The Fairness Strategy

From dishwasher to millionaire – that’s something most Americans still believe in. But reality looks somewhat different, and President Barack Obama understands that.

In his State of the Union speech, President Obama put something unusual forth as his theme: fairness. Most Americans still believe that anyone, regardless of the obstacles, can still make it to the top. All they need is enough ambition and no interference from the government. That’s the classic belief and is still the Republican propaganda to this day.

But all that has little to do with reality. America, meanwhile, has developed into a class society. In America more so than in Germany, future prospects for individuals depend on their origins. Only those with well-to-do and educated parents – something Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, whose father was also a millionaire ex-governor, was blessed with – have much of a chance of having a similar career.

This realization has been spreading in the United States ever since the economic crisis struck in 2008. That’s the reason for the numerous protest movements, beginning with the tea party movement that wrongly blames the government for all the ailments, on to the Occupy Wall Street movement that focuses its anger on bankers and stock market brokers. Obama has understood and is offering a competing program – partly from conviction and partly because it’s the ideal strategy to counter Republican stubbornness.

If unemployment numbers decline, he may very well succeed with it.