To start off our conversations, we asked people a simple question: Generally speaking, do you think the economy is working well for most Americans or not?

It was no shock that many people we spoke with think the economy is not working well, but we did not necessarily think it would be a near universal sentiment among our respondents.

We also wanted to hear how people talked about the topic, how they frame and elaborate on it.

The picture that emerges is one of broadly shared economic insecurity, with people running faster and faster just to stay in place. The notion of actually getting ahead and realizing some version of the American Dream is conspicuous by its absence.