TEACHING AMERICAN DREAM PROJECT
Lesson Title -THE AMERICAN DREAM
Grade – 11
Inquiry – (What essential question are students answering, what problem are they solving,
or what decision are they making?)
Is the American dream achievable today by all Americans?
Objectives (What content and skills do you expect students to learn from this lesson?)
Students will analyze multiple perspectives of a situation.
Students will read and interpret primary documents.
Students will formulate an opinion based on primary sources.
Materials (What primary sources or local resources are the basis for this lesson?) – (please
attach)
Freedom Writers/The Great Gatsby
Activities (What will you and your students do during the lesson to promote learning?)
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and
information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of
content.
a. Introduce a topic or thesis statement; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information so
that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a unified whole; include
formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding
comprehension. CA
b. Develop the topic thoroughly by selecting the most significant and relevant facts, extended
definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the
audience’s knowledge of the topic.
c. Use appropriate and varied transitions and syntax to link the major sections of the text, create
cohesion, and clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts.
d. Use precise language, domain-specific vocabulary, and techniques such as metaphor, simile,
and analogy to manage the complexity of the topic.
e. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and
conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or
explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).
1. Research the American Dream, take a position on the issue, and write an
essay/presentation on whether or not the American Dream can still be achieved by all
Americans. Include information from as many of the source materials as possible.
2. Prepare to write your persuasive presentation/paper. You have been given two graphic
organizers that you may find useful as you consider your argument. You may use the
organizer that best suits your position. Remember to not only incorporate information
from the source documents but also prior knowledge and research.
3. Create your presentation.
4. Limit
a. Paper
i. Individual- 4 pages
ii. Partner- 8 pages
iii. Group- 4 pages per person
b. Powerpoint
i. Individual- 5 full slides
ii. Partner- 10 full slides
iii. Group- 5 slides per person
c. Poster (28x22)
i. Individual- 1 poster
ii. Partner- Tri fold Poster
iii. Group- Tri fold & Poster
Arguments SUPPORTING the achievement of the American Dream by anyone based on your
reading of the source material, list below the most important arguments, or points of view,
supporting the idea that anyone can achieve the American Dream. For each argument, list the
supportive evidence or claims.
Arguments supporting idea of achieving
American Dream
Supporting evidence or claims AND source
Arguments AGAINST idea of achieving American Dream by anyone based on your reading of
the source material, list below the most important arguments, or points of view, presented against
the idea of anyone achieving the American Dream. For each argument, list the supportive
evidence or claims.
Arguments AGAINST idea of achieving
American Dream
Supporting evidence or claims AND source
Document A
American Dream - noun
1.the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to
be available to every American.
2.a life of personal happiness and material comfort as traditionally
sought by individuals in the U.S.
-Dictionary.com
Document B
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
among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
-Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
Document C
I have been in America since 1978. I have made and lost a lot of money during the past 18 years. I
arrived with nothing and worked hard. The opportunities in this country are phenomenal - it's like a
candy store of business opportunities! I always wondered why peasant immigrants from Italy, Greece,
etc., who landed in Australia (my home country) made it to prosperity long before the average Aussie.
Now I know.
There is no excuse for not being successful. Stop watching TV. Read the paper from front to back. Go to
the library and study business magazines like Success, Inc. and Entrepreneur. Then move on to light
business books.
Start a small home-based business doing something that you enjoy. Make a lot of mistakes and learn by
them. You will lose some money but don't let it get you into the quitting mode. It took Edison over
10,000 failures to invent the basic lightbulb!
Always keep the fire of success in your belly and know that you will overcome all obstacles, eventually.
Don't let negative people get you down.
And never, ever lower yourself to reading negative journalism like ``Who killed the American dream?''
(BusinessNews, Sept. 22-29). This is pathetic journalism written by losers.
-Ron
Browning-Nash,
The
American
Dream
-
Still
Alive
Document D
The American Dream never did exist for one group of Americans--the poor. And if life has become more
difficult for all working people, it is a disaster for the growing numbers thrown on the trash heap in the
richest country in the world. As of 2002, 34.6 million people--about one in eight Americans--lived below
the official poverty line, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, an increase of 3 million people over the
preceding two years.
