Speaking for myself, my eyebrows are not raised. I remember reading that day that it was a shattered teleprompter or other shrapnel that nicked or sliced his ear, not that a bullet had passed through it. In any case, I personally don't quite understand the importance of the distinction. He was shot at either way, no? If it were a nick by glass I imagine it would've healed by now.
Edit: I forgot to mention... Fuck Trump and his ilk, they deserve being two-time losers come November.
Yeah it's a vague question for a poll. One can interpret it in a few ways and I'd count myself part of the four as well. The US progresses as if it's walking through quicksand, so it's really unsurprising to me.
From someone who willingly goes into the office almost every day, it's still quite obvious that for the good of the world, the less people going in overall, the better. Better for the environment, disabled people, mental health, and I imagine better for housing markets (though I'm no economist).
The poll seems to define the American dream as "the idea that anyone can get ahead through hard work and determination," which is one of the vaguer things I've read today.
Trying not to take it literally (there's no way "anyone" can get ahead...) and responding to the general spirit of the idea:
Anecdotally speaking, I'm very fortunate to have a well-paid, air-conditioned job and own my own house not in the middle of nowhere. Even though I like to imagine much of that was due to hard work in school and not bombing interviews, I reckon it must be at least 90% due to what skin color I am, where I was born, how my family dynamic was growing up, how much money my parents made, and if I had an "in" at a potential job (i.e. a connection or friend there). And that 90% out-of-my-ass statistic is probably conservative. It's an ugly truth that I think not many people want to admit to themselves, especially those in my demographic. I know whatever options I have will be more easily attained by someone in my situation, versus others out there. It's a no-brainer.
That said, everything that makes up my relatively fortunate individual life still does not feel like it adds up to any sort of dream, simply because I live in the context of those around me, those in my community, and those who could not possibly get close to "the American dream" no matter how much they try. I cannot isolate my life from others in some sort of bubble. It feels to me as if the American dream should act as a kind of AND logic gate; until everyone can realize the American dream, no one can.
So, with the way things work here, I'd say it's impossible and never was possible at any point in time. The American dream is not based in any kind of reality and is just a tool used by the ruling class to keep our heads down.
Yeah I feel like at the pace the earth works, we've pretty much guaranteed a couple of generations of misery even if we solve this today. It won't be solved today, not with the shit they have us fighting each other about. Meanwhile, Musk and Bezos saw Wall-E and have taken cues.
That would be quite the own-foot-shooting. Something tells me Arizona doesn't need more problems regarding water, just looking ahead.