Why the American Dream Stagnated

This is well written. An essay popped up that really spelled out what’s wrong with things in America today from the “lost American dream” point of view which starts with an example using kids’ Lemonade stands to start that’s brilliant.

That article here:getpocket.com/explore/item/the-american-dream-is-killing-us

Mark Manson, the author, expounds on WHY America was so much the exception for so long– and what’s changed recently.

We used to have nearly unlimited land, nearly unlimited cheap labor, unlimited innovation, and geographic isolation from possible enemies. All those factors together made it possible to improve one’s self and move up in the world. But things changed.

“By almost every major statistical measurement, the average American is worse off than they were a generation ago. Some pundits have taken to blaming the younger generations, saying that they’re entitled, self-centered, too absorbed in their smartphones to work,⁸ and while some of those complaints may have a grain of truth to them, the data suggests that the kids are not the problem.

Generally speaking, Americans today, especially young Americans, are the most educated and productive generation in US history:

…But they are also incredibly underemployed or unemployed…  This is for the simple reason that there are no jobs, especially middle-class jobs. Despite Obama’s impressive proclamation that he’s halved the unemployment rate since he took office, most of the drop in unemployment since the 2008 crisis has come from part-time or low-skilled jobs, and from people leaving the workforce altogether.

Today, approximately 25% of people with college degrees don’t have a job and aren’t even looking…”

“…there are millions of hardworking, intelligent people who are living from paycheck-to-paycheck and are stuck in jobs with few opportunities for advancement and little hope for the future. And many of these people are pissed.

The sad truth is that fewer people today are getting ahead than before. And they’re getting ahead not due to their hard work or their education as much as their connections, their family’s socioeconomic status, and of course, just the plain luck of not getting horribly sick or getting into a serious accident.

Not only is this not the American Dream, it’s the antithesis of the American Dream. It’s the old feudal order where you’re born into your privilege (or lack thereof) and forced to just hope things don’t get any worse.

In fact, economic mobility is lower in the US than almost every other developed country, and somewhere on par with Slovenia and Chile — not exactly the gold standards of economic opportunity in the world (no offense to my Slovenian and Chilean readers). And other Anglo countries such as Australia and Canada have far more economic mobility, as well as those icky socialist countries like Denmark, Sweden, and Finland.”

This article then goes on to explain how we LOST all those things that make America so special. But we’re still operating as though what was ONCE true was still true. And the cognitive dissonance is literally killing people. From suicide and slow-motion suicide giving up and giving in to addictions and so forth.

“It’s the last part of The Tragedy of the Lemonade Stands that is so dangerous. See, the kids developed a belief system around “success = hard work = deserving great things” and “failure = laziness = deserving shitty things.” And those heuristics work great in a society where there’s boundless opportunity, infinite resources, and constantly expanding markets.

But when the tides turn, and those opportunities are simply no longer there, well, these same beliefs become quite dangerous and even destructive.”

You’ve GOT to read this article! Definitely sums up the situation well.

For example, did you know that 45% of all homeless people HAVE A JOB!?

Yeah…

For myself, I’ve already had to deal with a body that doesn’t work, so I’ve come across the true unfairness of the situation much sooner than most I think. I’ve also been eying the future with trepidation and dream more than hope– so I’m already well-versed on what this author is talking about. I’ve watched society change drastically from my childhood to now. I used to be so much more conservative until I realized that I was never going to be one of the blessed who would succeed in this culture. Now– I’m living in a place where I can hopefully hunker down with some loved ones and make it okay for another couple of decades.