Hunger and homelessness in the U.S. were on the rise. A survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors found
that requests for emergency food assistance jumped by nearly 20 percent in 2002. Requests for
emergency shelter assistance grew by an average of 19 percent in the 18 cities that reported an
increase, the fastest rise in a decade.
These are grim statistics. But by themselves, they don’t capture the terrors of being poor in the U.S. It’s
like walking through a minefield--where one false step can lead to catastrophe. That’s what happened to Janice Foster. In early 1998, she lost documents that she needed to remain on
welfare. After her benefits were cut off, she fell behind on the rent, and in July, she and her three
children were evicted. She began the ordeal that occupies all the time and effort of so many of the poor-trying to arrange a place to live for short periods with friends or relatives or in down-and-out hotels.
By August, she had failed. Janice and her children ended up at the Union Rescue homeless shelter in the
middle of Los Angeles’ Skid Row--a human dumping ground on the edge of the city’s downtown. There,
in the shadow of fancy skyscrapers, 3-year-old Deon and his 14-year-old brother William played in the
alleys--among men sleeping in cardboard boxes and using drugs in the doorways.
There are plenty of well-fed academics who claim to understand all this--why people like Janice and her
children have gone through hell. "If poor people behaved rationally, they would seldom be poor for long
in the first place," New York University political science professor Lawrence Mead told author Jonathan
Kozol. Smug words. But among the millions of people with stories like Janice’s, there is little "irrational" about
anything they did. The only thing irrational is the miserable circumstances that they were forced to deal
with in the first place. "If only I could, I would have done things differently," Janice told a New York
Times reporter, thinking back on the events that landed her and her family on Skid Row. "I would have
saved more money. But really, I didn’t have any money to save."
Yet blaming the poor for being poor is at the heart of everything the politicians say and do about
poverty. In 2002, George Bush signed legislation that reauthorized the system for aid to the poor
transformed by Bill Clinton’s welfare "reform" law in 1996. Bush’s contempt for the most vulnerable could be seen in two priorities of the religious right that
showed up in the reauthorization bill--$300 million a year in spending to promote "health marriages,"
and an increase in the work requirement recipients must meet to keep their benefits.
But when it comes to welfare, Bush is only an accessory after the fact to the original crime--committed
by Clinton in 1996 when he adopted Republican proposals to "reform" the welfare system that people
like Janice Foster relied on to survive. Clinton’s law abolished the federal government’s main welfare
program, Aid to Families with
Dependent Children. But it didn’t stop there. The law slashed $54 billion over six years from all kinds of programs--from food
stamps to Supplementary Security Income for disabled children. According to the Urban Institute, the
poorest one-fifth of U.S. families lost an average of $1,310 a year in benefits of all sorts as a result of the
1996 law. More than $100 a month-that’s the difference between hard times and destitution for
millions of people.
Yet the consensus in Washington is that welfare "reform" worked--Bill Clinton considers this his greatest
"success." Success? The 1990s economic expansion may have hidden the consequences for a while, but
numerous reports show that between a third and half of the recipients who left the welfare rolls
couldn’t find regular work. Estimates of the average wage for former recipients in different regions of
the country are almost always less than $7 an hour--an improvement over the paltry benefits they
received from welfare, but not enough to lift a family above the poverty line.
According to one study at the end of the 1990s, about half of former recipients said that they had
skipped a meal to make food last until the end of the month, and 40 percent said they couldn’t pay rent,
mortgage or utility bills at least once in the previous year. This isn’t success. It’s a disaster--suffered by
the most vulnerable people in U.S. society
Document E
Document F
Document G
I am a product of the American Dream.
I was raised on the concept that in America hard work and sheer determination can lead to a better life
than you ever thought possible for your family.
As I helped my grandmother cook, or as my grandfather walked me to school, I was reminded of the
opportunities and blessings America has bestowed on my family.
