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Obviously not every person who owns a boat is a Trump supporter. And no, owning a boat does not automatically make somebody more hardworking than everyone else.But the punchline works because most people understand something very basic, boats are expensive, and the government generally does not hand you one.For most Americans, buying something like a boat means working, earning money, paying the bills, saving what is left, and eventually deciding that you have earned the right to enjoy some of it.That is the part of the American experience that seems increasingly lost in our political debates.There used to be something almost universally understood about working toward the things you wanted. A house, a nice car, a boat, a vacation, or whatever represented success to you personally. You worked, sacrificed, saved, and eventually bought it.Of course there are exceptions. Somebody might inherit a boat, receive one as a gift, or simply be born into enough money that work had very little to do with it.But for the overwhelming number of ordinary Americans buying recreational toys, that money had to come from somewhere.Trump's strongest appeal has always included people who believe work should be rewarded, success should not be treated like a character flaw, and government should create the conditions for people to prosper rather than constantly looking for another way to redistribute what they earn.There is also something revealing about how quickly success itself can become controversial.Someone sees a nice house, truck, boat, or business and asks, "Why do they have that and I don't?"Maybe the better question is, "What did they do to earn it?"America works best when people look at someone else's success and think, "I want to accomplish that too," rather than, "How do we take some of it away?"Do you think America still celebrates hard work and success, or have our institutions started teaching people to resent those who achieve it?