He claims the "American Dream" is a myth. I disagree. Now is the American Dream easy? Nope, not in any way imaginable, in fact it is hard. And the lower you are in economic position when you start, the harder it is. Why is that? Frankly it's because of our parents, and not in a bad way. We learn a lot from our parents. We learn from watching them interact with friends, neighbors, relatives, and even coworkers. Often times they don't even realize what they are teaching us. So first, the American Dream is a reeducation, those who study successful people and their interactions are much more likely to succeed themselves. The professor looked at successful people and their parents, and of course those from successful parents have an easier time achieving success, but that is not the American Dream. That is class envy.
He seems to think that only those who are from successful parents can be successful, but by what measure? My grandfather was born in 1903, in about 1911 he left school to help support the family, his father had died. For those who didn't do the math, he never finished grade school. He started working in a shoe factory at a nickle an hour. A few weeks later, some of his coworkers told him what a great job he was doing, ask the boss for a raise. When he did, he was laid off, seems there were people applying that would be quite happy with a nickle an hour. He immediately found another shoe factory job. Into the 1920's, he joined a union, the American Boot and Shoe Workers Union. Eventually becoming an organizer. He was driven, and when he saw union leadership screwing the workers ran for president of that union. He knew if he lost he would not have a job, that is the very definition of risk. He lost. Within a month, a rival shoe union offered him a job, he retired from that job in the late 1960's. He was friendly with Shoe company CEO's and floor shoe factory workers. Was he a success? YES! A boy, with out even a high school diploma was able through trials and determination provide for his family and perform his job. And he looked to the future, my father finished high school, and went to a trade school. Much more education. Because it was important to his parents. He was a printer his entire life. He provided for his family, and the family's standard of living did improve.
Then there was my generation. My sister is a teacher, thanks to the education our parents expected her to avail herself of. Me, I have spent my life primarily in retail management, now our family owns a store. The point is in our family, going back to my grandfather, each generation was expected to do better; and the lessons we learned were that of constantly moving forward. I had classmates who sons of politicians, police officers, and even business people. Never once did I ever run my life by what I could get from the government. It's an attitude of success. At one time, in the poor days, someone told us we probably qualified for Food Stamps, but that wasn't an option, it would violate the attitude of success.
Is luck involved? Certainly being in the right place can be considered by some to be lucky, however, positioning yourself to be in that place is strategic. That is hard. And some would rather take weekends off and do as little as they can get by with, that will cause failure in the American Dream. Every extra penny I have goes toward our business, we live as inexpensively as possible, to build the business. Why? Because the American Dream is that, work hard, then pass it down. I see my car dealer's son friend on TV all the time, it was easier for him, that's OK. I met the politicians son in a Home Depot, he's a politician, that's great! This son of a printer is living my own American Dream, and it is hard, but more than worth it.
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