Kerby Anderson

Owning a home has been a foundational principle of the American Dream. Unfortunately, fewer Americans can own a home. The topic surfaced during a speech Tucker Carlson gave at a recent Turning Point USA conference.

He said that “economics really matter” not because the rich are getting richer but because “everyone else is getting poorer.” He rejected the idea of measuring the economy by citing our GDP. Instead, he proposed another measure.

“My measure is really simple. I got a bunch of kids. Can they afford houses with full-time jobs at age 27? The answer is no way. And the answer is that 35-year-olds with really good jobs can’t afford a house unless they stretch and go deep into debt.”

He called our current circumstances a “total disaster” for two reasons. “One, if people don’t own things, they don’t feel ownership of the country they’re in. And the country gets super volatile because people feel like they've got nothing to lose. When you have a lawn, trust me, you’re thinking long term. Second, it’s really hard to have a family without a house.”

There is also the psychological damage this does to younger Americans. He called this a national emergency because “normal people with normal jobs no longer believe they can win in this system and that all the money is going to the worst people.”

He isn’t the only person talking about the fact that fewer Americans can own a home, but many more pundits and politicians need to speak out. Sadly, too many people in positions of leadership benefit from our debt-based, fiat economy. It rewards people who have assets and punishes everyone else. The first step to fixing this problem is to admit that it is a problem.