What happened to the "American Dream"?

The "American Dream" doesn't mean what it used to for many people. David Leonhardt, author of a new book about American prosperity, "Ours Was the Shining Future," joins CBS News to discuss why the dream has diminished -- and how we can get it back.
#news #usa #politics
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[@twrourke6557]

It died when Reagan got elected.

[@robertlandrum1971]

George Carlin said it best. “It’s called ‘the American dream’ because you have to be asleep to believe it!”

[@merminpules4209]

Yup he always cut through all the soft language.

[@kbanghart]

​@@Jamwcjconnexactly. And I laugh at conservatives who think that George only made fun of liberals

[@IDontBuyIt50]

@@kbanghart not sure I believe anyone exists who would think he was making fun of liberals, half of his material is anti-religion.

[@deluxMessage]

Priced out of existence by greed at every turn.

[@jimmyr9468]

Ronald Reagan killed it with union busting and "trickle down" economics.

[@swisstopia]

Income inequality was also another Reagan legacy.

[@Neimfeltrite]

And our Baby Boomer parents voted and continue to vote for it.

[@franklin9400]

Did you forget about the other 50 years in-between? 😂

[@Neimfeltrite]

@@franklin9400 Nope. There's still a hell of a lot of boomers out there still ticking, and they've gummed up the works through gerrymandering and minority rule. But they're fading, just not fast enough. Hence, the current chaos.

[@scillyautomatic]

wrong

[@user-bm6xz6pq5z]

The American Dream used to mean owning a house. Now it means being able to afford rent.

[@davidcarvajal5739]

Affording your own car will be next

[@redpill1977]

@@davidcarvajal5739 Then after that it will be affording food!!!

[@sexynelson100]

back in the 70s.. one salary was enough to run a family household of 4.. including vacations. but now.. not even two salaries are enough to run any household

[@twsnow1891]

4 jobs during biden would barely support a family.

[@magaareinbredhillbillies]

republican sold us on trickle down which never happen. i'm sure the rich could use another tax cut from republican.

[@gprufino]

Truth.

[@DC9848]

It is also the consumption habits. Back then they ate backyard vegetable garden produce, berries from the forest. Now more avocados from Chile, vitamin waters, dining out, fast food etc. Back then household probably had a total of a few thousand items including clothes, nowadays average household can have tens of thousands of items (30-40% useless, fast deteriorating items such as fast fashion). Everywhere you go you are bombarded with encouragement to buy more of these semi useless items or upgrade to a new one every 2-4 years (gadgets, tv, car, home appliances etc)

[@kbanghart]

​@@twsnow1891that's silly. Besides, the original poster is correct, the problem started back in the '70s.

[@billmago7991]

Dream died when Reagan won in 1979

[@nottiification]

The key to financial security in USA is to have a car you dont mind sleeping in.

[@OtherSide..]

You know why they call it the american dream Because that's exactly what it is a dream

[@twsnow1891]

It’s a pipe dream during biden

[@Neimfeltrite]

No, I think the dream was real for a time. Up until there was a realization the dream would have to be shared with blacks. Now it's back to every man for himself.

[@gosnooky]

Michael Moore said it best in Farenheight 11/9, and I'm paraphrasing here: "The America I want to save is the America we've never had"

[@sexynelson100]

Those who achieved 'the American dream' ... then kicked away the ladder so no one else could achieve any of their dreams.

[@dianahill5116]

America was built by the rich; for the wealthy.

[@angelsunlight]

Yep

[@johnnypham2850]

100%

[@magaareinbredhillbillies]

trickle will start any day.

[@bkkid75]

That's the truth!!!!

[@rosean374]

Its only available to swindlers and hustlers.

[@dianahill5116]

America was built by the rich; for the wealthy.

[@gprufino]

The American dream is home ownership something that's increasingly out of reach for most Americans.

[@dianahill5116]

America was built by the rich; for the wealthy.

[@twsnow1891]

At least during biden yeah, it is a pipe dream.

