Separate Realities: The Dream and the Iceberg - Scarecrow Press

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68 Chapter 2 for the few. Certainly this steady secession would make the lives of those who remained in the city increasingly difficult.” 125 In the contemporary period, idea systems such as neoliberalism and privatism have been vigorously promoted by U.S. superclass elites as part of a large-scale, privileged-class-led attack on publicly supported institutions, such as schools and most forms of government-funded services. Mass media dissemination of ideas asserting that government-based services are inefficient or ineffective or both helps facilitate and legitimate public hostility to public institutions. 126 Policies based on these ideas, such as reducing government services (except for the police and military) and government regulations, serve elites’ economic interests. In fact, many top executives of American firms now openly accept the view that “their job is to maximize shareholder returns, not to advance public goals.” 127 Today, idea systems based on privatization help “normalize,” facilitate, and legitimate the growth Copyright © Lloyd Dangle. Reprinted with permission.
Separate Realities 69 of class-segregated communities and contribute to the erosion of privilegedclass support for mixed-class public institutions, such as nongated neighborhoods, municipal services, public schools, and community hospitals. The mainstream media occasionally report on growing class segregation and secession issues (though the latter term is seldom used). In the mid-2000s, the New York Times reported “that researchers are finding . . . increasing economic segregation.” 128 A Newsweek cover story offered this view of class secession: “Increasingly the [privileged class] is choosing to live in ways that minimize its mixing with . . . [other classes]. . . . Sometimes it just moves farther out into the suburbs, or higher up the high rise. But increasingly often it chooses to live in a walled and gated community guarded by private security forces.” 129 This observation intersects with research that suggests the attraction of gated community life is linked, in part, to residents’ interests in the security, safety, and protection they believe such communities provide. 130 While members of all classes presumably share interests in safety and security, members of the privileged class more often have the resources to pursue these interests in ways that involve physical forms of class secession. These would include not only gated communities but also, for example, “the rise of the Hummer lifestyle,” meaning the popularity of large sport utility vehicles (SUVs) among privileged-class consumers because of the militarylike security such vehicles appear to provide drivers and passengers. 131 Above the Waterline Trends: Social Consequences and Popular Culture The consequences of class polarization, downward mobility, and class secession for millions of new-working-class members and their families over the past three decades include a growing sense of insecurity and pessimism. These trends are reflected in public attitudes, lifestyle choices, and even the popular music of today’s youth. Two national public-opinion surveys in the mid-2000s reported similar findings: nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the American Dream is becoming harder to achieve. 132 For example, in one study, “62 percent of Americans say that the American Dream is harder to achieve today compared to their parent’s generation . . . and 64 percent say that the American Dream is harder to achieve today compared to 10 years ago.” 133 Moreover, only 15 percent say that all or most Americans will be able to achieve the American Dream, and 42 percent do not think that they will be able to achieve the American Dream in their lifetime. Also, majorities of respondents in one poll said the American Dream is harder to achieve today in part because the “current society favors the rich” and because “wages for workers are too low.” 134 A 2006 survey of U.S. adults found only one-third expected children would grow up to be better off than people today, while half expected children would be worse off. 135 The latter finding was reinforced by another 2006 survey of adult workers, which found a majority believed the next generation would be worse off than the current generation. 136 These results are in contrast
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