Mitt Romney Claims That Obama Is Not Teddy Roosevelt and Is Really A Socialist

Paul Krugman did not like what Mitt Romney said about President Obama. Romney said Obama did not believe in equal opportunity; he believed in equal outcomes. Romney got that line from a good source. That was one of Ronald Reagan's favorite sound bites. The implication is that we have a meritocracy, and that social mobility in America is based upon talent and effort. The myth of Horatio Alger, and that everyone can become a millionaire, is commonly believed in America. That myth has enabled many American's to become millionaires by selling get rich programs, and self help programs, to ordinary Americans. They claim that you are responsible for your own destiny, and that if you are not rich, it is your own fault. I don't think that many Americans became rich after learning about their deficiencies. But the basic idea behind them helps to elect many republicans to office. and does create millionaires who profit from the myth by commercializing it.

Krugman then provides some information that attacks the myth. There is a lot of evidence on social mobility which shows that America has less social mobility than most industrial countries. Its easier to get rich if you can select your own grand parents, and if you can afford to attend the right schools where you can also make the right contacts. George Bush proved that very ordinary people with those qualifications can even become a President. Barrack Obama showed that some brilliant individuals can manage to get into the right schools, and if they graduate at the top of their class they too might become President. He would like to provide more of those opportunities for Americans without the right grand parents but republicans oppose those programs for a variety of reasons. They really don't believe in equal opportunity. They call government programs that enhance opportunity, income redistribution programs, and then argue that such programs are wrong because their proponents really advocate equal results and equal opportunity. That argument worked for Ronald Reagan, and Mitt Romney believes that it will work for him. He is probably correct. There are reasons why ideas become myths and it is risky to attack them Krugman will get lots of hate mail from the 80% of Americans who are convinced that they or their children can become millionaires. That will happen for a small percent of them and that proves that Horatio Alger is alive and well in America.

Krugman's defense of equal opportunity programs is part of his approach to the problem of inequality. Government programs that encourage social mobility is part of the solution. Some children from low income families will have more opportunity to enter the middle class. It does not address the rising share of national income that has been going to the top 1% over the last 30 years in America. The post below is an effort to understand that problem better.