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Americans think the American dream is dying
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this post was submitted on 26 Nov 2023
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"the American Dream — that if you work hard you'll get ahead — still holds true."
The fact that they continue to re-define what "The American Dream" actually is proves it died a long time ago.
Anyone else remember when the American dream was owning your own home with a white picket fence?
I don't know the origin of the concept called "the American dream" but I've heard as well that it involved something like:
3 bedroom house
White picket fence
2.2 kids
1 dog
2 cars in the driveway
2 weeks of family vacation
One breadwinner and one homemaker
Available to anyone who can work at the factory 40 hours a week. Basically "The Wonder Years" TV series in a nutshell.
But the idea that if you work hard you'll get ahead is ultimately the core of it. Some measurable, definable "hard work output" equals some obtainable reward, and harder work means even more reward. And really smart plus really hard work means even more opportunities are unlocked.
A lot of countries can't offer this or don't have a system of advancing through social glass ceilings or "castes".
So in that way it at least seems like the US still offers this although more and more difficult to achieve, connections are more crucial, or figuring out some trick (a side gig) is needed.
I know way too many people with a college degree that can hardly afford the rent.
I've got that. 35, wife doesn't work, second kid on the way. The fence isn't white and there's actually 3 cars, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of the convertible in the garage.
That's awesome! That particular dream is far from unobtainable, but I think it went from basically a gimme for anybody who followed the college degree route to being something much more difficult for everybody to achieve.
Unfortunately a college degree means almost nothing now. It's still a prerequisite for a lot of paths, but most college graduates are genuinely idiots. Truly worthless, can barely write a proper paper, dults.
My senior year I was grading papers written by juniors in another department and was embarrassed for them. I asked the professor, and he said he had to grade them on a curve because if he failed them all he's in trouble.
College is now seen as this transactional, I give you money, you give me a degree, then someone gives me a good life. Nowhere on there was there hard work or skill mastery.
An undergrad degree is just the new highschool diploma now for this reason. Someone needs gradschool or genuine merits they can show off to separate themselves from the watered down pool of degree holding fools.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/american-dream.asp
No, that's pretty much the key note of the original definition.
You, like many, just thought the cliche "house with two kids" depicted to show a character was living the Dream was the Dream, but the concept was always about opportunity being available for those willing to put in effort.
Although, obviously, since it was coined in 1931 "everyone" had some notable exceptions.
It's hilarious that someone downvoted you. You pointed out the facts and fuck the facts when they contradict what I want to be true! It's the same shit I see from conservatives (and I guess some others) when they insisted that "the definition of recession was changed!" because the short-hand oversimplified rule of thumb definition is all they knew, and when the facts show that their oversimplified view was not reality. . .well "downvote" them.
Nowadays, if you can afford the Venti latte instead of the Tall, you'll be the envy of all your pals.