The Hidden History of the American Dream: The Demise of the Middle Class-and How to Rescue Our Future
- 1h 55m
- Thom Hartmann
- Berrett-Koehler Publishers
- 2024
America's most popular progressive radio host and New York Times bestselling author explores the fall of the American Dream and the steps we can take to bring it back.
The widening wealth gap is all too familiar to many Millennials and GenZers, especially when home ownership and the lack of debt seem like faraway fantasies. And it's no surprise when they only hold about 4.6% of the country's wealth while Boomers held 22% at around the same age. So what happened to the promise of the American Dream?
In this new, final entry of his celebrated Hidden History Series, Thom Hartmann uncovers the rise of the American middle class through the progressive policies of FDR, through to its downfall with the increasing privatization and economic deregulations of the Reagan era.
He also explores potential solutions including:
- Wealth and inheritance taxes to lessen economic inequality
- Supporting unions through increasing labor rights
- Renationalizing public spaces and transportation
The American Dream often remains just a dream for many, but this book highlights what needs to be done to take it back and help make it a reality for us all.
About the Author
Thom Hartmann is a four‐time winner of the Project Censored Award, a New York Times bestselling author of over thirty books, and America's #1 progressive talk radio show host for more than a decade. His show is carried on SiriusXM and radio stations nationwide and simulcast as television on Free Speech TV.
In this Book
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Introduction—We Failed to Stop Them
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Creating the American Dream in Its Modern Form
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“Necessitous Men are Not Free Men”
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What it Takes to Build a Middle Class
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Expanding the Base of the Middle Class
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Right to Work for Less
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How the American Dream of a Middle Class Helps Democracy
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Why Public Schools are on the GOP's Hit List
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Student Debt Harms the American Dream
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Housing Should Not Be a Commodity
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The Impact of Tax Policy on the American Dream
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The American Dream Requires a Healthy Populace Who Aren't Crushed by Medical Costs
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Paid Sick Leave and Low-Cost Childcare to Revive the American Dream
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Invest in American Manufacturing
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Entrepreneurship and the American Dream
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For the Next Time Some Idiot Tries to Tell You the GOP is the “Party of Business”
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Climate Change: Where is the Accountability for the Killers Ushering in the Dream-Destroying Climate Apocalypse?
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Make Congress Wear NASCAR Patches
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Saving the American Dream for Zoomers and the Rest of Us
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Notes
