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More of the Same Old “Woe is Me” Attitude
By JLP | April 23, 2006
I don’t care for articles that only talk about problems but don’t offer solutions. The article that I’m talking about today was the cover story in this week’s Parade Magazine titled Is the American Dream Still Alive? In this article, their only “solution” is for American to go the voting booth and vote in new politicians. What a joke! The problem is in the INDIVIDUAL choices that MOST of us make. Yes, there are circumstances in which things are out of a person’s control. I understand that. However, I would bet willing to be that a lot of people are in the situation they are in due to bad decision-making.
There were two positives from the article:
74% of the middle class say they take responsibility for their own financial success or failure.
and
80% say they believe it is still possible to achieve the American Dream.
Now it is time for you to voice your opinion. I already know where most personal finance bloggers fall in this discussion.
Topics: Financial Planning, Retirement Planning | 8 Comments »
April 23rd, 2006 at 5:56 pm
The press and many politicians are by-and-large populist. Fear/pessimism is easier to propagate, sell and exploit then is optimism. And so when the press/politician tells you to fear for your job and future, you fear for it. And you vote for politicians that promise you entitlements and safety nets. How disgusting … look at Detroit: to paraphrase a great mind, “GM is the fist welfare state to collapse under its own weight.” Is it too late, America? Most polls say that people are VERY happy with their lives, and yet they think everyone else around them is miserable. How is this possible? Well, back to the agendas which create this atmosphere so they can exploit it.
April 23rd, 2006 at 6:45 pm
oh, this kind of article burns me up. america today is fatter and wealthier than *any society in history*. we live like kings, literally.
This is one of many things that got under my skin:
One of the most intriguing results of the Parade survey is that 89% of the middle class believes that businesses have a social responsibility to their employees and to the community. Yet 81% believe that, in fact, American businesses make decisions based on what is best for their shareholders and investors, not what’s best for their employees.
first of all, these are not mutually exclusive. a company can be socially responsible to their employees and still make decisions based on what is best for investors. after all, *many* employees *are* investors, and if you’re not increasing value, there won’t be an employer to work for. i should know, having worked for several employers who weren’t interested in increasing the value of their companies.
April 23rd, 2006 at 7:15 pm
I agree – articles that complain but don’t even attempt to provide solutions are basically pointless. It annoys me that so many people look back on say the 1950′s with all these good feelings and nastalgia. I want to shake ‘em and say – “Wake up!” It’s the new millenium people! Globalization, massive deficits, declining real incomes, and other social/political factors have changed the “middle class” forever.
Also, America is a post-industrial society. That means if you’re working in manufacturing (for example) you’re working in a dying industry. We are in the information age and for the most part health care, technology and business services is where we are headed.
I don’t know who but someone once said, “You can’t do the same thing you did yesterday and expect a different result today.”
April 23rd, 2006 at 7:16 pm
Oh, btw I like the chicklet ya made for the Blog of the Week.
April 23rd, 2006 at 8:17 pm
Of course I’m all for personal responsibility, especially with regard to personal finance. I’m also for personal adaptability. “If you’re not growing (read: changing), you’re dying.” Granted, change is scary, but so is being squashed by the unstoppable juggernaut of progress when you fail to go with the flow.
April 24th, 2006 at 7:37 am
I saw it too and thought the same thing.
April 24th, 2006 at 11:14 am
Yep – I agree with you. I read this article as well yesterday and kind of gagged. I thought it was a real cop out way to address a national problem…
April 25th, 2006 at 3:31 am
I’ve seen some odd stats on the “middle class shrinkage”, which indicated that the “shrinkage” has been UPWARD, out of the “middle brackets” into the “high income” brackets. It was in the Washington Post, as I recall, a year or so ago.
But the article managed to put a negative spin on the data by arguing that it indicated a “hollowing out” of the middle class and not an upward redefinition of it.