According to a recent Gallup poll, 70% of Americans now believe the American Dream is no longer attainable for the average person. This stark figure represents a seismic shift in national consciousness.
The myth of American exceptionalism is crumbling under the weight of reality. Economic Collapse
The numbers tell a story of economic devastation wrought by unfettered capitalism. Since 1978, CEO compensation has grown 940%, while typical worker compensation has risen just 12%.
Three men now own more wealth than the bottom 50% of Americans combined.
Nearly 40% of Americans cannot afford a $400 emergency expense, according to the Federal Reserve, while Wall Street posts record profits.
“What we’re witnessing isn’t just inequality — it’s a systematic transfer of wealth from the working class to the ultra-wealthy,” says economist Dr. Thomas Piketty, author of “Capital in the Twenty-First Century.”
The average American worker needs to work 2.8 jobs to afford rent in most major cities, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Real wages, when adjusted for inflation, have remained essentially stagnant since the 1970s while productivity has increased by over 250%. Healthcare Crisis
Americans pay 2.5 times more for healthcare than citizens in other developed nations while receiving worse outcomes.
Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in America, with 66.5% of all bankruptcies tied to medical issues, according to the American Journal of Public Health.
“The American healthcare system isn’t broken — it’s functioning exactly as designed: to extract maximum profit while providing minimum care,” notes Dr. Marcia Angell, former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Over 500,000 families go bankrupt each year due to medical bills — a phenomenon that doesn’t exist in any other developed nation.
Not even a "normal" fulfilling life and it requires 2 incomes. No house, no family, no savings, definitely not on a single income. I'm rapidly approaching 40 and have been single for a decade now so a happy relationship and 2 incomes in my life is about as likely to be a thing as unicorns are. Then COVID comes around, kills millions and destroyed the housing market so I've completely gave up on the idea that I'll ever own a home.
"Retirement" for me is a shotgun sandwich deep in the woods somewhere I won't be found.
Ahh the American dream.
Yeah, I always say my retirement plan is a 12 guage.
I prefer to say I'll die happy with a heart attack on a bicycle. Gonna keep trying to enjoy the little things for as long as I can even if everything says give up. Spite is a powerful motivator.