I think I got your point.
A touch less wild materialism and a little more frugality and almost anybody can live reasonably well.
It is harder than it was ten years ago—agreed—but it is still well within reach with proper life habits.
Where we might disagree is I do not want to see public schools become excellent—I want people to take responsibility for finding a way to educate their own kids.
Some things are just too important to hand off to subcontractors.
I have sacrificed many forms of relative luxury to make sure that my children never set foot in public schools.
But if the American Dream, even for people making big big bucks in the financial industry, is clipping coupons and saving hair, then it is not just dead, but it's corpse is being desecrated.