Social media is bursting with videos and comments about how the American Dream is dead. Posters, mostly young adults, cite inflation, high rent, a difficult job market, student loan debt and more as the reasons they can no longer hope to achieve the American Dream.
While no one will argue the 21st century is off to a bumpy start with, 9-11 in 2001, the housing bubble and subsequent financial crisis in 2008, Covid in 2020, and now our current economic concerns, it seems the United States and its citizens can’t catch a break.
However, hard times are not unique to us, the 20th century had its issues too, with the Spanish flu pandemic 1918, two world wars and the Great Depression that followed the stock market crash in 1929. Despite this adversity, Americans persisted and borne out of all these hard times came the American Dream.
The O.G. American Dream
Success, once upon a time, was defined as a house in a suburban neighborhood with a white picket fence, 2 kids a dog and a vacation once a year. This was the epitome of the American Dream. Images of picturesque neighborhoods with stay-at-home moms preparing homemade meals from scratch while the kids played joyfully in the sprinklers out front. Once a year they’d vacation to somewhere like Yosemite or go to the beach and this was the picture of American life.
In the same manner that social media can create illusions masking reality with filters and such, the advent of television entering most American homes in the 50’s certainly perpetuated this image of American life with popular shows like Leave it to Beaver. The “dream” was aspirational and attainable, IF you were willing to work hard.
The American Dream 2.0
Today’s definition of success has changed a bit. Today success is measured by wealth and professional achievement. While a home or three is still part of the equation, there isn’t much left that remains from the original ideal.
In an event hosted by St. John’s University, career services interviewed three speakers to help understand and define success. The three women interviewed defined success as “..obtaining success in my career..”, “..someone is successful when they achieve their own goals..” and …”equal opportunities for everyone..”.
The American Dream has now become synonymous with the definition of success which is defined by Merriam-Webster as “the attainment of wealth, favor or eminence”. We’ve raised the bar for success. Our appetite for money and recognition has grown and with it our definition of the American Dream.
The old American Dream no longer is as appealing as it once was. The wants and needs of many Americans are very different now. Today we don’t necessarily want the O.G. version of the American Dream, we want flexibility to work remotely and on our own schedule, we prefer careers to kids and we certainly don’t want to wait till we are in our 60’s to retire, we want to enjoy life today. So, yes, the American Dream is different now.
No doubt there are many people who would gladly take the O.G. American Dream to living at home with their parents, living paycheck to paycheck or feeling like a college education is unattainable now, however, most would likely admit they would choose a career and financial success as measured by lots of wealth and assets, to a home with a white picket fence and 2 kids and a dog, especially if that means 40+ hour work weeks in office cubicles.
Is the New American Dream Achievable
As with any time in history, some will rise to the occasion despite the obstacles placed in front of them and achieve great things. But what about the rest of us, what’s our future look like. Well that all depends on managing our own expectations and our behaviors about what success means to us.
Managing Our Expectations
Sure it looks grim outside right now, especially if you turn on the news, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities to be had, dreams to be made and successes to be realized. We just need to manage our expectations as to what path will deliver us to the destination we desire.
We need to pivot, from the O.G. way of thinking if we want to achieve some newer version of the American Dream. Working hard is still very much part of the equation, but so is working smarter. We can’t expect a college degree to magically make us successful, we need to be smart about which one we get and how we leverage it.
We can’t expect our employers to make us rich and important simply because we show up everyday and do the job we are hired for. We need to learn to add value, beyond what we are expected to do. Our employers success will then be our success too.
Honestly Reviewing our Behaviors
We live in a world of conveniences such as Ubers and Doordash Meals and Amazon delivering anything we want to our house, but those conveniences come at a cost. We have also become accustomed to a standard of living that we prefer and have become quite comfortable within and certainly don’t want to change it.
It may be that we need to take one step backward to take two steps forward in our pursuit of the new American Dream. Not only in our lifestyles but also with our mindsets. We can’t possibly enjoy a lifestyle beyond our means today and hope to maintain it perpetually. This is how we accumulate debt.
If your definition of the American Dream means wealth, then you will need to change your behavior to live like the wealthy. Live below your means. Do whatever you can to avoid debt. Pay with cash, use paper money if you can, but if not, only spend what you have and can easily afford, especially if it’s for an impulse buy or dinner delivery.
Don’t finance anything that isn’t going to offer a return (i.e. grow in value) more than you borrow. And if you must borrow money for something you know will depreciate, like a car, buy it used and lose less than you would with a new car.
Thoughtfully evaluating every penny spent and how the loss of that money today will impact other wants and needs in the future is critical. Our behaviors can be holding us back and keeping us from realizing the new American Dream.