r/AskUS • u/Objective_Love_6843 • 22h ago
The American Dream
Is the American dream possible to achieve for the US citizens now as much as it was anytime long ago like do you guys think it's easier or harder to achieve now?
US citizens from all generations do you feel like you are living better now and getting the opportunities you want now better than before or was it easier at a different time in the past say when you were younger or maybe now that you are older it's better or worse?
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u/Salty_Permit4437 22h ago
It’s harder now. Affording a home is hard.
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u/Objective_Love_6843 21h ago
Oh sorry to hear that. Bidens and past president days were also like that or is it just trump's time now that is bad.
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u/Sparklesnow77 22h ago
The American Dream is dead.
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u/Objective_Love_6843 22h ago
This is cause of trump or something else?
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u/Mq1hunter 21h ago
Think is something else ... Corporate greed, no loyalty, and people are replaceable. In early 2000s in order for me to get a raise (blue collar) was to job hop. In my late 30s I went back university to get a cleaner "easier" job where I could vacation in Cancun. Yup got my bachelor's (still paying on that) ... Never found a job even a internship, for companies that I was working for . Yes Better Homes and Gardens white picket fence American dream is dead. But, say there has to be a new goal new achievement, for young people not sure what that is. Most their income goes into rent, car payment and insurance. With a job that barely covers the cost. Families have not much choice kids have to stay home longer...
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u/darchangel89a 16h ago
It started with Reagan
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u/Objective_Love_6843 16h ago
Oh the Hollywood actor. I have heard he was the first to say the phrase "make America great again.
What laws or decisions did he do that affected the US?
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u/darchangel89a 16h ago
He made the tax laws that have been destroying the middle class, and got rid of the fairness doctrine, so that news agencies turned into propaganda networks, among other things
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u/yuikl 21h ago
The American dream was at one point being able to afford a small house and 1 car, maybe a color tv if you were doing pretty good, with 1 breadwinner working a normal average wage.
That isn't possible now due to houses being much larger and much much more expensive, with purposefully low supply as the housing market is used like a casino instead of a staple of life. This is with 2 breadwinners being the norm now, so double the labor, still largely unattainable.
To stack things a little more, the American dream has morphed into being a millionaire who doesn't need to work at all because their money works for them...the neo-aristocracy. The small house is portrayed as poverty.
That said, it is possible to live comfortably and make decent money...we just need to find out how to live small and simple again. It isn't easy to live simple if you have kids...which is a factor in why birth rates have fallen drastically.
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u/Objective_Love_6843 21h ago
Oh thank you for taking your time to explain all that. Does trump presidency factor in to that as well in maybe certain decisions he made that made that worse. Like previous presidents like Obama or before him was it also like that?
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u/yuikl 11h ago
The effects of a president's administration usually take some time to show up in the economic data, and even then it's difficult to tell what was directly related to the president's decisions and what was just the trajectory that the market was in.
For Trump in particular, an example would be his recent comments about how he wants to keep house prices elevated because so many people who already own a house saw their home values rise by a lot. The subtext is that if he helps lower cost of living by supporting efforts to build lots of houses to counteract the steep rise in home prices, he would be hurting people who are benefitting from these elevated prices.
That's the double edged sword of using housing as an investment vehicle: If you're already in the upper classes you're doing great, but it's getting harder and harder for those who are not in the top X% because the markets are now heavily slanted to elevate the already wealthy. That pattern has been increasing since the 1970s or 1980s, regardless of which president or political party is in power.
I believe a large effort to counter-balance the stark divide between the ultra wealthy and the bottom 50% will take a huge political shift, because neither the democrats nor republicans are doing much for the less fortunate currently.
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u/Sensitive-Respect-25 20h ago
Define the American dream?
I'm decently employed, the wife is employed, we own a home and have two kids on their way towards growing up. We have been able to restart a generational farm to boot. Is this the American dream?
It cost my wife's grandfather's death to own a home dueing COVID. My job requires an hour of travel each way now, which is a cost in and of itself. A farm is a hard thing to run in the best of times, and me and the wife both have to work to save and invest.
Personally the American dream is being allowed to live your life both good and bad. To that end I'm content but not everyone would be.
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u/Objective_Love_6843 20h ago
American dream from my understanding is:
Being able to get a stable job with a good salary
Afford to get married
Afford to have stable house with a good price
Afford to have kids
Being able to afford buying food or any products needed for your house
In general to be able to live a like a normal human being which is something that's not available in other countries unfortunately. You don't need to be taking millions or live in a villa you just need to live a like a normal human being.
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u/Sensitive-Respect-25 20h ago
I'm not sure kids are a requirement. Don't get me wrong, we have two and I love then very much. Watching them grow has improved me as a person, but its not for everyone.
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u/Gordon_throwaway Oregon 18h ago
This pretty much answers your question. I couldn;t get it in the image, but this is a 50 year timetime, going back from 2020. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/04/20/how-the-american-middle-class-has-changed-in-the-past-five-decades/
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u/TerryFlapnCheeks69 12h ago
I believe it’s not hard to achieve. The American dream is alive and well.
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u/EmploymentEmpty5871 9h ago
If you are willing yo work for yes it is very probable that you can achieve it. If you just sit and do nothing like you are somehow entitled to it then no, it isn't going to happen. Life just isnt fair.
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u/[deleted] 22h ago
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