We did it once, and we can do it again-as long as we returned to what worked in the past-New Deal 2.0. As long as the naysayers and traitors stay out of the way, America can do anything-like build cars, computers, rockets....

We did that during the era of liberalism.

The survey is interesting, but a bit like interviewing a manic depressive during a "down" cycle. You can't expect overly optimistic responses during times like these. The survey more accurately represents the current mood of the country, which will change as soon as the economy improves. Remember that just four years ago we thought we were the most powerful and prosperous country in the world. The overly pessimistic mood is easily seen in the comment that we will never catch up to India and China, when it is they who have a long way to go to catch up with the US.

Interesting survey. . . .I seem to remember the same sentiment in the late 70's and early 80's. I don't think it has anything to do with liberal policies or conservative policies but clear and concise leadership. FDR (a liberal) had a clear agenda, John F Kennedy (a dem but a conservative one) also had a pretty clear agenda with the space program. Regan had an agenda of defeating communism thru industry and technology. It all begins with the leadership at the top. If you can persuade the masses that your agenda is a good one the people will follow.

 What dream?       If your poor or  low income your done. Out here in scrapperland. People are spending on things like toilet paper and food,Bills be damned. In scrapperland we're just hoping to raise a kid that's good at somekind of sport because that's your only chance. It  looks like 1950s europe around here. We are bombed out and poor with not many ways to turn. Good luck.

Banks did not sink this economy, socialism did.  The stupid idea that Frank had that everybody had a right to a house whether they could afford it or not is what triggered this mess.

If you don't like banks, simply don't borrow.  That may seem like a radical concept but it is a proven lifestyle that I and millions of others practice.

Under almost any reasonable scenario our standard of living for future generations will decline, we have far to much national and personal debt, and taxes will be going up on EVERYONE. There simply will not be enough tax revenue to pay the bills no matter how much government spending is cut back or restrained. The sooner we take the purse strings of government away from Pelosi and Reid, the better. But at this point we are only talking about limiting the damage they have done.

Government spending definitely will have to be reduced with reduced activity in the economy. The number of our government employees is the same or close to that regardless of how much less we have to support.

Other thing is, we as a country on the world stage will have to work harder since every other country is more hungry to achieve. That competitive attitude will fare well for many of us in the US but obviously not for all. You snooze, you loose.......

The "American Dream" is alive and well.......just on hiatus until our policy makers identify the real problem(s) facing us. Most of the comments thus far are concerned with "money" and the debt problem. Folks, the so-called debt is not these little pieces of paper or electronic "bytes" of information in our bank accounts. Our debt is a representation of future goods and services that need to be produced to meet future demands. To meet these demands, poductivity must increase substantially.....and that does not necessarily translate into more work and lower standards of living for our country. The productivity issue can be addressed by making the cost of energy an almost trivial expense for personal and industrial use. Instead of government expenditures to promote consumerism (ie cash for clunkers, new home buyer credit) and unemployment benefits, we need to modernize the electric grid, become 90% nuclear with 10 years, convert the transportation energy infrastructure to natural gas (near term, with the eventual goal of almost exclusively electric motor vehicles).....in other words bring energy cost down to inflation adjusted 1990's levels.

There are a multitude of projects that can be done to meet this goal and all of them will require lots and lots of people working. The government will have to spend to accomplish many of these, but the resulting growth rate will easily offset the cost. Full employment would result almost immediately. Furthermore, private sector investment could accomplish most of this with clear, concise long term government policy and backing. It's going to happen eventually.......just a matter of time, and when it does........the 21st century will be an American one as well.

Well we can throw away any dreams and sense of power away if the Republicans and/or Tea Baggers get elected. They have already pretty much eliminated the middle class in this country and that's exactly where they want to lead this country into a rich, limited power base of those they "buy and elect".

We are controlled by a few special interests who have the money to buy the laws they want. Who is kidding whom? The rest of us will mow the grass, fix the cars, and recite the specials of the day to those who have the money and the mansions. A lot of us can choose to be beggars and vagabonds. Society has functioned this way before during an epoch known as the Dark Ages.

Currently we're in a no-win situation. All levels of government will be forced to raise taxes sharply and cut or eliminate services. At the federal level, taxes will have to go up if we ever hope to pay off our debt, while Congress and the White House will have to make brutal cuts in entitlements and even the military. Government can't help us out of the mess, and we can't rely on corporations either (with their ethos of "profits at any cost" and shipping jobs overseas, they're part of the problem too). Political instability and social unrest will be inevitable, especially if unemployment remains high. Ultimately we'll go into a downward spiral, as businesses and foreign governments invest elsewhere, further depleting our wealth. The ultimate end might be mass emigration by skilled/educated workers to more prosperous regions of the world (should we be teaching our kids Mandarin Chinese?), while everyone else descends into a world that resembles a cross between feudalism and a police state.

The American Dream is alive and well.....just "resting" for the next century. Eventually our policy makers will identify the problem(s) our country faces, namely.....energy.

