Liberals longingly look to this era as a utopian one, where prosperity was shared, higher education was affordable, top tax rates were far north of 60% and Ayn Rand, who authored Atlas Shrugged in 1957, was viewed as an amoral woman. Unfortunately, that era, characterized by millions of good-paying manufacturing jobs, ultimately proved to be an unsustainable, transient aberration, just as the mid-19th century was when half the nation was healthy, happy and well-fed working in agriculture.
Half a century may be a long time, but by making 2010 his endpoint, Murray conveniently finds a time when social dislocation is so pervasive that it can help his argument. As any advisor knows, an academic seeking to make a case for or against a certain asset class can produce the desired result by selecting the right time frame. Murray's solutions-be a good neighbor and good family man and find a career you like that suits your talents-are fine and well-meaning. They are also thin gruel, or Band-Aids. He hopes for a new Great Awakening in which the new upper class lets the rest in on the secrets of their success and happiness.
The likelihood is that a reawakening is more likely to be spawned by greater access to more practical kinds of education-coupled with revolutions in medicine, communication, technology and maybe even manufacturing-than in Skull and Bones adopting an open admissions policy.