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Can you pull yourself up by your own bootstraps?: 'Bootstrapped' debunks American dream myth

An American flag waves. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
An American flag waves. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

How realistic is the image and the American myth of pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps? And what policies would actually help promote social mobility at a time when the wealth gap is widening and the middle class is shrinking?

Here & Now‘s Scott Tong talks with Alissa Quart, author of the book “Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream.” Quart is a journalist and the executive director of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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