We must return our energy cost to 1995 inflation adjusted levels. When that occurs, the productively advantage this country has will return in full force and easily provide for the anticipated needs (goods and services) our country will require in the next century.

1) We must become at least 90% nuclear within 10 years.

2) Conversion of transportation energy needs to natural gas with the goal of becoming almost entirely electric within 15 years.

3) $20,000 dollars (entirely voluntary) worth of energy effeciency upgrades (solar cells, windows, insulation, doors, etc) to every home in America. This would cost about $1.6 trillion. This will be paid for by applying the cost savings to US savings bonds in the name of the owner of the house. In other words, if you pay $300/mo in utility bills before the upgrades and $200/mo afterward.....the $100 dollars worth of savings is usded to purchase US savings bonds in your name.

These three things alone would most likely return the US to full employment and provide investment to the country's future productivity. The first two could be financed by the private sector if clear government policy backing were in place. These would be true investments in America rather than ineffectual "cash-for-clunker" and "home-buyers-credit" programs. If we, as a nation, can get our energy cost to an almost trivial level......the next century will be an American one, too.

We know the recession has been hard on our pocketbooks, but it seems it also has been a blow to American optimism.

No! This depression opened the eyes of millions who now see the dream as nothing more than an illusion meant to keep people believing we have a real chance.

 only those that believe in santa claus believe in the american dream 

Concerning the debt - given that so many whine about it. Where is the outrage for military spending? Do you not think there is a consequence in spending 100 billion a month for military action (killing both good and bad guys)? Wake up you fools... The liberals would have us out in no time, yet remain steadfast in killing and/or capturing Osama. I remember the Demoracts paying a high price for ending Vietnam war ( republicans argued Democrats were weak on defense ), so it seems like the GOP created the climate where our war machine can and must outspend the tax machine, otherwise you'll be labeled weak.

As long as the government is a patsy to the extremely wealthy we will all be controlled and positioned in accordance to the will of others. Partisanship is a huge part of the problem.

War will be our savior.  The investments in future technologies, such as robotics, nanotechnology, and biotechnology will give today's "high school kids" a future that we've only seen in the movies and some beyond what was imagined.  Although they will not be as "rich" relative to foreigners, they will inherit the benefits of what we build into the new modern world and live more healthy and productive lives.  Cars and computers and even semiconductors to a certain extend and finance are the old industries and will be taken over by foreigners.  We will still have the healthcare and materials industries which "most" Americans will be able to fulfill while the elite class separates even furthur to the top fueling the invention of new intelectual property.

We have Wage and Overtime laws; but we, employees, are not guarantee to get our own overtime and wage even though employees report to the state department.

Employer has always had their lawyer and lied to state and has not prepared anything when they attend whatever conference when they have been told /instructed to do so when they have kept all the records? What make the state departments think employees would have kept all employers legal time records, especially when employees have so little access to it for employee does not have that authority.

Is it there is no hope for employees? Not really, employees still have hope. Employees may need to learn from the wicked employers, those lying giants and stealing employees hardworking money, and employees need to be prepared the next time.

The American Dream gone? I didn't know that. I just thought Wall street and big banks borrowed it for a while. Washington D.C. just "lent" it to them for a while.

This is a moment of opportunity. Americans realize that the future for our kids and grand kids will be dismal, if we do not take action now. The average American is hard working and cares most about their families survival and future. At this particular point in time, the middle class is disappearing. Apparently prognosticators are betting on a 2 class system real rich and real poor.

But here is what they are not betting on. The American people are smart. We are innovative. We will fight before someone walks away with our dream and our country. When jobs are sparse, our entepreneurial abilities join force to create new small businesses. This has always been the main engine of our economy. Big will dissappear. There will be many new businesses financed by small banks, credit unions, and small investors. New innovation will lead to a new industrial era. The next wave of innovation will lie in converging technologies, Quantum computers, nanotechnology, biotechnology, will create a new generation of smart and energy efficient systems, with major advances, in how food is grown, transportaion systems are designed, unheard of advances in medical technologies, materials, construction, energy supply, delivery and more. The prospects are endless.

You must remember, countries such as China did not innovate their way to largesse. They effectively took American technology and capitalized on it. This is true of most countries in the world today. Ask yourself, where did flight originate, the phone, the computer, the internet and on and on. In America. What has not been stolen, are our Universities, our smart kids with the ability to innovate and create, to dream and discover. This is what America has that no other country in the world has. We just need to punch government in the face and tell them back off. Get back to the business of America. Stop the greed, the over regulation, cut and revamp government, allow the Rich to play in some other country and let the American people rebuild this country for our kids and grand kids and beyond.

This will take work and committment, but it will be perhaps the most insightful and rewarding, productive and gratifying time when we hand our kids the American Dream.

