The Myth Busting Economist by Larry Malone

Is the American Dream a Myth?

The idea that each successive generation of Americans is better off than the one before is the American Dream. Our Declaration of Independence proposed America as a place where individuals could rise from effort instead of birthright. As we near its 250th anniversary, let’s recall the first words the Declaration:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that amongst these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The pursuit of happiness meant unshackling our obligations to a king. That freedom lifted expectations that children would surpass the well-being of their parents as a core value in our national identity.

The historian James Truslow Adams popularized the notion of the American Dream in his book “The Epic of America” (1931) by describing the U.S. as a place where life should be “better and richer” for each generation. The Dream has been fading as wealth inequality rises and the middle class shrinks, making it harder for families to get by, even with two incomes. The economic divide between rural and suburban and urban America is also widening.