American dream is a dream to live in a free society. Not a dream to earn/steal as much money as possible.
“ From the moment I arrived in 1995, I was struck by how contemptuous people were of the people below them in the socioeconomic hierarchy”. Another blatant lie. The vertical mobility in the US is probably the highest in the world because it is not impeded by any other factor (heredity, education, etc), which is exactly the consequence of the country being a beacon of freedom to the world. Why would the hordes of illegal immigrants try to enter the US at any cost if this wasn’t true?
That's not really true now. One reason is that the older European class structures broke down allowing greater social and economic mobility than Europe had in the past. Another is that the U.S. educational system broke down, and young people often aren't learning marketable skills. Immigration also adds a lot of people who aren't likely to rise much. In more homogeneous societies people start on more of a similar footing. And the income and wealth peaks are higher in the US and harder to reach. It is true, though, that Europe is having its own problems with immigration and education now.
Free stuff.
“ From the moment I arrived in 1995, I was struck by how contemptuous people were of the people below them in the socioeconomic hierarchy”
Total BS. There is no country in the world where people in the lower economic strata are treated with as much respect and humanity as here.
I know it first hand. My family came here with nothing and did menial jobs at the beginning and they were never treated as second class citizens. And through hard work, savings every little they could they slowly rose up the economic ladder, without ever getting a cent from the government.
He based his conclusions on people where he landed—New York, which pretty much everyone else in America recognizes is the rudest of any other American city.