>A new Wall Street Journal-NORC poll finds that the share of people who say they have a good chance of improving their standard of living fell to 25%, a record low in surveys dating to 1987. More than three-quarters said they lack confidence that life for the next generation will be better than their own, the poll found.
>Nearly 70% of people said they believe the American dream—that if you work hard, you will get ahead—no longer holds true or never did, the highest level in nearly 15 years of surveys.
I would have been surprised if the poll found anything other than pessimism.
Tokie-Dokie on
Hard work barely keeps your head above water. Economic gains are rigged for the top 1%—and they laugh their asses off while we point fingers at each other in blame.
YoungestDonkey on
It should be evident to all that billionaires don’t work a thousand times harder than millionaires. It’s not hard work that pays, evidently.
dollarstoresim on
Didnt a majority vote for a guy who hasnt worked an honest day in his entire life?
sedatedlife on
People still believed that? It became clear to me that hard work leads to economic gains is largely a myth 30 years ago.
FizzyBeverage on
It never has. That’s a myth the owning class feeds the poor.
My software engineering day job at $150,000 really doesn’t pay the mortgage. It’s the $2700/month made in dividends and interest on investments.
If you already have $500,000 it’s pretty easy to become a millionaire, you only have to double your money. If you only have $10,000? You have to make it another 100 times somehow. That’s 100 chances to do it, or more often lose it.
Omarkhayyamsnotes on
Absolutely, and almost unequivocally the HARDEST working people I know in my life are all solidly lower class and will spend the rest of their lives renting and working low wage jobs
cloistered_around on
I went into a yearly review explaining to my boss how much I contribute to the company, and last year’s raise had been disappointing–only to find out my raise this year was *half* of that!
I like my job. I do fantastic there. But they’re really making it hard to argue that it’s worth staying, and *all* jobs are doing that. Lowball as much as they can, horde money at top level–then complain no one works there longer than a year so they have to keep rehiring.
CJDistasio on
People used to graduate high school then bust their ass in a factory. After that hard work they would buy a home and support a wife and two kids. These days you graduate high school and there are no factories, no houses anyone can afford on low-middle income. Then to top it all off you’re on food stamps and can’t afford a studio apartment but still work 40+ hours a week.
I wonder why people think this
Affectionate-Roof285 on
Sadly, Trump has taught us that lying, cheating, bullying and ruthlessness are winning traits. Hard work is for “losers.”
oliversurpless on
Took long enough, considering “bootstrap uplift” was only a 19th century canard designed to obfuscate this, but consider Bellamy’s *Looking Backward*?
A world that like *The Man in the High Castle*, is so shitty due to rampant capitalism, and that people are so desperate to escape that the actual means by which they do that is *incidental*…
exomniac on
We live in a pump and dump economy now
OpenImagination9 on
It only ever did from about 1945 to 1965, everything before sucked for most and after 1965 the billionaire class was starting up.
snail-the-sage on
that’s because it doesn’t
ScootyMcTrainhat on
If hard work had a damned thing to do with success, the richest man in Hollywood would be a Mexican with a leaf blower.
igloomaster on
Your hardwork makes someone else rich
UselessInsight on
Hard work is only rewarded with more work.
ZucchiniIntrepid719 on
Epstein Files!
throwaway_messylady on
This is not news to anyone who is paying attention. The promise of America is faltering. We need to pick it up babes.
Here’s the thing though, I actually believe we can. It’s possible. But my god, there’s a ways to go.
Romano16 on
Because it’s a lie. The American Dream for a time was only for WASP Americans and now because some minorities were able to achieve it the whole ladder is being pulled up and a grenade is thrown down to blow up the existing middle class. Man racism sure does kill countries, huh?
Why_Not_Zoidberg1 on
My company will give the same 3.5% increase regardless of if you travel all over or take two weeks to do something that takes your coworkers a half a day. Why bother burning yourself out when it doesn’t matter?
whiznat on
At this point, this is like studying if water is wet.
MicCheckTapTapTap on
I’ve got stage-4 poverty. I don’t think I’m gonna make it.
Nobody_Super_Famous on
Oh our hard work leads to tremendous economic gain. Not for us though, of course.
DoomOne on
Hard work leads to getting laid off.
markroth69 on
That is a completely unfair sentiment. Of course hard work leads to economic gain. **Just not for you** but for your boss, the Great Job Creator, as nature intended.
EntinthetentRTHP on
I got laid off from an aerospace job where I worked hard because Boeing once again got people killed.
Working hard doesn’t do shit.
InfinityComplexxx on
Just now people are realizing this?
Defelj on
As we near a cycles end, the truths come out. And the cycle in this case is modern life in America is not about equality and a fair living. It’s dog eat dog and the rich vs the poor. Kinda what it’s always been except this time the gap is bigger than ever
Appropriate-Soft-188 on
In other breaking news, George W Bush has just been elected president!
jayfeather31 on
That’s not exactly surprising, especially in light of the now blatantly obvious wealth inequality in this country.
