Today's Question Blog

Do you believe in the American Dream?

Elderly couple
An elderly couple stroll by the sea. Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Thomas Wolfe defined the American Dream thusly, "...to every man, regardless of his birth, his shining, golden opportunity ….the right to live, to work, to be himself, and to become whatever thing his manhood and his vision can combine to make him."

This question becomes more important when you consider that upward mobility isn't just a matter of material wealth, but health and longevity.

"The life expectancy gap between the affluent and the poor and working class in the US, for instance, now clocks in at 12.2 years," writes Linda Marsa in aeon magazine. "College-educated white men can expect to live to age 80, while counterparts without a high-school diploma die by age 67. White women with a college degree have a life expectancy of nearly 84, compared with uneducated women, who live to 73."

And these disparities are widening.

Today's Question: Do you believe in the American Dream?