The New American Dream

Tue May 22 2018

This past weekend, I went to visit my girlfriend, who’s still attending college. She’ll be graduating this June, and I couldn’t be prouder to see her finally finish up her schooling. One of things I love most about her is that her world view is substantially different than mine - it provides each of us with a good contrast of how to approach problems and together, I think, it creates a nice balance that leads to fruitful discussion.

One of things she brought up today was the idea behind “The New American Dream,” and how I’m currently living it right now. The classic American Dream generally goes something like this:

• Start from nothing - an immigrant fresh to this country, growing up with no money
• Work your butt off through school OR work your butt off working your way up the job ladder
• Carve out a piece for yourself where you’re making money, such as being a business executive or owning your own business
• Use your profits to provide for your family and the next generation.
• Congratulations, you’ve found success in America.

That’s how I remember it being told to me growing up, at least.

Times have changed, however, and it simply isn’t economically feasible to follow these steps and become successful anymore. From what we discussed, the New American Dream basically consists of avoiding the common struggles, through hard work and perseverance, that most young people in America face as they enter adulthood. The biggest ones are being financially stable and having meaningful relationships, with the actual specifics varying from person to person. It’s quite a drastic change from the original American Dream, which basically boils down to living a modest, but decent life.

It’s something that I’ve been thinking about a lot, and I’m beginning to ask more of our government representatives how they can address this socioeconomic problem.