Zxcc24 on
I wonder why
vapemyashes on
It’s because it doesn’t
Major_A21 on
Took long enough. Hard work with professional and financial promotions were because of the unions. Here in Texas workers have next to 0 rights. If your work is M-F 8-5 don’t give them anything beyond that. Cause they won’t give you anything in return.
jeebee25 on
I entered the workforce in 1985, which coincidentally is the same time I gave up on the dream of being rich beyond the dreams of avarice.
Leave A Reply
Du musst angemeldet sein, um einen Kommentar abzugeben.
35 Kommentare
[ARCHIVE LINK](https://archive.is/QjW5H)
>A new Wall Street Journal-NORC poll finds that the share of people who say they have a good chance of improving their standard of living fell to 25%, a record low in surveys dating to 1987. More than three-quarters said they lack confidence that life for the next generation will be better than their own, the poll found.
>Nearly 70% of people said they believe the American dream—that if you work hard, you will get ahead—no longer holds true or never did, the highest level in nearly 15 years of surveys.
I would have been surprised if the poll found anything other than pessimism.
Hard work barely keeps your head above water. Economic gains are rigged for the top 1%—and they laugh their asses off while we point fingers at each other in blame.
It should be evident to all that billionaires don’t work a thousand times harder than millionaires. It’s not hard work that pays, evidently.
Didnt a majority vote for a guy who hasnt worked an honest day in his entire life?
People still believed that? It became clear to me that hard work leads to economic gains is largely a myth 30 years ago.
It never has. That’s a myth the owning class feeds the poor.
My software engineering day job at $150,000 really doesn’t pay the mortgage. It’s the $2700/month made in dividends and interest on investments.
If you already have $500,000 it’s pretty easy to become a millionaire, you only have to double your money. If you only have $10,000? You have to make it another 100 times somehow. That’s 100 chances to do it, or more often lose it.
Absolutely, and almost unequivocally the HARDEST working people I know in my life are all solidly lower class and will spend the rest of their lives renting and working low wage jobs
I went into a yearly review explaining to my boss how much I contribute to the company, and last year’s raise had been disappointing–only to find out my raise this year was *half* of that!
I like my job. I do fantastic there. But they’re really making it hard to argue that it’s worth staying, and *all* jobs are doing that. Lowball as much as they can, horde money at top level–then complain no one works there longer than a year so they have to keep rehiring.
People used to graduate high school then bust their ass in a factory. After that hard work they would buy a home and support a wife and two kids. These days you graduate high school and there are no factories, no houses anyone can afford on low-middle income. Then to top it all off you’re on food stamps and can’t afford a studio apartment but still work 40+ hours a week.
I wonder why people think this
Sadly, Trump has taught us that lying, cheating, bullying and ruthlessness are winning traits. Hard work is for “losers.”
Took long enough, considering “bootstrap uplift” was only a 19th century canard designed to obfuscate this, but consider Bellamy’s *Looking Backward*?
A world that like *The Man in the High Castle*, is so shitty due to rampant capitalism, and that people are so desperate to escape that the actual means by which they do that is *incidental*…
We live in a pump and dump economy now
It only ever did from about 1945 to 1965, everything before sucked for most and after 1965 the billionaire class was starting up.
that’s because it doesn’t
If hard work had a damned thing to do with success, the richest man in Hollywood would be a Mexican with a leaf blower.
Your hardwork makes someone else rich
Hard work is only rewarded with more work.
Epstein Files!
This is not news to anyone who is paying attention. The promise of America is faltering. We need to pick it up babes.
Here’s the thing though, I actually believe we can. It’s possible. But my god, there’s a ways to go.
Because it’s a lie. The American Dream for a time was only for WASP Americans and now because some minorities were able to achieve it the whole ladder is being pulled up and a grenade is thrown down to blow up the existing middle class. Man racism sure does kill countries, huh?
My company will give the same 3.5% increase regardless of if you travel all over or take two weeks to do something that takes your coworkers a half a day. Why bother burning yourself out when it doesn’t matter?
At this point, this is like studying if water is wet.
I’ve got stage-4 poverty. I don’t think I’m gonna make it.
Oh our hard work leads to tremendous economic gain. Not for us though, of course.
Hard work leads to getting laid off.
That is a completely unfair sentiment. Of course hard work leads to economic gain. **Just not for you** but for your boss, the Great Job Creator, as nature intended.
I got laid off from an aerospace job where I worked hard because Boeing once again got people killed.
Working hard doesn’t do shit.
Just now people are realizing this?
As we near a cycles end, the truths come out. And the cycle in this case is modern life in America is not about equality and a fair living. It’s dog eat dog and the rich vs the poor. Kinda what it’s always been except this time the gap is bigger than ever
In other breaking news, George W Bush has just been elected president!
That’s not exactly surprising, especially in light of the now blatantly obvious wealth inequality in this country.
I wonder why
It’s because it doesn’t
Took long enough. Hard work with professional and financial promotions were because of the unions. Here in Texas workers have next to 0 rights. If your work is M-F 8-5 don’t give them anything beyond that. Cause they won’t give you anything in return.
I entered the workforce in 1985, which coincidentally is the same time I gave up on the dream of being rich beyond the dreams of avarice.