Is the American dream a myth?

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The Prague Post:

 

 

Is the American dream a myth?

Inequality is rife in the so-called 'land of opportunity' as nothing trickles down

 

Posted: June 13, 2012

 

By Joseph Stiglitz

America likes to think of itself as a land of opportunity, and others view it in much the same light. But, while we can all think of examples of Americans who rose to the top on their own, what really matters are the statistics: To what extent do an individual's life chances depend on the income and education of his or her parents?

Nowadays, these numbers show that the American dream is a myth. There is less equality of opportunity in the United States today than there is in Europe - or, indeed, in any advanced industrial country for which there are data.

This is one of the reasons America has the highest level of inequality of any of the advanced countries, and its gap with the rest has been widening. In the "recovery" of 2009-10, the top 1 percent of U.S. income earners captured 93 percent of the income growth. Other inequality indicators like wealth, health and life expectancy are as bad or even worse. The clear trend is one of concentration of income and wealth at the top, the hollowing out of the middle and increasing poverty at the bottom.

It would be one thing if the high incomes of those at the top were the result of greater contributions to society, but the Great Recession showed otherwise: Even bankers who had led the global economy, as well as their own firms, to the brink of ruin received outsize bonuses. SNIP

 

Read More http://www.praguepost.com/opinion/13419-is-the-american-dream-a-myth.html

[Draggingtree]

Sorry I did not post Mr Red yesterday

 

2012 National Flag Day

 

I Am the Flag

 

 

I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands,

one Nation under God,

indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

 

 

 

 

Thanks to the Jawa Report

http://mypetjawa.mu....ives/212673.php