[@mandarinandthetenrings2201]

Sure when President George W. Bush spends one billion per year in air conditioning in Afghanistan. That money should have been spent in America and on Americans.

[@OperationDx1]

Answer to the title corporate greed destroyed the American dream. We are almost to the point where we can't afford our basic needs. The first things that are going to drop off are non essentials. Businesses are going to suffer first as we stop doing things like eating out or going to a movie. Then it will be services that start to get cut like streaming and internet. If this trend continues I think Americans are going to bring conflict to those who make us suffer in the most wealth nation on the planet.

[@shari777smith2]

I was born in 1950, and both myself and my husband (he was born in 1948), had a higher standard of living than my parents had. My parents didn't go to college, and neither did I or my husband. Our middle class life was the result of labor unions. My kids who are all generation X went on to have a slightly higher standard of living, although both them and their spouses had to have jobs to sustain it, and they did go to community colleges for 2 years. My parents only had one bread winner, as did my husband and me to sustain our middle class status. So what happened to the American dream? It turned into a nightmare under Reagan.

[@johnwright9372]

Reagan killed it by giving everything to the corporations.

[@ronaldcole7415]

It was sold at auction to the Fortune 500. Why? Where have you been?

[@Skatedave21]

It’s insane they still aren’t speaking to millennials in this piece. See what millennials are thinking and saying about this.

[@yvonneplant9434]

The oldest millenials are over 40. The more relevant people to address about this is GenZs.

[@antoniopatterson3795]

The "dream" has been stolen by the greedy.

[@spinlok3943]

"It came true! You're looking at it."

[@meh.7539]

I blame Reagan.

[@Rickets1911]

Decades of republican ultra low prime interest rates created a borrower economy, and denied an entire generation,, and generations to come any OWNERSHIP of this land

[@kbanghart]

To be fair, no one really owns land anyway

[@Rickets1911]

@@kbanghart okay. Money isn’t real also

[@kbanghart]

@@Rickets1911 ok

[@Rickets1911]

@@kbanghart same rationale

[@kbanghart]

@@Rickets1911 true, when it comes down to it, probably if SHTF for real, the only true stuff of value would be fresh water.

[@sarahdzeima5102]

"What happened to the American Dream?" Reagan

[@tw8461]

The company’s left in The USA 🇺🇸 Nowadays are dead inside….. They know longer care for Humans!!!!💪🏻

[@meganann3876]

I highly recommend Noam Chomsky’s ‘Requiem for the American Dream.’ “… It’s all collapsed.”

[@dianahill5116]

America was built by the rich; for the wealthy.

[@lazyassbum]

Money ruined the American Dream.

[@seanyoung9014]

The American dream was always an alarm clock telling relatively poor people to get to work.

[@dwnkaomwn3953]

There was never a dream, just the illusion of one.

[@dianahill5116]

America was built by the rich; for the wealthy.

[@danawhiteisagenius8654]

They sold it off to other countries a long time ago

[@dianahill5116]

There should have been federal legislation written centuries ago, that allowed adopted people to have their adoption nullified. To be emancipated. There should have been legislation in the United States Constitution or in the Bill of Rights or in the Amendments, that allows adopted people to have their adoption nullified. To be emancipated. Regardless of their age. _____ Needed Federal Legislation. Adoption Nullification Act: Allowing adopted people to have their adoption nullified. To be emancipated. Regardless of their age. This would be an Amendment to the Emancipation Proclamation. ____ People are not property. Adoption should not be a form of slavery.

[@dianahill5116]

I was adopted. The emotional, mental, physical and verbal abuse started on the first day. I am not disputing the legal system/judge's decision on having me removed from the first group of people. And don't want that custody or authority to be given back to my biological relatives or their relatives. Waiting to have my adoption nullified. To be emancipated. _____ My adopted parents biological son at the age of fifteen started r*ping me, when I was nine years old. _____ The people that adopted me/I was forced to live with have been delaying this trial, for over twenty years. They don't want me to testify against them. They are angry that I contacted the law enforcement. They've been aiding, abetting and protecting a p*dophile. _____ Needed Federal Legislation. Adoption Nullification Act: Allowing adopted people to have their adoption nullified. To be emancipated. Regardless of their age. This would be an Amendment to the Emancipation Proclamation. ____ People are not property. Adoption should not be a form of slavery. I am in need of a lawyer to represent me. I am okay with going to the United States Supreme Court. This is as important as: Brown vs The Board of Education. _____ Why doesn't my birth certificate have the word: Adopted? This should be mandatory for all adopted people. I want to take back my legal birth certificate.