My grandparents were born in Malta, a tiny island in the Mediterranean south of Sicily, Italy. My
grandfather’s family ran a successful hotel business and my grandfather had the benefits of privileged
childhood. My grandmother’s family, in comparison, was much more humble. She was one of 11
children and her father was a nurse.
When my grandmother was in fifth grade and my grandfather in sixth, their childhoods were shattered.
Malta, at the time an English commonwealth, entered World War II. Because of its strategic naval
location, Malta would become the most heavily bombed nation (per square mile) of the war.
My grandmother was pulled from school and my grandfather from his tutors to run to the shelters for
cover during countless air raids. Soon, all school lessons stopped and staying alive became the name of
the game. Once, my grandmother was in church during an air raid. A bomb broke through the dome of
the church. Luckily, it did not go off.
Food was scarce. My grandmother’s father would sneak food from the hospital to feed his children.
Most of the time, he could only manage enough for one, which they would all split. My grandmother
tells a story where her father sneaked home a cupcake and divided it into 11 pieces for the children.
My grandfather does not like to talk about the hardships his family endured.
As soon as my grandfather was old enough, he joined the English Royal Navy. Because of his hotel
background and upper-class upbringing, he was assigned as Prince Phillip’s steward. He served until the
end of the war and went back to Malta.
Like most families there, his had lost everything in the devastation of the war. The hotel business was
gone and with it, his family's place in upper society.
Having nothing, he decided to go to Canada to start his own life. About that same time he met my
grandmother. However, when she would not leave her family and marry him, he left for Canada.
While living in Canada, he wrote letters to my grandmother. Then one day she got a letter saying he was
coming back to visit his father and hoped to see her. He set sail for Malta. It proved to be a providential
trip. He was there for a few months and sailed back to Canada with his new bride.
He worked in Canada where he and my grandmother had all of their five children. Then, when the oldest
was 8 years old, they moved to Ohio, then to Detroit, where he landed a job as a shift supervisor for
General Motors.
My grandparents lived in Detroit, raising their children on the customs and values of a country they left
behind. Always proud, my grandparents tried to teach their children to speak Maltese, but being
surrounded by English they never fully spoke Maltese, though they all understood it.
More than 50 years after getting off the boat, my grandparents still live in Detroit and continue to tell
the same stories of hardship and overcoming adversity they told me as they cooked and walked me to
school.
They remain the cornerstone of our family and represent everything we aspire to be. For 23 years I have
listened to their stories and I never tire of them. They tell our family’s history, but more importantly,
they tell what we are capable of overcoming.
My grandparents didn’t see the American Dream as fame or fortune. To them, the American Dream was
opportunity -- opportunities for all 22 of their grandchildren go to college.
No, we are not monetarily rich, but we are rich in family, love and pride. As one of the oldest of their
grandchildren, I am most proud of their courage. To leave family and friends for an unfamiliar land
where no one speaks your language and, in the case of my grandmother, you hardly speak theirs takes
courage I will never know. To never see your parents again so you can chase a dream of a better life is
something I could not do. But I would never have too.
I am fortunate to I serve and live in a country where people immigrate every day seeking the American
Dream. They know only America can provide them with the life they want.
The American Dream is alive and well. It is the reason I only want to live in America, where my version
stands a chance of coming true, thanks to the stepping stone my grandparents laid for me.
- Staff Sgt. Cat Casaigne, American dream alive, well 7/1/2005
Document H
Basic Information about the DREAM Act Legislation
This information is based on the current legislation introduced on March 26, 2009
by Senator Richard Durbin and Representative Howard Berman. (Passed and
signed into law 2010 by B. Obama)
Purpose
The purpose of the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act, also
called the DREAM Act, is to help those individuals who meet certain
requirements, have an opportunity to enlist in the military or go to college and
have a path to citizenship which they otherwise would not have without this
legislation. Supporters of the DREAM Act believe it is vital not only to the people
who would benefit from it, but also the United States as a whole. It would give
an opportunity to undocumented immigrant students who have been living in
the U.S. since they were young, a chance to contribute back to the country that
has given so much to them and a chance to utilize their hard earned education
and talents.
