American Dreams Read Free Page B

somehow changed, that there is now a large number of us who would rather depend on government than work.
    This simply isn’t true. Of course, there will always be some who would rather get a handout than a hand up. But the vast majority of Americans, like Jose and Lisa, are willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead. The flip side of that argument, however, is equally offensive. It’s the idea that if you’re successful—even if you’re just ambitious—you don’t have yourself and your hard work to thank; you have government to thank. Perhaps the most famous articulation of this view came in the summer before the 2012 election, when President Obama told a campaign audience in Virginia, “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that.”
    Government can play a role in our success, of course. The rule of law, infrastructure, access to quality education and a pro-growth tax and regulatory code help create the environment for prosperity. This is the proper and important role of government in making free enterprise work. But what President Obama, Hillary Clinton and other liberals believe goes well beyond this limited role. They believe that government doesn’t just create the environment for prosperity; they believe it is its primary driver. And they believe that the one thing struggling Americans need or want most is a government check.
    In this view, the government safety net isn’t a temporary bridge to a better life but a permanent way of life. Politically, this can be a compelling agenda. When people lament the quality of our schools, it can be an effective talking point to say how much you want to spend on education, as opposed to empowering parents with more choices. And when the struggles of people like Jose and Lisa come up, it can be a rewarding position during an election to propose to spend money to lower interest rates on student loans or to offer government-subsidized health insurance, rather than encourage innovation and competition to bring prices down.
    The problem with this approach, however, is that in the end it just makes Americans feel better while they’re clinging to a lower rung of the economic ladder. It doesn’t help them rise. Like a record number of Americans during the Obama presidency, Lisa and Jose considered government assistance when the recession hit and their business failed. For a while, they weren’t sure they were going to be able to keep their house. Jose is grateful the help is available. But what he really wants is to get his degree and be able to provide for himself and his family. He is frustrated that the assistance he gets doesn’t help him do that. What’s more, he sees government tipping the scales
against
his success. He used to dream of starting his own business again after getting his degree, but these days he’s not so sure.
    â€œThe truth is, right now I am very cautious about embarking on that journey again,” says Jose. “I don’t believe that the rules are on my side to succeed.” A few years after his business failed, he and Lisa tried to start another business, but the cost of insurance and benefits forced them to, as he says, “1099” their employees—bring them on as independent contractors, without tax withholding or benefits. Since then, the prospects for businesspeople like Jose and Lisa have only gotten worse.
    The regulations placed on small-business owners have grown so burdensome that Jose now finds himself tempted by the idea that he might be better off working for someone else for the rest of his life rather than try to build something of his own. “I have no idea what’s being mandated or what problems we could run into,” he says. “How can anybody move forward with blind faith?”
    Among the challenges people like Jose now face are the realities of a new economy that is fundamentally different from the one his parents—and my