MATT TAIBBI: Milken and Friends Build a $500 Million Monument to Their Version of the American Dream.
I almost fell off my chair a couple of weeks ago when I saw a Bloomberg article titled “The Junk Bond King Opens a Shrine to Capitalism Near the White House.” My thoughts instantly turned to an episode of “The Sopranos” in which Tony and the crew discuss building the Newark Museum of Science and Trucking.
The $500 million Milken Center for the Advancement of the American Dream (MCAAD) is funded by such titans as Citadel Enterprise America’s CEO Ken Griffin, Carlyle founder David Rubenstein, music mogul David Geffen, Walmart multi-billionaire Alice Walton, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates. MCAAD’s website highlights The David Geffen Hall of Dreams, The Kenneth C. Griffin Holodeck Experience, The Word Cloud and much more! I decided to see it for myself, but first, a quick story.
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The feel-great American dream vibe of the MCAAD differs quite a bit from a recent Wall Street Journal and NORC survey:
The share of people who say they have a good chance of improving their standard of living fell to 25%, a record low in surveys dating to 1987. More than three-quarters said they lack confidence that life for the next generation will be better than their own, the poll found.
Nearly 70% of people said they believe the American dream—that if you work hard, you will get ahead—no longer holds true or never did, the highest level in nearly 15 years of surveys.
Interestingly, soon after entering the MCAAD you can sit down at a little booth and pick videos from the “Foundations of the Dream Gallery” and listen to both everyday Americans as well as famous ones like Katie Couric and Elmo from Sesame Street. Yes, Elmo shares his American dream story. You could choose different themes or groups of people like “Walmart.” This option provides testimonials from Walmart employees who got their start at the company and have made a nice life and career. That jogged my memory that Alice Walton, a scion of the family that started Walmart, was a big contributor to the center.
Besides Elmo, Katie Couric and Walmart, Mike Milken is also Biden-approved; well, Jill Biden-approved at least: Milken Institute Launches New Women’s Health Network, Former First Lady Jill Biden Joins as its Chair.