America the Mobile? Yes, but not as much as we might wish

National Review Online ^ | October 28, 2011 | Rich Lowry

[tulloss]

The acid test of the American Dream is whether people can rise beyond the circumstances of their birth. With Occupy Wall Street doing for income inequality what the Tea Party did for debt, the state of the American Dream is more and more central to the political debate.

[tulloss]

Lowry's last two paragraphs should have been his first two; therein lies the only thesis worth discussing. According to the Center for Disease Control, the LOWEST teen pregnancy rate ever recorded in the U.S. is 45 out of 1000 individuals. That's 450% higher than Finland's (10 out of 1000). Any mobility comparison is ludicrous....not to mention Lowry never brings up the standard of living for our poorest fifth, contrasted with that of the other nations (here's good info on that, from Walter Williams: http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/poverty-255524-poor-percent.html ). Though he's on track in his conclusion, I have to wonder--what's the point in even writing the column unless his entire focus is on exploding the myths inherent in his first 9 paragraphs. Why write a column giving credence to leftist propaganda, followed by a brief, sidelong glance to the truth at the very end. And why do so many people on our side feel the need to cede ANYTHING to the OWS buffoons? Why should anyone on our side even mention OWS in the same breath as the tea party. At best, all this column does is cancel itself out, so that in the end it says nothing. I'm sorry, but I see no point that Lowry could possibly be trying to make, other than some misguided point he's trying to make about himself.