Would I qualify?
The following is a list of specific requirements one would need in order to qualify
for the current version of the DREAM Act.
•
•
•
•
•
Must have entered the United States before the age of 16 (i.e. 15 and
younger)
Must have been present in the United States for at least five (5)
consecutive years prior to enactment of the bill
Must have graduated from a United States high school, or have obtained
a GED, or have been accepted into an institution of higher education (i.e.
college/university)
Must be between the ages of 12 and 35 at the time of application
Must have good moral character
If you have met all those requirements and can prove it, once the DREAM Act
passes you will be able to do the following:
What do I need to do if the DREAM Act should pass?
If the DREAM Act passes, an undocumented individual meeting those qualifying
conditions stated above, would have to do the following:
Apply for the DREAM Act (Since the legislation has not yet
passed, there are no specific guidelines on how to apply)
2.
Once approved and granted Conditional Permanent
Residency, the individual would have to do one of the following:
1.
Enroll in an institution of higher education in
order to pursue a bachelor's degree or higher degree or
2.
Enlist in one of the branches of the United
States Military
3.
Within 6 years of approval for conditional permanent
residency, the individual must have completed at least two (2) years of
one of the options outlined in the previous step
4.
Once 5 ½ years of the 6 years have passed, the individual
will then be able to apply for Legal Permanent Residency (dropping the
conditional part) and consequently will be able to apply for United
States Citizenship
1.
Those who have already completed at least 2 years of college education towards
a bachelor's degree or higher degree, will still have to wait the 5 ½ years in order
to apply for Legal Permanent Residency even though you may have already
obtained a degree.
Students who do not complete the requirements will be disqualified .
Document
I
The DREAM Act Is an Amnesty Bill That America Cannot
Afford
OPINION
By Rep. Steve King Published December 06, 2010
| FoxNews.com
President Obama and the liberal open-border leadership of the Democratic Party
are pushing for passage of legislation granting amnesty to millions of illegal
aliens. They are doing this despite the fact that this costly legislation will make a
difficult job market worse, will place a higher tax burden on Americans, will
ensure greater difficulty in balancing budgets on the state and federal level, and
will undermine respect for our nation’s immigration laws. -- Congress should
wake up from this nightmare by defeating the DREAM Act.
In November, voters’ concerns about the weak economy and the poor job
market contributed to the election of a large Republican majority in the House of
Representatives.
Voters understand, even if the Democratic leadership doesn’t, that granting
amnesty to millions of illegal aliens will make it even more difficult for
unemployed Americans to find work. With the unemployment rate at 9.8
percent the last thing American job hunters need is millions of DREAM Act
amnesty recipients competing with them for work.
The DREAM Act not only undermines economic opportunities for Americans, it
also makes it less likely that either state governments or the federal government
will bring their budgets into balance.
The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) has released a report indicating that
this amnesty bill will cost state and local taxpayers over $6.2 billion annually,
not per decade as Congressional budgets are calculated, because state
universities and local community colleges will be forced, by law, to grant illegal
aliens in-state tuition discounts. The DREAM Act does not provide federal
funding to cover these costs, meaning Americans will be required to pay higher
taxes and higher tuition rates.
Providing facts about tuition fees provides insight into the magnitude of this
unjust benefit being given to illegal aliens under the DREAM Act. At the
University of Iowa, an in-state resident attending the College of Business pays
$3,894 per semester while an outof-state resident pays $12,068 per semester.
At Iowa State University, an in-state resident pays $3,566 per semester to attend
the College of Business, while an out-of-state resident pays $9,347. Other public
universities show similar multipliers. In fact, in the University of California
system, in-state residents pay no tuition at all, while out-of-state residents pay a
non-resident tuition fee that costs $22,021 per year at all University of California
campuses.
This tuition treatment creates a moral conundrum for DREAM Act supporters.