When you have a country that is now so corrupt, you simply have to wonder if it is not really the vultures picking over the remnants of the day. We have a President, Congress and a whole banking system that you simply cannot trust. There is no moral compass and no one ever takes personal responsibility whatsoever. We have lost our way and there really is no one to lead us away from what is coming.

I had hopes that the Tea Party might be able to center us a little but they too have been compromised. They have actually been co-opted and their original message has faded like a pair of old blue jeans. When has their defacto leader Sarah Palin ever said anything about the Mortgage fiasco? When has she ever railed against the unjust punishment of people who have been whipsawed by foreclosures that weren't their fault? Never - that's when. And when will I ever vote for a candidate favored by the Tea Party - Never - that's when.

a lot of peoplebelieve they will win the lottery too. they won't, just as very few still live the american dream. when you read comments after an article, and half the comments accuse obama of being a socialist, you know that a large percentage of americans are quite stupid and extremely ignorant. a lot of it has to do with the tremendous concentration of the news conglomerates. they decide what is news and what isn't. it's very similiar to the policy of disinformation that was practiced by communists stalin and mao. of course we hadn't had the brutal dictatorship and massacres of 50 million people each of the aformentioned monsters. we also have an element of mccarthyism again in america when a person can say nothing good about any government policy without being called that worst word in the english language today, a "liberal". tea party people whether or not they are aware of it, trace their thinking back to reagan, prior to that to the chicago school of finance with patron saint milton friedman, and prior to that back to ayn rand. read her books, "atlas shrugged" and "the fountainhead" if you want to understand neoconservatism and where reagan's advisors got their ideas. the neoliberalism of today's clinton and obama is almost indistinguishable from neoconservatism. if you want to understand why unregulated business always descends into casino capitalism, read john maynard keynes, "the general theory of employment, interest and money". keynes was the 20th century's leading economist, and his theories were followed by government leaders from the mid 1930s until 1980. government intervention by fdr lessened the depression by a factor of 10 as compared to the market will correct itsself and no government involvement of hoover. and the period from after ww2 to 1980 was the time of american growth and good times for most americans. observant people will understand several shifts have taken place in the last 30 years with disastrous results. most are obvious such as the moving of tens of millions of jobs to slave labor countries. this could have been avoided of course. another obvious shift which is unfortunately for those affected unavoidable, is the tremendous increase in automation which replaces human labor. most people too are aware that there has been a downward shift in income with the average american making a couple of dollars less an hour adjusted for inflation than they did 30 or so years ago. one income 50 years ago supported a family, not in today's world. keynes predicted 75 years ago that unless investment speculators were controlled through rigid government regulation, that they will use up financial capital for short-term profits instead of using money for structures, plants, equipment, inventory and labor. that's exactly what happened in the 2000s. this is where most people don't understand what's going on. derivatives of subprime mortgages were sold multiple times, and they were chopped into pieces too. so a bank in england might own part of a collateralized debt obligation, another bank in taiwon might own part of a credit default swap, and maybe 2-3 other banks in other countries owning bits and pieces of an original mortgage in peoria. there is no paper trail, that's why bank of america and wells fargo don't even know who the hell owns what. of course when the bow broke the crooked speculators went running to billionaire secretary of the treasury and former chairman of goldman sachs for a bailout which they got along with many billions in undeserved bonuses. who got to pay for their corruption and stupidity? why you know the answer, the big sap, the american taxpayer. meanwhile since there was no investment in legitimate assets like plants and hardware and so much business debt by the frenzied speculation, wages had to be cut, mass layoffs occurred, and pensions and benefits were lost. many huge corporations not just financial institutions, are drowning in debt due to speculation. so now with so much unemployment and underemployment, and with 10 million homes in some stage of foreclosure, and tens of millions more with negative equity, and with massive credit card debt of 250 americans brought on by usurious interest rates, now is not the time to be a polyanna. myself, hey i'm doing terrific financially, but this isn't about me, it's about america. unfortunately america is in for a long, long slide.

As the population continues to increase the competition for resources (yes, a job is a resource) is going to stiffer and stiffer and each successive generation is going to find themselves worse off. Give it another 50 tears and these are going to look like the "good old days".

*50 years

The American Dream is alive and well. We face one problem. We are spoiled rotten.

A poor American lives better than about 90% of the rest of the world. In many countries people worry about how to eat. We wonder, "What to eat?" and then eat too much of it. Our closets overflow with cloths and toys. If something is not to our liking, we stomp our feet like children having a tantrum. We want everything fixed right now - and please do not bother us while you do it.

Maybe in our endless travels to the mall where we maxed out our credit cards to buy something - anything, we forgot the true American Dream, a life of freedom protected by the Bill of Rights and a Constitution that the government must uphold - unlike most governments.

Keep the faith. America will be just fine. We can and will solve our problems once we start working together and get back to respecting differing opinions. Our constant complaining is a good thing at times because it makes us face problems and resolve problems.

China has no problems. Thinking will remain the same. Remember when we were to fear the Soviets, the Arabs, the Japanese. We have no reason to fear. We are Americans.