Problem/Cause and solution
In his article, Brandon King gives an unequivocal answer to the question “Is the so-called ‘American Dream’ dead, alive or on hold?” He believes that the ideals and values of the American Dream are very much alive even though many people have lost confident in the Great Recession. Under the difficult economic circumstances today, Brandon redefines the American Dream as the potential to work for an honest, secure way of life and save for the future according to the more intense spending habits of Americans. In order to living the American Dream, Brandon lists solutions to three main problems, inequality, economic insecurity and eroded faith in the American Dream. In sum, he believes that though existing, inequality is not a reason for the lost of American Dream in the poor and supporting the top businesses would help the recovery of economy. He also highlights the values and rules of the American Dream, which would help living and inheritance of this spirit. From my perspective, I agree with the main problems he concludes but for some of his solutions, I stand on the opposite site of the author. I think narrowing the income gap is very significant and so do supporting businesses, while the dependence of the spirit itself is in the less important position. Following are my analysis of each argument.
According to the article, inequality is regarded as the most worrisome problem by many people. In contrast with economists like Robert Reich and Paul Krugman who believe that the concentration of wealth at the top would not help living the American Dream because it enlarges the income gap and exacerbates the Great Recession, Brandon thinks the income gap is not the excuse for losing American Dream in the more poor people, so it makes little sense for government to make policies to narrow the income gap. I think his argument is not tenable. We all have realized the reality that large amount of people have lost confidence in the American Dream because though they work hard, they have no security about their live and they have to save for the future. I think that is because for these ordinary people, no matter hard they work, the top will take the fruits of their labor. I agree that improve welfare system and raising tax for the rich are effective solutions for inequality. As is said by the author, raising the minimum wage would stimulate worker productivity and help narrow the income gap. If the large businesses are supported by the federal government and restricted by the regulations at the same time, they will have enough funds to hire workers and they will have no reason to cut back. Maybe the government can offer only weak help for the poor in the Great Recession, however, it is not how much money the government can offer but how justice people can feel that matters. If the American Dream means potential to work for an honest, secure way of life as the author defines, the poor people need to receive something of value in return for their work in order to realize their American Dream. So I think government policies to narrow the income gap is necessary for solving the inequality problem.
The second problem is how to achieve greater economic security, in other words, how to recover the economy. Brandon agrees that founding large businesses would help recovering the economy because they would create more job opportunities, spend more money and stimulate market as results if they are supported. Basically I agree with this solution, but his opinion that raising taxes for rich would do harm for the recovery is not that convincing. In my opinion they are two separated solutions with different targets. Supporting large businesses definitely will stimulate the development of economy and it is one of the most common strategies used by government in difficult time. However, taxing the rich is aimed at reducing inequality, which is another important target for living the American Dream. If all Americans have the same dream, the large businesses have the obligation to help with development the whole society since they have enjoyed allowance. And it is possible that large income gap might trigger social instability, which would harm the benefits of top businesses in return. And as a supplement, I think all businesses should receive support if they have contributions to the economy, no matter how large it is. Sometimes the influences of SMB(small and medium businesses) are ignored by people. In fact, they are also indispensable part of market and play an role in recovery of economy[1].
The last problem is the eroded faith in the American Dream. Brandon agrees with Cal Thomas that the values and rules of the American Dream should still be relied on. And only if people hold the faith will the American Dream be passed to future generations. He also says that the American Dream is the key to climbing out of the Great Recession, overcoming inequality, and achieving true prosperity. In order to build such a firm faith, I think propaganda or preaching may be effective solutions. However, I think the author exaggerate the influences of the spiritual strength a little. I agree with Karl Marx that human nature is a creature of economy[2]. So all spiritual propagandas are relatively superficial and cannot work for long if people are not to taste real benefits. This theory can also explain why people start losing confidence in the American Dream during the Great Recession. When people have to worry about their houses, cars and other basic life, dream may be some luxury they cannot afford. So the propaganda of the values of the American Dream can perform well as an auxiliary solution. When the income gap is narrowed and people get benefits from the economic security, Americans will believe heartily what the author broadcast in this article and pass this spirit on to their descendants. And in return, their spiritual strength would promote their work efficiency, which constructs a virtuous circle.
In conclusion, for the three main obstructions on the way of living the American Dream, inequality, economic security and eroded faith, the author gives his attitudes towards different solutions correspondingly. He supports the solution of funding large businesses and financial institutes and objects to raising taxes on these groups. He also does not look good for the policies of increasing welfare by government. Instead of narrowing the income gap, he thinks the faith for values and rules of the American Dream would be more effective in living this spirit. According to my viewpoint, the federal government should play an important role in helping rebuilding confidence in the American Dream, including improving the welfare system and raising taxes for rich to lessen inequality, supporting all businesses to stimulate the economy and do proper propaganda to strengthen the faith. Generally, I have the same faith with the author that the American Dream is still alive even many people have been shaken by the flaccid economy. However, in specific period, corresponding methods should be taken to break all barriers on our way.
References
[1] P.E. Petrakis, P.C. Kostis (2012), “Τhe Role of Knowledge and Trust in SMEs”, Journal of the Knowledge Economy,
[2] Karl Marx(1844), “On the Jewish Question”, Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher