What we call the “chamber crowd” mobilized last week — and evidence suggests results were produced.

Let us first give some meaning to our term “chamber crowd,” which are well-meaning folks in our local communities who mobilize as needed to protect our image, doing so, in essence, to shield and even enhance our collective quality of life. It is not intended as a pejorative, although our job often puts us on the other side of the fence with them.

Just Wednesday, for example, a page 1A headline blared: “Maxton residents sound off on gunfire.”

We are sure it produced some cringes across the county, especially in Maxton, but residents talking about recent outbursts of gunfire in that town dominated the Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, which we covered. We weren’t trying to be sensationalistic, and no, the goal was not to sell more newspapers. It was to accurately reflect the tone of the meeting.

Last week, a news story — actually, more like clickbait — starting making its rounds on social media suggesting that the “American dream” had been lost in two counties, ours and neighbor Scotland. It was a localized version of a larger story, so we went Googling for the original source, and found a Wall Street Journal from a year ago that appeared to be the culprit. Updated versions were also here and there on the internet.

In essence, the author shared a study on a variety or economic metrics — average income, unemployment rate, percentage of people living in poverty — used in a ranking of the top 50 counties in the United States in which the American Dream apparently has been lost. The ranking itself was determined by the average amount of income lost per child in a household, the theory being, we suppose, that unlike generations of the past that were more prosperous than their parents, in these counties at least, future generations will be saddled with less.

Robeson County, where the study calculated $212 a year is being lost per child each year in household income, came in 34th, and was joined in the top 50 by neighbors Hoke and Scotland counties — no surprise there — but also by Forsyth and Guilford counties, which we consider affluent. As is often the case, local media outlets picked up the fact that Scotland and Robeson were listed, and produced stories that angered the chamber crowd.

Some of the stories have since disappeared, which is why we led off with the notion that the chamber crowd effectively fought back.

But more to the point: In no way is the American Dream being lost in Robeson County. The dream of a more prosperous existence for our children endures, but as always, we caution that the playing field often is never level. We would not dispute that Robeson County children have taller obstacles positioned between them and a more affluent future than their parents — pervasive poverty, struggling schools, institutionalized racism, to name just some.

But what we know is that in this country today, anything is possible for almost everyone, certainly those who work hard and make good decisions while chasing the American Dream.

Anyone born in the United States in this day and age already has hit their first lottery. More jackpots await for those who are deserving.

The dream is neither dead nor dying. So keep chasing it.