ISBN: 9780393045345    Publisher: WW Norton & Co Year of publishing: 1998     Format:  Hardback No of Pages: 238        

Examining the "American Dream" and the vision of America as "the land of opportunity", this text measures the ideal against the reality, calculating exactly how much opportunity is available relative to the number of households reliant on it. This measure reveals that even in the 1960s opportunity was drying up, and in the late-20th century, nearly a quarter of American families cannot find adequate work. The author of this study shows how this happened, and how the signs have been constantly misread, manipulated or ignored by American leaders. He demonstrates that neither global competition nor governmental interference are the real culprits. Americans still share the belief that all American citizens should be able to sustain themselves, their families and communities decently. This book reveals how the American Dream might become reality again.
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