An article I recently read is what made me want to look deeper it this subject….
CNN data analyst Harry Enten crunched the numbers and discovered a large swathe of U.S. residents no longer believe in the American dream.
“America, we have a problem,” said Enten, describing a growing nation of economic pessimists.
“If you work hard, you’ll get ahead: that is the American dream,” said Enten. “[Respondents answering] ‘Never/Not true now’, in 2010 to 2011, 15 years ago, it was 51 percent who said it wasn’t true. Now look at this number! Whooo! Through the roof: 70 percent.”
https://www.alternet.org/american-voters-pessimism/
I have written a couple of times about the death of the American Dream….not too many agreed with me but I continue to believe that it has passed away.
A new survey shows me that I am not as alone as I thought I was thinking the ‘Dream’ has died.
A new Wall Street Journal-NORC poll paints a dim picture of Americans’ faith in upward mobility. Just 25% of respondents believe they have a decent shot at improving their standard of living—a record low since the survey began in 1987. More than three-quarters of those who responded to the poll, which the Independent notes was “fittingly published” on Labor Day, expect that the next generation will fare no better, signaling a widespread loss of confidence in the American dream.
Almost 70% of those polled now say the idea that hard work pays off “no longer holds true or never did,” the highest level of skepticism in more than a decade. The pessimism spans political and demographic lines. While Republicans are slightly less gloomy than Democrats—consistent with the tendency for the party out of power to hold a darker view—majorities across gender, age, education, and income levels express anxiety about their future prospects.
Despite recent improvements in how people rate the current economy, concerns linger. Inflation, job security, and the soaring cost of housing weigh heavily. Only 17% now view the United States as having the world’s best economy, down sharply from just a few years ago. Many respondents across income brackets report feeling economically fragile, even when their finances are solid on paper.
Since the pandemic, economic mood has soured, even as metrics like unemployment and the stock market suggest resilience. Economists suggest today’s unease may be rooted less in current conditions and more in uncertainty about the future. A similar question in a July poll by Quinnipiac University found that 50% of respondents were also souring on the American dream, per the Miami Herald.
What say you…..is the American Dream deceased?
Can it ever be revived?
Well can it?
How much more must the American people suffer before someone steps up and leads?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
The death of the American dream has very little to do with the economy. The death of the American dream now is more likely due to encroaching totalitarianism.
Well I think it does have a lot to do with the economy…..without funds no part of the dream is reachable. chuq
I never thought much of the “American Dream”, it sort of forces you into a mindset that you might not even be comfortable with: i.e., you like who you are, where you are–maybe a farmer in the midwest, married, four kids that are following Dad’s dream too, to have a productive farm. Suburbs? You kidding me? Only if they have a cop on every corner and a super drainage system forwhen the hurricanes hit…the so called “American Dream” tries to slot us all in to a tidy dream package, and anyone who truly believes it, but can’t have it, is never going to be satisfied. Ev-er. For me, the American Dream is to be where I’m happiest, and with the freedom to move OUT of that particular Dream into another, if it’s time.
I never put mush stress on the dream for I was busy doing what I could to help my fellow humans…..I was never wanting to keep up with Joneses sort of mindset. chuq
Well, ask a room of ten people what the American Dream even was and you will get ten different answers. Do you know what the American Dream was? Now, I don’t ask that as a cynic of America by any means. I am suggesting that it might appear that the “dream” was not the same for everyone. I’ve always thought what was far more accurate than some abstract. ill-defined “American Dream” was that we were far more the “land of opportunity”, which then makes far more sense, and it’s up to each individual to pick up what their own dreams are. Nowhere have I ever read that “dreams” were a guarantee in America, that success was a guarantee, that high pay was a guarantee after college. Hell, living here is no guarantee you won’t be killed in a Walmart…. or spouting your political opinions on a stage. I watched Enten present that… and while he’s a numbers guy I typically hold credible… he lacked considerable context in his presentation. There’s too much placed on a “failure” of some American Dream that itself was a dream.
You are probably right…..the Dream is like words socialist or any other word that causes division….it is what you want it to mean…..I am an old fart so the Dream was in those days….good job, home, kids, etc etc. but that has slipped away it ran into reality, political reality that is…..chuq