What does one say to the widow or widower who has lost their husband or their
wife in Iraq, or the child who lost their mother or father in Afghanistan, who is
paying out-of-state tuition premiums while they are sitting at a desk next to
someone who has received amnesty and a de facto scholarship under the
DREAM Act?
Further, the deficit spending federal government will face huge spending
increases under the DREAM Act. When amnesty proponents point to a recent
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis to claim that the DREAM Act has a
short-term positive effect on budget deficits, they do so in an attempt to distract
American taxpayers from the longterm negative effects on the budget that are
much more pronounced and severe. CBO found that deficit spending on welfare
programs would increase by at least $5 billion, and possibly much more, after
2020 as a result of granting DREAM Act amnesty.
As bad as the costs revealed by the CIS and CBO analysis are, it is likely that they
are vastly understated because each analysis was based on the assumption that
1.1 million illegal aliens would receive DREAM Act amnesty. Other versions of
the legislation currently before Congress (there are 4 versions that the
Democratic leadership is circulating to confuse the issue for voters) are
estimated to grant amnesty to over 2.1 million illegal aliens.
Further, neither analysis includes the estimated impact of the costs to be
incurred by the “backdoor amnesty” the bill provides for the family members of
illegal aliens. Many do not realize that illegal aliens who receive amnesty under
the bill become eligible at the age of 21 to sponsor members of their family for
citizenship too. The cost of “chain migration” will be enormous.
There is also an additional cost for passing amnesty. It is the cost incurred when
respect for the Rule of Law is undermined. It has been 24 years since a “one time
only” amnesty bill was signed into law and, millions upon millions of illegal
border crossings later, it is clear that the 1986 legislation only served as an
incentive for further lawbreaking.
In addition, since the DREAM Act prevents the federal government from
deporting anyone who applies for amnesty under it, anyone who can sneak into
the United States and file a DREAM Act application will have an automatic and
legal stay of deportation until the already overloaded courts can make a
decision.-- The result will be millions of bogus DREAM Act filings and the function
will be a de facto visa to stay in the United States.
The DREAM Act is an amnesty bill that America cannot afford. It is unjust to
those who have played by the rules in order to come into the country legally,
and it is unjust to American taxpayers who will be asked to shoulder the costs of
rewarding illegal immigrants for ignoring the law. Americans should demand that
it be defeated.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/12/06/dream-act-amnestyamericaafford/#ixzz1MiXQstGU
Author Background Information
“With more and more middle-income Americans feeling the pinch...
Is the American Dream Still Possible?”
David Wallechinsky (born 5 February 1948) is a historian who has worked as a commentator for
NBC Olympic coverage and is the author of many Olympic reference books and other reference
books. He is the author of The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics and The Complete Book
of the Winter Olympics series. He is also known for his work on The People's Almanac and The
Book of Lists series. He graduated with a degree in political science from San Francisco State
University in 1970. He is currently a contributing editor for Parade magazine, for which he
writes about dictators, the federal budget and other topics. He splits his time between Santa
Monica, California and the south of France.
With Michael Medved (who later became a film critic), Wallechinsky was the co-author of What
Really Happened to the Class of '65?, a series of interviews with their fellow high school
graduates from Palisades High School in California ten years afterward. In the 1980s,
Wallechinsky went on to follow with Midterm Report: The Class of '65: Chronicles of an
American Generation.
He is the son of author and screenwriter Irving Wallace. When David was conducting
genealogical research on his family, he discovered that the family's original last name was
Wallechinsky. It had been anglicized to "Wallace" by an immigration clerk. He was so angered at
this that he legally changed his name to "David Wallechinsky.
“With more and more middle-income Americans feeling the pinch...
Is the American Dream Still Possible?”
Published: April 23, 2006
To be “middle class” in America once meant living well and having financial security. But today
that comfortable and contented lifestyle is harder to achieve and maintain. PARADE
commissioned Mark Clements Research Inc. to survey Americans nationwide about their
finances and outlook for the future. Contributing Editor David Wallechinsky—author of recent
articles on where your tax dollars go and on pork-barrel spending—interprets the results.
