Neat vid. It was pretty funny. Indeed, Americans are optimistic. Even I believe I can make it big. It may not be a practical notion, but it is better than pessimism.
The stats about the income gap are pretty appalling though. But I suppose it makes sense in a capitalistic society like ours--it is pretty hard to avoid an income gap like that. Especially with inheritance. It is something everyone loves, but it contributes to the "wealthy stay wealthy" axiom. But eh, what do I know? The American economy has always been a distant, odd entity to me. While anything can happen, people generally are very careful about changes (so as not to replicate the past depressions, some argue we've been recovering from a depression over the past few years). As such, I don't think much will change, just fluctuations from time to time. I don't know.