[@dianahill5116]

The United States government and judiciary system failed to inform adopted people, upon being adopted their legal problems would begin. Having an adoption nullified, would be similar to divorce laws. Stating abuse, r*pe and incest. Stating irreconcilable differences and conflict of interests.

[@Fgghgrgrhgfnvkmd]

The american dream got outsourced to India and China. Congratulate your leaders and CEOs.

[@jtdollarfitness3048]

It's dead

[@terrysteichen873]

What happened? The top 20% own 72% of the wealth.

[@jl8942]

How Did the Distribution of Wealth Change From 1989 to 2019? Wealth became less equally distributed over the 30-year period. The share of total wealth held by families in the top 10 percent of the distribution increased from 63 percent in 1989 to 72 percent in 2019, and the share of total wealth held by families in the top 1 percent of the distribution increased from 27 percent to 34 percent over the same period, CBO estimates. By contrast, the share of total wealth held by families in the bottom half of the distribution declined over that period, from 4 percent to 2 percent. A global study led by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and published in the journal Scientific Reports, finds that economic inequality cannot be explained by bad choices among the poor, nor by good decisions among the rich. Poor decisions were the same across all income groups, including for people who have overcome poverty.

[@jamesnelles4484]

it was sold for a red hat.

[@randywilson944]

It’s always been just a dream 😴 😂

[@Sass2000Cass]

No my ancestors looked toward the dream 1600s to 1800s. They fought wars and a revolution over it. What killed it is the crown’s and the central Banks’s control over the money supply and system.

[@MrDredknot]

The government killed it. Duh

[@robertbolton9450]

1775 through 2025 will be 250 years OF THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE

[@thelastbison2241]

What do you think? If the GOP stop campaigning on hate and Democrats focused on reducing inefficiencies we might have a chance.

[@user-vb1ee4fz8t]

I just read one of the most tragic American Dream bios I've run across in a long time😢. This person made some youthful bad choices, drug dealing, did time in prison, grew from the experience and became an author of books, got out of prison, worked hard from the ground up, became a success through hard work in a industry, became a owner in that industry, was living the American Dream, then he got sent right back to prison probably for something he may have been halfway guilty in but, it's such a tragic story to me. Readers don't like a story like this, it just is sad. It's like a tale of slavery retold. Slavery ended over a century ago but stories like this just make it seem it's still very much prevalent in the American system.

[@lawrence2824]

More like a Nightmare.

[@JohnDoe-xd7he]

It's long gone 👋

[@diogenes.]

It got shipped to a 21 trillion worth desert land in the middle east, do your work Google it.. 🙄

[@uncleogrimacy]

Late-stage capitalism

[@Sass2000Cass]

We do not have a capitalist society. We have a corporatist bordering on fascist society. Look up the definitions of capitalism vs corporatism.

[@ryanap]

already decided to start my exit from America and move abroad

[@stingingcashew2321]

"What happened to the American Dream? IT CAME TRUE! You're looking at it" - Watchmen (2009)

[@nathanielcarreon5634]

You can still afford the American dream but you must a bit lucky and dont make major life mistakes.

[@goletra]

They woke up

[@lockiet7227]

It’s still here actually. But it’s called a dream not a reality for a reason

[@bradrainier106]

Now if both parties would fight over this vs the other BS issues

[@ema7768]

What happened to the American drem? It became true. You are looking at it.

[@monl3807]

Same in Canada 🇨🇦 0:29

[@CaseyLouis33]

We get the government we deserve.

