Poll: Only Half Of Americans Believe In “The American Dream”

by Ray Rahman | 12:54 pm, September 21st, 2010

» 11 comments

A new ABC News poll states that only half of American citizens still believe in The American Dream. Or, depending on the type of person you are, half of Americans no longer believe in The American Dream.

The polls results indicate that when asked, “Do you think The American Dream — that if you work hard, you’ll get ahead — still holds true, never held true, or once held true but does not anymore?” 50% of Americans answered with “still true,” 43% with “once true,” and an entire 4% with “never true.”

But the numbers within the numbers are just as revealing. 57% of those who make 75K or more a year said “still true,” whereas only 46% of those making 25K and under answered similarly. Geography also played a role; 58% of the American West still believe in The American Dream, compared to 46% of those in the so-called rust-belt. The poll also broke down the numbers along racial lines, saying that 57% of whites still believe in the Dream, while only 48% of non-whites agreed.

Other revelations from the poll: When asked if they’d rather have Barack Obama or George W. Bush in charge of “economic policy right now,” 52% reported Obama, and 35% said Bush.

And the poll’s final question might be the most damning to those in Washington:

On another subject, if you had children, would you want your own son or daughter to grow up to be a candidate for U.S. Congress, or would you rather see them pick another line of work?

Only 25% of respondents wished a congressional future for their children. Burn.

ABC News, George W. Bush, Polls, President Barack Obama, The American Dream

More Liberty

The stronger and more powerful the government gets, the less and less people feel that they can accomplish the American dream.
chatmandu002

Big government continues to beat down the American dream. The only “Dream” act the government has is to make illegals eligible to vote for democrats.
http://sharethisurlaboutglennbeck.com/ GlennBeckReview

Every empire in history, every great power of the capitalist-state system of the last 500 years has overstretched their capacities militarily and as a result declined materially. There is no reason to believe that the United States is immune from this phenomenon no matter what party is in power.
http://sharethisurlaboutglennbeck.com/ GlennBeckReview

chatmandu002 says: “Big government continues to beat down the American dream. The only “Dream” act the government has is to make illegals eligible to vote for democrats.”

You DO realize that the taxes under this “big” government are as low as they have been in 50 years. You assume that the illegal aliens who are offered and rise to the challenge of attaining citizenship here would automatically vote for Democrats. That’s an assumption that could end up making an ass out of you.
compound

0bama’s dream, our nightmare….
Phocus2

The half that doesn’t believe, would that be the left and half of those who think they are moderate? As you think…so you become.
http://sharethisurlaboutglennbeck.com/ GlennBeckReview

Phocus2 says: “The half that doesn’t believe, would … be the… half of those who think….”

That much you have right. Again, you don’t understand history; you don’t understand how we’re overstretched. You don’t understand that we’re overstretched, then you will expect that the next generation will be better off than we are now.

Hocus Phocus: get the damn facts. Try reading, for starters, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Kennedy. This isn’t about left v right. It’s about knowledge v ignorance.
fallenchicken

GlennBeckReview said:
chatmandu002 says: “Big government continues to beat down the American dream. The only “Dream” act the government has is to make illegals eligible to vote for democrats.”

You DO realize that the taxes under this “big” government are as low as they have been in 50 years. You assume that the illegal aliens who are offered and rise to the challenge of attaining citizenship here would automatically vote for Democrats. That’s an assumption that could end up making an ass out of you.

No he doesn’t and he doesn’t care. This isn’t about facts, this is about the black man taking over our country.
http://none pyrope

GlennBeckReview said:
You DO realize that the taxes under this “big” government are as low as they have been in 50 years.

We are given to understand this is soon to change.
http://none pyrope

I feel sorry for the horrendous mess we are leaving as our legacy–a government that has spent to much, become too bloated, and forsaken its founding documents and laws for the purpose of expediency and to reward the elite.
http://sharethisurlaboutglennbeck.com/ GlennBeckReview

pyrope says: “We are given to understand this is soon to change.”

For the top 2% of income earners, yes. That will still leave the tax rate as low as it has been for the last 50 years for the middle class. What will change there is that Obama’s middle class tax cut (the stimulus bill) will expire.

pyrope also says: “I feel sorry for the horrendous mess we are leaving as our legacy–a government that has spent to much, become too bloated, and forsaken its founding documents and laws for the purpose of expediency and to reward the elite.”

I feel sorry for the gullible people out there who believe this nonsense. People who listen to Beck and believe the yellow propaganda that he spews are being mislead. The “horrendous mess” is the one Obama inherited. No one has forsaken our founders except people like Beck’s buddy, David Barton, who lies about the founder’s beliefs.
http://www.sharethisurlaboutglennbeck.com/2010/07/beck-us-david-barton-doesnt-stop-lying.html