The Burden of the American Dream

In a piercing piece at The Guardian, Gary Younge says that as costs rise and wages remain the same, the U.S. workforce is becoming less and less enamored of the pursuit of the American dream. Suggested Reading Story Behind The Shocking Moment That Ruined Rapper Lil Mama’s Career Three Friends Were Headed To A Beyoncรฉ…

In a piercing piece at The Guardian, Gary Younge says that as costs rise and wages remain the same, the U.S. workforce is becoming less and less enamored of the pursuit of the American dream.

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Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?
Trump’s Tariffs Might Stick Around. What Should We Buy Now?

The final chapter ofย America's Promise, a high-school textbook on American history, ends with a rallying cry to national mythology. "The history of the United States is one of challenges faced, problems resolved, and crises overcome," it states. "Throughout their history Americans have remained an optimistic people, carrying this optimism into the new century. The full promise of America has yet to be realised. This is the real promise of America; the ability to dream of a better world to come."

Such are the assumptions beamed from the torch of Lady Liberty, coursing through the veins of the nation's political culture and imbibed with mothers' milk. Their nation, many will tell you, is not just a land mass but an ideal โ€” a shining city on the hill beckoning a bright new tomorrow and a dazzling dawn for all those who want it badly enough. Such devout optimism, even (and at times particularly) in the midst of adversity makes America, in equal parts, both exciting and delusional. According toย Gallup, since 1977 people have consistently believed their financial situation will improve next year even when previous years have consistently been worse.ย 

But when President Barack Obama was planning his run for a second term his pollsters noticed a profound shift in the national mood. The optimism was largely gone โ€” and with it both the excitement and the delusion. The time-honoured rhetorical appeals to a life of relentless progress, upward mobility and personal reinvention didn't work the way they used to.

Read Gary Younge's entire post at The Guardian.

The Rootย aims to foster and advance conversations about issues relevant to the black Diaspora by presenting a variety of opinions from all perspectives, whether or not those opinions are shared by our editorial staff.

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