The traditional American Dream is based on the belief that hardworking citizens can better
their lives, pay their monthly bills without worry, give their children a start to an even better life
and still save enough to live comfortably after they retire. But many average Americans are
struggling—squeezed by rising costs, declining wages, credit-card debt and diminished benefits,
with little left over to save for retirement. (See statistics below.)
Does the dream survive? Do most Americans still believe they can forge better lives for
themselves?
PARADE surveyed more than 2,200 Americans, of whom fully 84% described themselves as
belonging to the middle class, regardless of where they live (living costs are higher in some
regions) or the size of their household.
For this report, we focused on U.S. households earning between $30,000 and $99,000 a year.
Most of those surveyed describe themselves as married and having a family. More than 64%
say they are employed full-time or part-time. Most say they are in reasonably good health and
have a satisfying religious or spiritual life. They own a home and at least two cars, and they are
able to take vacations. By international standards, they live a life of prosperity.
Yet behind this prosperity is a growing unease. Half of the employed respondents say that
they’ve experienced either increased health-care costs or a cut in health benefits over the last
three years, and 39% have had cuts in their overtime, raises or bonuses. Almost two-thirds say
they live from paycheck to paycheck, and 47% say that no matter how hard they work, they
cannot get ahead. More than a third worry about job loss.
Richard Oden of Conyers, Ga.—married, with five children—worked in the beer industry for 23
years. Last year, he developed pneumonia and required major surgery. When he was unable to
return to work by a given date, he says, his company terminated him at age 54—even though
he had a perfect attendance record and no performance problems.
To help support his family, Oden had to dip into his 401(k) fund, paying a penalty for premature
withdrawal. “This was very stressful,” he says. “Everything had gone up—except wages.”
Oden has since started his own business, a “leadership and personal development” consulting
firm. His wife, Josett, works as a representative in the health-care field. “I do believe I will
recover financially,” Oden says, “and that I will realize a decent retirement. But the traditional
American Dream? For most Americans, it’s still a dream—a pipe dream.”
Having drawn on his own retirement fund, Oden knows that saving can be a big problem. In the
survey, nearly 83% say that there is not much left to save after they’ve paid their bills. Statistics
from the Commerce Department bear this out: The savings rate for Americans is the lowest it
has been in 73 years.
Self-reliance and sacrifice. Most of those interviewed display qualities common to American
success stories: determination, flexibility, pragmatism, willingness to work hard and especially
self-reliance. Almost three-quarters of the middle-class respondents surveyed say they take
responsibility for their own financial destiny and believe that they will succeed or fail based on
their own efforts. Still, many are downsizing their dreams.
Shelly Comer, 43, of Dos Palos, Calif., is a divorced mother of three who also takes care of a
friend of her oldest child, Michelle. She is going into debt so that Michelle can go to college.
Shelly has worked her whole life—as a receptionist, janitor, preschool teacher and activities
director at a hospital. Recently, she became a registered nurse and now works the night shift in
obstetrics at another hospital. Her annual income is $70,377.
Michelle, 19, is a freshman at the University of California at Merced. She says she is concerned
about the financial burden her education is placing on her family: “In order to meet our
expected family contribution, my mother had to borrow the entire amount of her share.” For
her part, Michelle earned six small scholarships, two of which are renewable for next year, and
took out a federal loan. She also works 16 hours a week in the financial-aid office at the
university.
Shelly has a retirement plan through the hospital. “But I have nothing saved for me,” she says.
“I’m putting it all into the kids, so that they can succeed in school. Our parents did everything
for us, and I hope to do the same for my kids. I don’t count on anyone else to help us get to
where we want to go. It’s all up to me and my family. And I trust in God to help us.”
Who is responsible? One of the most intriguing results of the Parade survey is that 89% of the
middle class believes that businesses have a social responsibility to their employees and to the
community. Yet 81% believe that, in fact, American businesses make decisions based on what is
best for their shareholders and investors, not what’s best for their employees.
