Everyone has heard of the American dream, but these days no one seems to have access to it. The American dream is essentially an idealized vision of what living in America is supposed to be. This includes the white picket fence, home ownership in a good neighborhood with good schools, and maybe even a college degree.
The problem is that each and every one of these things has become increasingly less accessible. Unfortunately, most people may not even own a home because of increasing rent, housing prices, and stagnant wages. On top of that, higher education has become increasingly inaccessible to most people. All in all, the most important aspect of the American dream is that the marginalized have never had access to it.
Homeownership Is Harder Than Ever Before
Real estate has been one of the safest investments America has ever had. It used to be that when young people grew up; they bought a home, paid off that mortgage, and sold that home to create generational wealth. The first step, aka buying the home in the first place, has become a large task for most Americans. Americans simply can’t keep up with the incredible rise in the price of homes.
“In 1970, the national median home value adjusted for inflation was $107,291; in 2017, it’s $217,600 — that’s a 103% increase. More than half of all US States (including Washington, DC) have seen a median home value increase of more than 100%,” according to Business Insider. The American dream is truly dead for all of those who can’t afford these homes. The homeownership aspect of the American dream has become a shadow of its former self. If no one but the rich can have the white picket fence, then maybe the American dream has truly become a nightmare.
Higher Education Is Just as Inaccessible
Higher education is yet another thing becoming less and less accessible over time. While many Americans have a college degree, the degree itself is becoming more expensive. College costs have skyrocketed to an extremely high degree.
“In 1980, the price to attend a four-year college full-time was $10,231 annually—including tuition, fees, room and board, and adjusted for inflation—according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By 2019-20, the total price increased to $28,775. That’s a 180% increase,” according to Forbes.
On top of this, the supreme court has decided against the continued existence of affirmative action. Affirmative action was a policy made to make sure marginalized communities had a place in higher education. Having access to a college degree and what that represents can be beneficial to one’s career and thus, one’s financial future. However, unfortunately, with college prices becoming more and more expensive, fewer and fewer Americans have access to this aspect of the American dream. All the narratives about pulling oneself up by the bootstraps simply don’t apply to significant portions of the American population.
The Marginalized Have Never Been Able To Touch the American Dream Anyway
The marginalized have a peculiar history with the American dream. For many, it is the ultimate goal to live one’s life financially free with their family. Yet, when the American dream was introduced with the GI Bill after World War II, black soldiers weren’t able to reap the homeowning benefits of the bill. The GI Bill was a bill meant to empower American soldiers with homeownership and opportunity. Yet, many soldiers of color, especially black soldiers, were denied.
“While the GI Bill’s language did not specifically exclude African American veterans from its benefits, it was structured in a way that ultimately shut doors for the 1.2 million Black veterans who had bravely served their country during World War II, in segregated ranks,” according to History Channel. What this means is that since the conception of the American dream, the marginalized, especially black people, couldn’t access it. In the present, after centuries of systemic oppression, everything that has been said about the average American not being able to afford houses and education goes double for those who are racially marginalized. So if both in the past and in the present marginalized people can’t access the American dream, what is the point of pushing this narrative at all?
The American Nightmare
America loves to tell stories of people rising up from nothing and ending up well off from grit alone. However, this is simply extremely unlikely, if not impossible these days. Yet, the American dream narrative persists. One reason could be that narratives like this maintain the illusion that if someone tries hard enough, they too can be successful and financially free. What this implies is that people in poverty aren’t trying hard enough.
This implication is false, many Americans work more than one job just to pay rent and have major financial liabilities like medical debt or loans from college. The truth is that most Americans are struggling to survive, and they are trying to save as much as they can. These people are developing side hustles, switching careers and even going back to school. The problem is that wages are stagnant, and everything is getting more expensive. The system doesn’t work, and the American dream has become a nightmare for all.
Written by Kenneth Mazerat
Sources:
BusinessInsider: Home values have more than doubled in the US since 1970 — here’s how much they’ve increased in every state by Written by Hillary Hoffower and Andy Kiersz
Forbes: College Tuition Inflation: Compare The Cost Of College Over Time by Brianna McGurran
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Tim Taylor’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
First Inset Image Courtesy of john spiri’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Second Inset Image Courtesy of Tim Reckmann’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
