To me, the American Dream is reminiscent of a foundation of American working-class society which no longer exists. The American Dream died over the course of several decades as the United States underwent what I believe is an inevitable course of any state built on the principles of a laissez-faire market system. I think of my grandparents, who purchased a nice home with a large yard in the 1970s for around $20,000.
My grandfather worked for Cata buses as a driver and my grandmother was a cashier for Meijer who never needed to work full-time. Neither of them had a college education, and my grandfather did not finish high school. But that did not really matter, because they were able to comfortably support a family of four off of their incomes. They now own the house, and have for quite some time, and both receive a pension on top of Social Security.
This is a sort of lifestyle, which, for these kinds of jobs, no longer exists in the United States. The reasons why are incredibly complicated and, I believe, stretch as far back as when European colonizers began landing on this great continent, but were exacerbated over time in certain periods such as the Gilded Age and rise of new conservatism in the 1970s and 1980s, which heralded the end of the thriving American working class of the 1940s and 1950s.
Sadly, what has replaced the American Dream in our modern late-stage capitalist society is a desire to survive. As wages have stagnated over a course of several decades, labor unions have been weakened and are now at an all-time low, inflation has continued to rise, and wealth inequality is near its highest point in American history, I believe many average Americans are now desiring simply to afford enough food, a roof over their heads, and maybe the occasional splurge of taking a small trip or buying something new.
For my generation, hopes for being able to afford a home similar to how previous generations did are nearly entirely absent. I believe the average price of a house in the U.S. is now around $417,000. I read an article describing how many members of Generation Z are participating in what is being called “doom spending” – spending their money on things which may seem silly or frivolous because they have no hopes that saving money will reward them one day anyway. If I will never be able to afford a house, why bother saving for one? The American Dream is certainly dead, and with that I believe it is time for the American working people to collectively decide what will replace it in terms of our demands for our social and economic conditions
