Lotsa Pie

Do you remember the old Chevy ad, “Baseball, apple pie, hot dogs and Chevrolet”?  I love a great apple pie but I like sour cherry more.  We had sour cherry at my daughter’s wedding here at the lake in lieu of cake.  I might have it on the brain.

I am watching the protests and the language coming out of the protestor’s mouths.  I am listening pretty closely.  What I am hearing is that they don’t think they have a shot at the American Dream.  They also are using verbiage that signals they think there is a limited supply of American Dream.  As if it is a pie that has to be cut up and served.  Only a few lucky people get it.

That’s the wrong way to frame it and the wrong way to think about the American Dream.  It’s there for the taking.  It’s there for everyone.  However, it’s not free.  You have to take risk and work hard to earn it.  There are no get rich quick schemes.

We don’t limit pie in America.  We create as much as anyone wants.  You want pie-you can get pie but it’s not served to you on a platter.  There are a lot of things that go into a pie.  You have to grow the crops and process them to make the dough.  You have to grow and process the filling.  You have to create a tin to hold the pie and you have to create an oven to bake it. Then, you need a little patience and time while the pie bakes and sets up.  Sometimes, people like to add a little a la mode to their pie and that’s okay.  Every pie a person makes is not exactly the same.

The American Dream is not some dictionary defined and constrained thing.  It’s what you make of it yourself.  In terms of economics, the supply curve for the American Dream is perfectly elastic.

Not only that, to have a chance at securing the American Dream you must be prepared when you are growing up to have the skills to earn it.

It’s pretty clear American public education is messed up and has failed in helping people acquire those skills.  In economic terms, the demand curve for fueling the American Dream is constrained.  That’s why I am a huge proponent of school choice and vouchers.

It’s also why I am passionate about entrepreneurship.  We have less entrepreneurship in America than we used to despite the lower costs of starting a business.  Entrepreneurs take their shot at the American Dream.  Entrepreneurs and people chasing the Dream also taste their fair share of failure and bear the responsibility for it.  You get knocked down.

Here is a woman who got knocked down in life talking about how she chased the American Dream, her American Dream, and how she succeeded.

These policies being extolled by the far left are not going to bring the American Dream to anyone. As a matter of fact, based on all the societal data we have generated over eons of time, we know that the policies they want to put in place will stop people from achieving the American Dream. It will become a part of the dustbin of history.  That would be sad.