Is The American Dream Still Realistic For Our Generation?

The American Dream is the ideal that all Americans have the opportunity to be successful regardless of their background. For over a century, it promised the ability to own a home, be prosperous, and have a better life if one gets a good education and works hard.

In today’s society, the American Dream has become an unattainable myth for many.

The foundations of the American Dream, supporting a family and having a home, have faltered and fell over the years. Many Americans struggle to afford housing with prices rising each year and a slow estimated future-affordability rate. Even with an ideal education and career, it’s difficult for one to buy a home in this economy.

Prosperity is a dream and goal of people all around the world. The Dream was to have more than one’s parents had, such as financial security and economic success. With today’s inflation, fuel prices, and overall cost of living, having any form of wealth through self-determination is becoming increasingly difficult. A family of 4 with an income of $30,000 annually is considered a low income household.

America was built upon the idea of starting a better life. Discrimination and violence is extremely common in today’s society. Technology makes it easy to anonymously bully others and not face consequences. Low wages compared to high prices make it difficult for people to take care of themselves and their families. Polls show that America is divided on this topic, with 50% of respondents voting that the Dream is unattainable.

Some say that the American Dream will always be obtainable. They believe that the Dream is ever-evolving and that hard work determines your success in it. However, this opinion relies on an outdated economic system that does not apply to today’s world. The goal of buying a home, raising a family, and making a retirement plan comes with an astronomically high price tag. The foundations the Dream was built upon cannot evolve and change in the sense of the entire Dream changing.

The American Dream can be brought back with the fixing of the economy, stabilization of the job market, and overall attitude of the people. As a start to fixing this issue, one can draw their focus back to the things that matter and make it easier for future generations to achieve more. This will aid in bringing reality back to the Dream and making it more accessible to the people.

The media shares inspiring “rags to riches” stories, masking and disregarding the very issues that prevent true, equal opportunity for regular, day-to-day people. Treating this myth as reality fosters anxiety and financial insecurity in America’s people.