 The American social contract is a really big deal, literally. It is a contract among American workers, businesses, investors, universities, charities, and government at all levels. The purpose is to ensure that the United States remains a Democratic Republic in which most Americans are middle class. As times change, so does the social contract. In the industrial age, it was based on the unionized male breadwinner. The government safety net was minimal. Many employers provided pensions and health insurance. But in this model, discrimination limited good jobs to white men. By the late 20th century, factory jobs declined due to productivity growth and offshoring, rendering that era's social contract obsolete. Many business and professional jobs today pay well. But most new jobs are in low productivity and low wage sectors, like healthcare, hospitality, and retail. The Civil Rights Revolution opened jobs and opportunity for non-white Americans and women of all races. Generous employer benefits are being phased out. The Affordable Care Act has plugged holds in America's system of healthcare coverage, but some remain. Renewing the American social contract will not be easy. It will be the work of a generation. No single party or ideology has a monopoly of good ideas for reform. But we know we can do it because we Americans have done it before. In 1932, during the crisis of the Great Depression, candidate Franklin Roosevelt declared, faith in America, faith in our tradition of personal responsibility, faith in ourselves, demands that we recognize the new terms of the old social contract.