[@soldierboywannabe267]

That shots a journey

[@rolandrahn8343]

Study something that has a value on the job market (or go to trade school to learn something that has a value on the job market), and there is a good chance that you can live the American dream. Drop out of high school and it will be more difficult. Go to a for-profit college take out a HUGE student loan (that can't be discharged in a bankruptcy) to study something that has no value on the job market and it will be next to impossible to achieve the American dream.

[@dianahill5116]

No one told me, at four years old, that I'd be writing federal legislation. ____ There should have been federal legislation written centuries ago, that allowed adopted people to have their adoption nullified. To be emancipated. There should have been legislation in the United States Constitution or in the Bill of Rights or in the Amendments, that allows adopted people to have their adoption nullified. To be emancipated. Regardless of their age. _____ Needed Federal Legislation. Adoption Nullification Act: Allowing adopted people to have their adoption nullified. To be emancipated. Regardless of their age. This would be an Amendment to the Emancipation Proclamation. ____ People are not property. Adoption should not be a form of slavery. 0:05

[@dianahill5116]

Writing federal legislation, is not my forte'.

[@evelynramos445]

25 % 30 % up for GM

[@acyr2338]

Say's law is dead. Everything is complex monetarist theory. How do we provide an easy job path? Not easily when automation and foreign factories create pressure on unemployed.

[@Boc3phu5]

We woke up.

[@johnwright9372]

Reagan and Thatcher gave it away.

[@Jim-nt7xy]

It was shipped overseas. All were complicit as the unions, executives and Wall Street drove the jobs away.

[@mikegreen5596]

A nightmare is a dream !

[@evelynramos445]

Chips are being manufactured in USA! New Jon that has heightened Baltimore, upcoming!

[@dellaperkins9461]

AD IS AT WAR!

[@Faithnu64]

That's laughable today

[@West_Coast]

The autoworkers/Biden voters are struggling, what happen to the American dream they ask...

[@sharonh2991]

Hmmm….unlike rural Americans/trump voters who are barely able to hang on when their employer, Walmart, leaves town?

[@amandahenderson6145]

Long gone

[@Mary...22-u9j]

the problem is we lost sight of working for what you want...now everyone expects handouts and free stuff

[@franciscajauregui6022]

There is no dream if you don’t know how to live .

[@LordHeathen-mg5xr]

Well trump wanted burgers 🍔🍔🍔🍔..And biden wanted ice cream 🍦🍦🍦🍦..Destiny just didn't work out

[@Foldylokx]

Said

[@beyondhuman3148]

Democrats killed it and tossed it in a gutter.

[@superoldgamesaturday3277]

In other words, they did what Hamas did on 10/7.

[@user-mq6wp1up6z]

Nobody can define your dream but you. Interesting this was straight political, of course right .

[@Sq7Arno]

There's no mysteries. Since Globalization kicked off, every worker in any country, is in competition for every single job that is not necessary to do on domestic soil - With the lowest common wage denominator in the world. For a corp it's a simple calculation. If wages (somewhere) + transport + "quality acceptable to the consumer" costs less than the cost of domestic manufacture, then profits are more. GDP and economic growth should of course not be confused with the living standard of the common worker in a Globalized world. And this doesn't just affect workers in the MOST developed countries. Don't get me wrong. Globalization has great potentially beneficial promise for the world too. Theoretically. But, there's the usual bunch who have simply exploited a new avenue to make immense profits selfishly with no regard for their fellow citizens, and there are even beneficiary nations of Globalization which know all the above full well, and some have even sought to weaponize it. The good intention has sadly been characterized in its implementation with too little regard for mitigating the downsides.

[@rezadaneshi]

American dream has deteriorated quite a bit but it appears it’s still the best place to dream .

[@dianahill5116]

America was built by the rich; for the wealthy.

