What do workers in China have in common with Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party? They are frustrated about no longer getting a fair shot at success (see The End of the Chinese Dream).
The American dream promises opportunity. China has a similar dream. It is a social contract—a promise—between a society and its members. It motivates people to play by the rules, to be good citizens and capitalists, to go to work, pay taxes, obey laws, raise children, save for retirement, pay bills, ….because if you do so, you will be rewarded, or at least respected.
The dream promises that if you are smart, innovative, and hard working, then you have a fair chance at economic and social success. Meritocracy rewards talent and work ethic. Most Occupy Wall Street protesters are talented, educated, motivated young people who are complaining that the Dream has become an illusion. Most Tea Partiers are older, working-and middle-class people who devoted their working lives pursing the Dream; they are frustrated not so much because fame and fortune was not in their cards, but because the social contract promised to those that played by the rules isn’t being respected.
Opportunity and Fairness.
These qualities are the backbone of the American Dream. Not everyone will win. Not everyone will have the same incomes. But everyone deserves a fair shot at success.
We are in danger of losing this dream. It is being corroded by wealth and privilege. Opportunity is restricted to those with connections. The playing field is tilted towards those with wealth. Government is captured by moneyed interest. As I’ve argued elsewhere in this blog, America’s greatest challenge is to overcome corporatocracy. We need to get the money out of politics. We don’t need less government, we need better democracy.
America is fortunate to have fairness, integrity, and honesty as core values of our culture. We demand accountability. We abhor corruption.
Let’s get back to basics.
OWS posits that “the 99% vs. the 1%” is the fundamental problem that we as a nation now face. Though I agree that plutocracy/oligarchy is becoming a real threat to American democracy, I think the 99% vs. 1% is ultimately false. As you mention, Americans do not begrudge wealth. No doubt there are many in the 99% who tautologically admire the wealth and power of the 1% and do not see any reason why we should deny them the spoils of their conquest. Wealth and power, in the end, is the American way and dream. My thinking is that the fundamental problem (or conflict) America now faces is by what means do we achieve that end: the freedom resulting from minimal regulation and small government vs. the freedom resulting from government ensured fair wages, healthcare, and clean environments. Those on the side of small government–tea party, conservatives–argue that fair wages, healthcare, and clean environments will be by-products of unregulated market success. Those on the side of better government–OWS, liberals–doubt that unregulated market success will ever yield these results. This tension underlies all of our political arguments and parties. Unfortunately, this leads us to “the 50% vs. the 50%.” My personal hope is that OWS will wise-up to this and get behind a few political candidates (Prez Obama and Elizabeth Warren) and successfully move the country to at least “51% vs. 49%.”