About that old Gallup poll

How many Americans would still want to live this new way?

I have alluded many times to the rather astonishing results of an old Gallup poll that I myself commissioned almost half a century ago. As readers may recall, the question asked was the following:

As a new way to live in America, the idea has been suggested of building factories in rural areas—away from cities—and running them on part-time jobs. Under this arrangement the man and the woman would each work 3 days a week 6 hours a day. People would have enough spare time to build their own houses, to cultivate a garden and for hobbies and other outside interests.

How interested would you be in this way of life?

To my complete surprise, forty percent of those interviewed said they would be either “definitely” or “probably” interested in living this way, with another quarter of the population indicating that they might possibly be interested. Equally surprising, those numbers turned out to be broadly representative of the country as a whole when broken down by gender, age-group, family income, and years of education. Blacks were the only exception, being almost twice as interested in the idea as the rest of the population

But that was a long time ago. The question now is, how many Americans would still be interested in this new way of life? Supposing that poll were repeated, would the numbers be lower, higher, or roughly the same?

Of course there is no way of answering this question without actually repeating the survey, which is something I no longer have the resources to do. Should this project show signs of getting off the ground, re-commissioning that poll will be one of the first orders of business..

In the meantime, let me make the case for why the number of Americans interested in this new way of life is likely to be even higher today than it was nearly half a century ago. The reason is quite simple. In 1976, when that original survey was conducted, this nation was still at the height of its middle-class prosperity. It was a time when the average American family could realistically dream about the possibility of a house in the suburbs, complete with a white picket fence, and a full-time Mom who stayed at home with the kids.

In fact, for those who are old enough to remember, that was the very definition of the American dream back in those days—to the point that, believe it or not, it was often capitalized in the press simply as The American Way of Life. That such a lifestyle was even possible for ordinary people made this country the envy of the world. In no small measure it was responsible for America’s influence all around the globe, furnishing an unforgettable example of human possibility.

All of this, of course, is no longer the case. The possibility of a house in the suburbs with a full-time Mom, especially in a safe neighborhood with good public schools, is no longer within reach of the average American family. It disappeared for a variety of reasons that I need not go into here. The point is that Americans had a real choice back when that original poll was conducted, a choice that no longer exists.

This is why, for the overwhelming majority of working- and middle-class Americans going forward, the American dream, if it is to exist at all, must take a new form. One possibility is the revolutionary new lifestyle described in that old Gallop poll. Can anyone think of another? If not, or until they do, this one has the field to itself.