, luck.
Though in defense of our parents, they probably did not know they were lying. The idea held more truth when we were children, and even more-so when they were.
But that’s the issue, the American dream is dying and has been for a long time.
90% of children born in the 1940s grew up to eventually earn more than their parents, today that number is only 50%. A 2012 Pew Research study found that only 4% of Americans born in the bottom quintile ever make it to even the top 20%, with odds dropping below 1% after that.
For reference, that is someone making less than $30,000 a year only having a 4% chance of ever earning $150,000 in a year. You are more than twice as likely to have a heart-attack in your lifetime.
Stagnant wages play a large part into this, though one has to dive into the numbers for this to be clear. Since 1970 incomes for the top 1% rose 216%. In that same time income for the entire bottom 90% rose only 30%.
Meanwhile the consumer-price index, which tracks inflation, has grown 700% in that same time period. Education is up 146%, housing costs are up a whopping 1,600%, and this is all while average earners are making roughly the same income since 1970.
Large parts of this can be attributed to the multiple rounds of tax cuts passed down by republicans. First Reagan, then Bush, and now Trump. As tax cuts have been shown to decrease business investment in favor of means to enrichen their shareholders, and higher business investment typically leads to higher wages.
This is why the “self-made millionaire” or “self-made billionaire” is becoming even more increasingly a myth, if it wasn’t already before. Most “self-made” members of the millionaire or billionaire class are best summed up by a baseball analogy from Jim Hightower.
They started on third base and pretended they hit a triple, while the rest of us start at home having to get a hit.
If you look at the Forbes 400, 22% were born in upper-class families who inherited at minimum 6 figures. 12% inherited over $1 million dollars, almost 8% inherited upwards of $50 million, and lastly, a whopping 21% inherited enough to make the list without having to lift a finger.
Not to say it is not possible, but those not born into wealth are not racing on the same track as those who are. They are running on a much longer track with added obstacles, and expected to finish at the same speed.
The American dream is dead, but that does not have to be forever. America’s elite killed it for those below them in favor of keeping a larger share for themselves. The answer is to minimize these advantages and inequalities, and allow everyone the same opportunity to get a slice of the pie.
That’s the real American dream, and something I only hope we can return to.