Toss the American Dream

Democrats Elizabeth Warren and Bill de Blasio have a nice op-ed in the Washington Post decrying the current level of income inequality in America. They also cite research on why this is bad and give a list of things that should be done: livable wages, paid family leave, education without drowning in debt, investment in research and innovation, investment in infrastructure (including broadband), strengthen Social Security, strengthen the marketplace to prevent bullying corporations, promote responsible trade, and end tax breaks for billionaires. All good stuff and I'm glad Warren and de Blasio are talking about them.

The article ends with:

Rebuilding our middle class won’t be easy, but real change rarely is. It’s time to be bold.

The American Dream depends on it.

And though Melissa McEwen of Shakesville likes all those policy proposals she objects to that ending. First it (and the article) don't mention the poor, it is all about the middle class (though the policies mentioned will help many poor become middle class). By speaking in terms of the middle class, it upholds the conservative line that the poor are lazy moochers who just aren't working hard enough (see the item on livable wage). By focusing on what these policies do to the middle class it suggests that a permanent underclass is acceptable.

Second, McEwen calls the American Dream a "garbage fantasy." It denies the existence of privilege and it is rooted deeply in the myth of bootstraps. Let's toss that phrase in the Dumpster.