Is the American Dream a myth ?

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[...] How privileged you are to have a college degree? How unlikely was your encounter with your business partner? How lucky are you to be healthy? That's why we tend to largely overestimate the impact we, as individuals, have on our life paths. Conclusion Inequalities are at a record high, social mobility is at a record low, and our elite's moral values don't seem to go towards better redistribution. When people lose faith in the possibility of improving their condition, when they realise the American Dream has become nothing but a myth, they might resort to extreme means. [...]

[...] So how is the growth of income distributed among Americans? Well, since 1979, all of the income gains have been taken by the top and wages haven't changed for everybody else. It basically means that most households in the US have not seen any increase in their revenue for 30 years The Causes of Success Furthermore, it also seems that rich and poor largely disagree on factors that lead to success: People with high income are much more likely to attribute success to hard work rather than to factors like luck or being in the right place at the right time. [...]

[...] Is the American Dream a Myth? The American dream is the notion that the American social, economic, and political system makes success possible for everyone. It's linked to the notion of the ‘self-made man': the idea that, with enough work & dedication, anybody can climb the social ladder and become wealthy. I. Well, that's complete bullshit Many people criticize the idea of the American dream because they say that it is impossible for everyone to be able to fulfil their dreams – there are still inequalities in class, race, religion and ethnicity stopping people from ‘living the dream'. [...]

[...] That's actually one of the principles of capitalism: inequalities are accepted as long as the possibility of progress exists. We're okay with unfairness as long as there are good chances of improving our condition. The question is: what are the chances? Moving up is a lottery, and most people lose. Social Mobility To better understand inequality of opportunity, social scientists and economists have studied social mobility. Well, the answer is quite simple: Social mobility is the exception, not the norm. Another way to look at this is to consider income growth. [...]