The American Dream Is Alive

T he biggest change I’ve seen when I have addressed audiences the past few years is that more and more people tell me they don’t believe their children or grandchildren will have as good a life as they did. There is real doubt among many that the American dream is alive.

It’s not just that 70 percent of Americans think we’re on the wrong track right now. A more worrisome number is that patriotism is also at a record low — a recent Gallup poll found that only 38 percent are extremely proud to be American. Lots of pundits and doomsayers have embraced the hyper-political narrative that achieving success and happiness in America is a hope of yesteryear.

That’s why a new book by my friends David Sokol and Adam Brandon is a good antidote to this pessimism. America in Perspective: Defending the American Dream for the Next Generation is all about defending and reviving the can-do spirit and optimism that founded our country.

Sokol is the founder of Teton Capital and was a longtime top associate of investor Warren Buffett; he currently holds the title of chairman emeritus of the Horatio Alger Society of Distinguished Americans, a group of strivers who have risen from very humble circumstances. Brandon is the head of the grassroots activist group FreedomWorks.

Books that tackle the topic of the American dream and American exceptionalism are easy to bungle, often favoring jingoistic platitudes over rigorous research and methodical application of that research. Sokol and Brandon easily avoid this trap, presenting well-researched arguments in defense of America’s foundational values of meritocracy, self-healing, reverence for the rule of law, and entrepreneurship.

Not once while reading this book did I feel that the authors were trying to push a politically charged narrative on me. Instead, what came across was a measured, sincere appeal for all Americans to reflect on our history from the Founding to now — without shying away from the dark stains of the Civil War or Jim Crow — and realize that our country has always had the tools, values, and fighting spirit needed to overcome hardship and bridge ideological divides. The authors pay homage to the age-old truth that, more often than not, the answers to our current problems can be found by looking to the past. And thankfully, America’s past, though tumultuous, has led to ultimate triumphs that provide valuable lessons for those who are willing to heed them.

Considering the backgrounds of both authors, it makes sense that the two have come together to write a book defending the American dream, putting our country’s current problems in the context of our extraordinary history. Sokol has been recognized as one of the top business leaders in America, thanks to his many successes. Brandon has spent the better part of his adult life working alongside ordinary Americans who believe in this country and want to see it thrive for generations to come. These two know the American dream because they have lived it. But more commendable than the fact that both men have lived out the American dream is that they are doing the crucial work to clarify the truth about it, without which we won’t be able to preserve it.

In today’s political environment, it is easier to criticize our country than to defend it. That’s why America in Perspective is so important. America is the greatest country in the world. Someone has to say it, and I’m certainly glad that David Sokol and Adam Brandon did.