Blue Collar Conservatives: Recommitting to an America That Works Read Online Free
Author: Rick Santorum
time of great hardship, change, and uncertainty. The answer to every problem can’t be “Quit whining and buck up.” (See how that would work in your marriage!) We must articulate a reassuring vision for those who are struggling, and it must focus on the importance of work and personal dignity.
The fear and anxiety bred by the weak economy and the breakdown of the family are bad enough, but lately they have given rise to a disturbingly un-American malady—hopelessness. The monthly unemployment report in this anemic recoveryresults in a partisan sparring match between Left and Right with both sides using statistics to bolster their political narratives. One number has been the most telling over the past five years—the percentage of people who have simply given up looking for work is at or near all-time highs.
People believe the American Dream is fading. It’s no surprise that people are dissatisfied with our country’s economic situation. But most people no longer expect things to get better. Indeed, in some ways—paying for college tuition, affording retirement, finding good jobs—they expect things to get worse. Are they wrong? Maybe not. Not only is our economy in a recession, but economic mobility is lagging behind many other countries. 7 According to a Brookings Institution report, you are about two times more likely to rise up the economic ladder in Canada or Australia than you are in America. 8
The one area of the country where upward mobility is comparable to these countries is the place with the strongest families and an ethic of community support—the Salt Lake City area. Thanks to the Mormon Church, marriage and family are paramount there, and the church fosters an impressive network of private-sector relief for families in economic distress.
When social scientists study the ability of people to rise out of poverty, one of their findings is so consistent that it cannot be denied or ignored: children from two-parent families who live in communities where the two-parent family is the norm have a much higher chance of succeeding. 9 That doesn’t mean there aren’t thousands of heroic single mothersdoing everything they can for their children. But our appreciation for those women must not distract us from the fact that, as a rule, children do better when their mom and dad are married and living at home.
Perhaps the most troubling news about the state of the American Dream is how we define success. A 2012 survey found that “fame and fortune” are replacing “faith and family” as the central components of the American Dream. 10 If the character of George Bailey in It ’ s a Wonderful Life once embodied Americans’ idea of true success, he has been replaced by the latest winner of American Idol . Yet the greatest reward in life is not becoming a rich celebrity; it is having a family—which happens to be a much more democratic ideal. Barbara Walters, who has been a cheerleader for liberalism for decades, has admitted that her greatest regret in life is that she didn’t have more children. 11 Warren Buffett, one of the richest men in the world, also recognizes the hollowness of Hollywood ideals. When a student asked him how he defined success, the brilliant investor dismissed almost out of hand his fame and financial achievements and said what matters most is “whether the people you care about most love you.” 12
It may be that many young people are turning their backs on the traditional American Dream in part because it seems unattainable. They make up what economists are calling a “lost generation”—millions of twenty-something collegegraduates who are deep in student debt, can’t find a good job, and might never get a foot on the ladder of career, family, and homeownership. As many as six and a half million Americans between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four are neither in school nor in the workforce. 13 They may never recover, and their children will face even gloomier
The fear and anxiety bred by the weak economy and the breakdown of the family are bad enough, but lately they have given rise to a disturbingly un-American malady—hopelessness. The monthly unemployment report in this anemic recoveryresults in a partisan sparring match between Left and Right with both sides using statistics to bolster their political narratives. One number has been the most telling over the past five years—the percentage of people who have simply given up looking for work is at or near all-time highs.
People believe the American Dream is fading. It’s no surprise that people are dissatisfied with our country’s economic situation. But most people no longer expect things to get better. Indeed, in some ways—paying for college tuition, affording retirement, finding good jobs—they expect things to get worse. Are they wrong? Maybe not. Not only is our economy in a recession, but economic mobility is lagging behind many other countries. 7 According to a Brookings Institution report, you are about two times more likely to rise up the economic ladder in Canada or Australia than you are in America. 8
The one area of the country where upward mobility is comparable to these countries is the place with the strongest families and an ethic of community support—the Salt Lake City area. Thanks to the Mormon Church, marriage and family are paramount there, and the church fosters an impressive network of private-sector relief for families in economic distress.
When social scientists study the ability of people to rise out of poverty, one of their findings is so consistent that it cannot be denied or ignored: children from two-parent families who live in communities where the two-parent family is the norm have a much higher chance of succeeding. 9 That doesn’t mean there aren’t thousands of heroic single mothersdoing everything they can for their children. But our appreciation for those women must not distract us from the fact that, as a rule, children do better when their mom and dad are married and living at home.
Perhaps the most troubling news about the state of the American Dream is how we define success. A 2012 survey found that “fame and fortune” are replacing “faith and family” as the central components of the American Dream. 10 If the character of George Bailey in It ’ s a Wonderful Life once embodied Americans’ idea of true success, he has been replaced by the latest winner of American Idol . Yet the greatest reward in life is not becoming a rich celebrity; it is having a family—which happens to be a much more democratic ideal. Barbara Walters, who has been a cheerleader for liberalism for decades, has admitted that her greatest regret in life is that she didn’t have more children. 11 Warren Buffett, one of the richest men in the world, also recognizes the hollowness of Hollywood ideals. When a student asked him how he defined success, the brilliant investor dismissed almost out of hand his fame and financial achievements and said what matters most is “whether the people you care about most love you.” 12
It may be that many young people are turning their backs on the traditional American Dream in part because it seems unattainable. They make up what economists are calling a “lost generation”—millions of twenty-something collegegraduates who are deep in student debt, can’t find a good job, and might never get a foot on the ladder of career, family, and homeownership. As many as six and a half million Americans between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four are neither in school nor in the workforce. 13 They may never recover, and their children will face even gloomier
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