Randy Omark, 55, and Cherie Morris, 58, of Stroudsburg, Pa., husband and wife, are former
flight attendants for TWA. Cherie took a buyout in the late 1990s—before American Airlines
bought TWA in 2001. After the acquisition, Randy was put on “furlough” (as were about 4,000
other former TWA flight attendants) and never rehired. After 26 years with the two airlines, his
pension was frozen and then taken over by the government. Now he gets $324 a month in
payments.
Today, despite having a college education, Randy works for $9 an hour finding community jobs
for mentally challenged adults. Cherie works for a greeting-card company for $7.25 an hour.
“It used to be that if you stayed with your job, you would be rewarded,” says Cherie. “Now
there is no guarantee.” As for retirement, Randy says, “Eventually, we will just downsize
everything, sell our house and move into a smaller one.”
Is the dream changing? Simone Luevano, 46, and Miguel Gutierrez, 44, run a garage-door
installation and repair business in Albuquerque, N.M. While the business grossed $453,000 last
year, they took home just $50,000 net to live on. They have a daughter—Marilyn, age 7—who is
deaf in one ear and goes to a private school that costs $3600 a year.
Simone says that financial stress is part of their lives: “It comes from the ‘maybe, could be,
should be’ nature of our business.” When the economy is down, people don’t buy a new
garage-door system. The cost of gas at the pump is a major factor, she adds: “When the price of
gasoline goes down, business goes up.”
Have they prepared for retirement? Simone laughs, then replies, “The words ‘retirement’ and
‘vacation’ are not in our vocabulary. You know that old Tennessee Ernie Ford song: ‘I owe my
soul to the company store’? We don’t think about retirement. They’ll have to take me out of
here with my high-top tennies on.
“The American Dream is a bygone thing,” she adds. “It’s not the way life is anymore. I used to
believe I was responsible for my own destiny. But it’s not that simple. Now it’s faith and
fortitude.”
The Stressed Middle Class
National statistics show the increasing pressures on middle-income Americans:
The real median household income declined 3% from 2000 to 2004.
The percentage of households earning $25,000 to $99,999 (roughly middle-income
range) shrank 1.5% from 2000 to 2004.
Last year, real average weekly earnings actually fell 0.4%.
The savings rate for Americans is the lowest it has been in 73 years.
Credit-card debt is at an all-time high, averaging $9,312 per household.
The average cost per year of a public college (in state) is $12,127, a 25% increase since
2001.
A private university costs $29,026.
Here’s What Americans Say
Our survey of middle-income Americans about their financial outlooks showed both skepticism
and hope.
More than 52% of middle-class Americans think that they’re better off than their parents were,
but...
56% think things will be worse for their own children or for future generations.
Nearly 57% say they believe that the middle class in America is decreasing.
51% of employed members of the middle class have experienced either increased health-care
costs or a cut in health benefits, and 39% have experienced cuts in overtime, raises or bonuses.
66% say they tend to live from paycheck to paycheck.
47% say that no matter how hard they work, they cannot get ahead.
Nearly 83% say that there is not much money left to save after they have paid their bills.
89% of the respondents believe that businesses have a social responsibility to their employees
and to the community, but...
81% believe that American businesses make decisions based on what is best for their
shareholders and investors—not what is best for their employees.
74% of the middle class say they take responsibility for their own financial success or failure.
80% say they believe it is still possible to achieve the American Dream.
What Can You Do?
In this (and every) election year, many politicians rev up emotions that keep voters from
focusing on the pocketbook and daily-life issues that truly matter. You know what really
touches your family and life: The cost of milk, gas and prescription drugs. The quality of schools.
The hope that the government will step in fully prepared to keep you safe and secure if a
disaster hits your neighborhood.
Don’t leave decision-making and priority-setting to zealots who have an ax to grind—or to the
blindly ambitious people who emerge in every generation. For more than 200 years, our system
of government has encouraged power to the people. Be an active citizen.