Through our history millions of people have come to what they see as a land of opportunity. The American Dream – the idea that if we work had we can succeed – is one of the key threads that runs through our culture.

How optimistic are you feeling now, though? Does it look as if the US is headed onward and upward to a brighter future? Or do you have an uneasy feeling that the American Dream is on the edge of collapsing into a nightmare?

If you do, and you're looking for reassurance, I'm sorry to say I can't give you any. We're not past the point of no return yet, but there's evidence all around us that points to this country being in a dangerously unstable condition.

We could manage to turn things around – but right now we're heading in the wrong direction.

A House Divided
These states don't feel very united right now. In fact this country might be more divided than it's been at any time since Richmond fell to US troops in 1865. Our politics have become terrifyingly partisan.

Decades ago, in the golden age of the 1950s, the Republicans wanted to build a prosperous by cutting federal taxes and letting people keep more of their money.

The Democrats wanted to build a prosperous nation by using federal law to give people more rights at work.

OK, that's simplifying it a little, but both parties wanted pretty much the same sort of country; they just had different ideas – and, really, not that different – about how to get there.

Look at things now. Some moderate politicians still exist (and they get elected, so some people still like what they're saying) but overall political debate has swerved wildly towards the extremes.