American Dreams

The Whole Child: A talk by Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children's Defense Fund.

Hourglass Nation: George Kaplan's work on inequalities and health.

Michigan Dreams: How we're holding up in the hardest hit state...
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Vanishing Act, toward a Smoke-Free UM: It's coming in 2011.

Last spring, a New York Times–CBS News poll found that 72 percent of all Americans still believe in the classic version of the American dream—that in the U.S. a person can start out poor, work hard, and get rich. But fewer Americans believe they’ve achieved that dream themselves, and fewer think they’re better off than their parents were at their age, or that their children will be better off than they are.

As we struggle collectively with the deepest recession to hit this nation since the Great Depression, it seems worth asking what’s happened to the American dream. Does this country still hold out the promise of opportunity that has drawn uncounted millions to its shores over the past two centuries? Or has our potential been exhausted? Is the dream only real for a small minority at the top of the heap?

In this magazine you’ll find a range of answers to these questions—tales of hope as well as hardship, of bad news tempered by good. You’ll see how today’s hard times are likely to affect tomorrow’s health, and what members of the SPH community are doing to try to soften that impact.

We invite you to reflect on the state of your own dream.