Creating the path to prosperity and freedom.

Hello, I’m Glenn Wright, and I want to tell you a story about the American Dream.

You see, I am a grandson of immigrants.

Like many of you, my family immigrated through Ellis Island without money. Like most families that immigrate to the United States, what drew my family here was the belief that America was the land of opportunity. With hard work and dedication, they could raise a family here, purchase a home and a car, and still have some savings in the bank. So, they worked hard like they were supposed to, making the American Dream a reality for our family.

Reliable employment, even as an eighth-grade dropout, was possible for my dad. He was a blue-collar breadwinner who could work in factories while earning pennies to the dollar to aid his family. That was possible then.

Like all families in America, the goal was to support his family and prosper. And our family did. At the same time, my dad instilled in us that not only should we have equal opportunity to prosper, but all Americans should be able to prosper. My dad was true to his words and participated in causes that contributed to the betterment of Americans, such as unions.

He was a union man during the Great Depression and believed in a union’s purpose – banding the blue-collar workforce together for equal economic benefit. When Fascism threatened the American Dream of prosperity, my dad volunteered for the army during WWII because the American Dream his generation fought for and built was worth defending. This foundation is rooted in the freedom to prosper, which is still worth fighting for. A country that rejects and defeats fascism is worth fighting for.

From the 1930s through the 1970s, we built a society where living incomes were just that - something you and your family could live on. Living incomes were obtainable for most Americans. We know this to be true because much of America’s history and society is built upon hardships transformed into prosperity.

I was fortunate enough to have been raised during a time when society allowed an average working person who looked just like me to comfortably buy a house, feed a family of four, purchase a car, and still have money to save. The Greatest Generation built the foundation with everything they had for the Boomer Generation to prosper. 

Since the 1980s, this prospering American Dream and lifestyle has transformed. Hard work is not enough any longer. The shining city on a hill is no longer as attainable as it once was. It has changed. We have all seen the changes and impacts of our economy sliding backward to the income distribution gap that led to the Great Depression. We cannot go backward any longer.

I am a modern family man. I am an adoptive parent with multiracial and LGBTQ+-identifying family members. I am a grandparent. I am also an aerospace engineering graduate, Vietnam combat veteran, and pilot. My time serving my country has made me a loyal supporter of the Constitution, a fair democracy, and the new American Dream. 

But, as each year passes, I witness the American Dream of my childhood slip further and further away from every generation that follows.

Like you, I am frustrated by and have had enough of politicians toeing party lines for the sake of the party instead of the well-being of all Americans and Utahns. Short-term thinking has contributed to the disintegration of the American Dream and has blocked our ability to prosper. We need to be proactive about the future now. Utahns are shouldering unprecedented hardships with a glorious opportunity to pave the path forward.

Working together and taking initiative can pave the path to prosperity.

After completing my service as a Summit County Councilman and working on the Utah Association of Counties board, I have witnessed how Utahns can benefit from their representatives working with diverse political backgrounds and opinions. It is possible. No Utahn should face threats to their economic security and freedom nor shoulder the unprecedented challenges imposed upon them by decisions of the privileged few. That’s why a path to prosperity solidified by liberty is the way forward. We can continue to work to solve the following: 

1. Protecting our democracy
2. Focusing on economic security, including affordable housing challenges
3. Reaffirming personal agency and freedom

Utahns, the path to prosperity and freedom is possible. The opportunity is in our hands. Wealth for the few has led to attacks on the Constitution and your freedom. I will preserve, protect, and defend this path forward with your support. 

The choice is yours. The vote is yours. 

Glenn Wright for Congress.