Many Americans wrongly believe that the United States is a classless society. Economic disparaties exist, sure, but according to the American Dream, hard work makes it possible for ambitious individuals to move up in class.
Don't believe the hype.
Bob Herbert deflates "the mobility myth" in an editorial that comments on how the Bush administration is waging and winning a cruel class war. Bush and company may be losing the war in Iraq, but they're kicking ass back in the States, where the poor and middle classes continue to suffer from tax policies that reward the ultra-wealthy and punish workers.
Partly because of the effectiveness of the Right's media machine, which has been successful in hyping up faux issues (flag burning, etc.) to divert attention from it's ruthless policies, many Americans remain unaware that the gap between the rich and the everbody else continues to grow.
The Right wraps itself in the flag and accuses anyone who dares to report that Americans are not necessarily the envy of all people around the globe of being unpatriotic.
We need to hear more voices, especially in the mainstream media and in the Democratic Party, who are willing to tell it like it is when it comes to socio-economic realities.
As Herbert writes, " Economic mobility in the United States - the extent to which individuals and families move from one social class to another - is no higher than in Britain or France, and lower than in some Scandinavian countries. Maybe we should be studying the Scandinavian dream."
From what I've observed of here in Sweden, that last bit of advice would be particularly prudent (to borrow one of Bush Sr.'s favorite words). However you measure a country's standard of living, Sweden is doing quite well. And Swedes enjoy, I think, a higher quality of life than most people in the States. They work fewer hours per year, spend less time stuck in traffic, worry less about social security, health care, education and retirement, and as a consequence enjoy more quality time with friends and family.
Sadly, it seems that most U.S. politicians believe American voters are too proud to acknowledge that the U.S. might learn from another country's example. We hear all sorts of talk about traditional values from the Religious Right. They would do well to remember that Pride is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Love of one's country must not blind one to the country's flaws. That love should impel one to remedy existing problems.
Incidentally, today is Sweden's National Day, so my mini sermon is over. It's time to pack a picnic lunch and head to a park, or perhaps the sea. For those inclined to question my allegiance to America, don't worry. I'll be packing some American literature--probably William Gaddis's The Recognitions.
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When it comes to the dissolution of the American middle class, I was troubled for a long time about Thomas Frank's argument that middle America is being duped by buying into the Right's social agenda while being screwed by its social and economic policies. I don't think middle America is that stupid.
What I do think is that middle America is greedy, deluded, and caught up in mass entertainment as much as those heathens on the coasts - it may not be gay porn and bloody hell on the screen that grabs the headlines, but I'd argue that mass-appeal shows like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? or American Idol do much more damage to the American dream than Janet Jackson's flabby tit ever could.
What's being sold to the middle class isn't a lemon but a gamble, and Americans are more than happy to roll the dice. We're gambling away our future on a dream of prosperity without industry, and in the process we're lining the pockets of an elite class of wealthy individuals and corporations that reside on both the left and the right.
Casinos are propping up failing local governments. Las Vegas has become the model American city. This is not a right-left thing, but something much more insidious: capitalism hijacked by a carney class selling us little more than smoke and mirrors.
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