We need to conserve the American Dream. It motivates and shapes the American spirit.

All Americans should be able to decide their own potential. They must be able to achieve this through effort and dedication, regardless of where they were born.

In at least two areas we can use conservative principles to achieve our goal. We need to increase wages. And we need to create a healthy supply of move-in ready starter homes.

Last week, we examined the philosophy of Edmund Burke. He's the father of conservative thought. Burke stressed the value of tradition and experience in political decision-making. He advocated for evolutionary rather than revolutionary change. His skepticism of radical ideologies underscored a pragmatic approach. This approach balanced reform with preserving established systems.

But Burke was not averse to change.

In the face of the American Revolution he didn’t oppose progress. Burke understood that rigidly clinging to the status quo could lead to greater upheaval. In his view, balancing tradition with reform was vital to uphold core principles.

Note the stark irony in Burke’s situation. Burke sought to conserve the British Empire through practical change. Burke didn't intend allowing the American colonies self-governance as a concession. He saw it as a strategic move to preserve the larger structure of the empire. Burke saw that rigid, unjust traditional policies would only fuel rebellion. His approach was conservative at its core—an attempt to maintain the status quo by adapting it to new realities.

Burke's insights are particularly relevant to conserving the American Dream.

What do future generations of young Americans have to hope for, if not for the American Dream? It’s a symbol of a better life for all Americans, no matter their background.

Last October, The Wall Street Journal revealed just a third of Americans believe the American Dream is still alive. Ten years ago, more than half said yes. Stagnating wealth and shorter life expectancy weigh on our thoughts.

We need to save the vision. Preserve it. Conserve it. No matter your choice of words, Americans born from any walk of life should be able to decide their own potential.

Conservatism’s goal isn’t preserving the past. We owe nothing to previous generations. Conservatism’s goal is conserving the institution into the future. And part of the institution of America is the American Dream.

Conserving the American Dream

What is the American Dream? How can we conserve it?

The American Dream symbolizes equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity. This success requires hard work, determination, and initiative. The vision often includes elements like financial security and home ownership.

The American Dream is of utmost importance in our national ethos and identity. It's intertwined with values like individualism and the pursuit of happiness. It's a motivator and a defining element of the American spirit.

It’s absolutely essential to conserve the opportunity for all Americans to succeed through their own means. In at least two areas we can address challenges to the American Dream. Those two areas are wages and housing.

The American Dream and Wages

From US Census Bureau data published in 2021, “In 2020, there were 37.2 million people in poverty.”

But we have a conundrum. If it were easy to end poverty we would already have done so.

We could mandate wage increases, but doing so threatens some businesses. Businesses need to grow revenue to pay higher wages.

Or we could address the problem by giving small businesses a tax incentive. This would grow revenue. Program guidelines would require them to pay higher wages to qualify. And we have an existing program to use.

A study titled Minimum Wages and Poverty: New Evidence from Dynamic Difference-in-Differences Estimates by the National Bureau of Economic Research offers insight. Dr. Richard Burkhauser and colleagues analyzed the impact of increasing the minimum wage. They identified:

The poor performance of past minimum wage increases in curbing poverty can be explained by two important factors. First, most working-age individuals … living in poor families are not employed and even fewer are steadily employed…. Second, minimum wage increases may cause adverse employment effects among some low-skilled workers.

Dr. Burkhauser found we need to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) program:

In contrast to the minimum wage, expansions in … the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) may be more effective … to deliver income to the families (households) of the working poor than the minimum wage.

We could pair the small business tax incentives with EITC.

Conservatives created EITC with broad bipartisan support. It's a social program designed to benefit low- to moderate-income working individuals and families. The program particularly helps those with children. Studies find the program significantly increases workforce participation. It reduces poverty, stimulates the economy, and reduces income inequality. To qualify, individuals must meet income thresholds, have a valid Social Security number, and meet other criteria. This includes working a qualifying number of hours.

Conservative President Reagan (R) saw EITC as a way to help families without increasing their dependency on direct welfare. One of Reagan’s highest priorities in his second term was passing the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Along with cutting taxes, the act significantly expanded EITC. Expanding EITC was Reagan’s most significant domestic policy achievement. He said EITC was “the best anti-poverty, the best pro-family, the best job creation measure to come out of Congress.”

EITC is not a silver bullet. EITC is a social program. Instead of people getting enough money from their jobs, taxpayers give money to the government. The government then uses it to pay those who qualify. The ideal scenario is for workers to earn enough to support their families without additional aid.

Key takeaways from the proposal:

We should incentivize small businesses to pay workers higher wages as an alternative to a social program.

* Companies should receive a tax credit if they pay wages that allow workers to be self-sufficient. This incentive would make these companies more competitive. And it would reduce the need for taxpayer-funded social programs.

* Companies failing to meet this wage threshold would not qualify for the tax credit. This lack of competitive edge could lead to business failure. As a result, many businesses would offer livable wages.

You can read or listen to the entire proposal in the piece titled “Earned Income Tax Credit and Small Business Taxes”. It's available here:

The American Dream and Home Ownership

Home ownership is a central component of the American Dream. It represents stability, financial security, and a personal stake in the community. Further, home ownership is the decisive element of generational financial stability.

In recent years, established markets have skewed the home ownership market. They've turned housing into an investment opportunity. In 2022 investors purchased between 25% and 35% of all homes. Individuals investing in the housing market reduce housing available for first time homebuyers.

Further, housing supply has not kept up with population growth. In other words, since 1970 the supply of housing is going down.

Homeowners have the right to do as they wish with their property. However, reduced housing availability threatens the American Dream for millions. We need to address housing supply to conserve the American Dream.

We need to take a conservative approach and reduce home construction regulatory barriers. We must ease zoning laws, streamline the permit process, and cut bureaucratic hurdles. Home builders build larger, more expensive homes in part to overcome these challenges. These larger homes are difficult for first-time homebuyers to purchase. We need more starter homes.

And we need to make small changes to existing programs to increase starter home supply. To achieve this goal we need to incentivize business competition. The winner of the competition would build starter homes. This approach must aim to preserve the American Dream's aspect of home ownership.

Our benchmark: America needs a healthy supply of move-in ready homes for first-time homebuyers. Those homes should cost less than $150,000.

An idea to incentivize home builders to build smaller homes in both rural and urban America is to use the nation’s existing Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Adapting the SBIR model to the construction industry will boost innovation in starter homes. It will reward the most innovative designs. It will further reward the use of readily available materials. This incremental change to the SBIR program will increase the supply of small homes.

You can read or listen to more about this idea in the piece titled “Small, Affordable Homes.”:

We need to conserve the American Dream. It motivates and shapes the American spirit.

All Americans should be able to decide their own potential. Regardless of where they were born, they must be able to achieve this through effort and dedication.

In at least two areas we can use conservative principles to achieve our goal. We need to increase wages. And we need to create a healthy supply of move-in ready starter homes.

Sticking to rigid, unjust traditional policies may not fuel rebellion. But doing nothing could be even worse, erasing a core tenet of what it means to be American.

May God bless the United States of America.

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