A similar dynamic seems unlikely to unfold in the United States. While the
imagined prospect of upward mobility for those in the lower part of the income
distribution shares little in common with the generational dynamics of the top
1 percent, the latter may well continue to be an important touchstone for those
in, say, the top fifth of the US income distribution. After all, this group too has
experienced significant growth in its relative standing, which partly reflects an
increasing return to the graduate and other higher degrees for which they exerted
considerable effort, but is also linked to a background of nurturing families and
select colleges. This group has both the resources and incentives to turn more
intensely to promoting the capacities of their children. With effort and a bit of
luck, it is not unreasonable for them to believe they may yet cross the threshold
into the top 1 percent, and they can certainly imagine that their children stand
just as good a chance, if not better. For them the “American Dream” lives on,
and as a result they are likely not predisposed, with their considerable political
and cultural influence, to support the recasting of American public policy to
meet its most pressing need, the upward mobility of those at the bottom.