General Discussion

Ben Franklin and Horacio Alger talked about rags-to-riches although Franklin may not have used that term. The idea that was being expressed was upward social mobility. The actual term came about in 1931 during the Great Depression. Imo, it flourished due to what helped the so-called Greatest Generation including the GI Bill, FDR’s programs and the development of Leavittown.

What is missing is that the post WW2 era was an outlier. The U.S. economy stood astride a world in rubble. When other countries shrugged off the impact of WW2 in the late ‘60’s and ‘70’s the end result was the collapse of Bretton Woods and the beginning of financialization. Sure, other countries have practiced regulated capitalism but even they are feeling the impacts of capitalism regressing to its “normal” functioning.

The dream was short lived because it had to be.