[@twsnow1891]

There is footage of Mexicans actually leaving az and ca and going back to Mexico 😅😅😅

[@rm_alfaro]

You really need to get out and travel more outside the US! 😂

[@rezadaneshi]

@@rm_alfaro thank you. Vacation dream is the best, like true love. Haven’t had one that I didn’t need a vacation to recover from since my teenage years. But if you’re an entrepreneur, where better? You tell me where and why. I’m open minded

[@Neimfeltrite]

Sounds catchy but is ultimately not true. There are plenty of other countries that take care of their populace better than we do. Maybe travel a bit.

[@ljacobs357]

From what I've seen, many Americans spend too much on expensive phones and cars.

[@ac9331]

Just Keep Sleeping

[@innerlocus]

Capitalism > Communism Marx believed that communism was the best economic system because it would address the instability caused by capitalism.

[@billmago7991]

Socialism is what's used to rescue capitalism.......wall street likes to privatise their profits and socialise their losses

[@BZB33]

Capitalism isn't antipodal to Communism. It would be more accurate to compare Capitalism and Socialism, or Free Market Capitalism and Communism. But such a line of thinking would only be the province of charlatans. In reality capitalistic ideas and socialistic ideas aren't mutually exclusive.

[@expatiate1]

In socialism/communism everyone is equally poor except the top 1% who are in charge. So kind of like now. We struggle to buy bread and they get richer

[@innerlocus]

@@expatiate1 Even the word 'communism' was seen as evil until I saw some videos of people explaining how different cultures use it differently as we hear of the negative repression used in China.

[@andrewgeissinger5242]

It's irrelevant what Marx believed. He believed in fairy tales.

[@monl3807]

Too many immigrants

[@AnderKCAndra]

The American dream, America formed from colonial Englishmen who fought for independence. Literal immigrants who wanted freedom. Immigration and America go hand in hand, that’s kinda how it’s always been. Going to America for a better life and living dreams. In a way America is the symbol of freedom for immigrants. Our ancestors were English immigrants and so on.

[@robinhood20253]

Sure. Too many corporations on welfare.

[@robinhood20253]

Typical republican response. You think the people crossing the border with nothing , and even less power are responsible but not the corporations and billionaires who live off the welfare of the American people. You drank all your Kool aid.

[@JorgeGZC]

What happened to the American dream???? IT CAME TRUE !!!!!

[@matthewdurand72]

The rich is going into the lake of fire. According to Christ the son of God

[@Clone-tt6lg]

Whats to discuss?The american dream ended long ago.Just like the middle class.

[@angelsunlight]

I am the American dream

[@jimperkins6073]

Sometimes dreams turn into nightmares, Lets Go Brandon😇

[@jimmyr9468]

Here's a hint for you - It's not President Biden or President Biden's political party that would gladly cut our SS and Medicare, rather than raising a billionaires taxes a nickel. Say hi to Sean Hannity for me!

[@Neimfeltrite]

Don't feed the troll.

[@dianahill5116]

The word incest came about in the 13th century BCE, r*pe in the 14th century BCE and p*dophile in 1951. Only recently the United States government has decided that spousal r*pe is a crime. ____ R*pe, incest and p*dophilia are hate crimes. Always were.

[@bkkid75]

It's not Biden. Get your history straight. All the things that matter housing, health care, education all are out of reach bc you neocons. So pack sand.

[@rosskaske6357]

Thank your local biden voter

[@rotterdam-west010]

To be honest, I had a dream too...and it was just about Kim Kardashian

[@antoniareviews]

Some still actually achieve it

[@commanderbell1965]

Bidennomics

[@lauderdale77]

Reagan and trump tax cuts for the rich and corporations while raising the working classes taxes. The end

[@stevej.7926]

Yep. Definitely just started 3 years ago. Makes sense.

[@jimmyr9468]

WRONG. Ronald Reagan is the culprit

[@TimothySkim]

Bitcoin fixes this.

[@robertward8035]

Mikey ate it, he'll eat anything.......🤭

[@derektate6075]

House with picket fence is the american dream and leftist policies is where it died

[@iralas]

We can’t afford the American dream because we have to pay for the Israeli dream

[@expatiate1]

And the Ukraine, Chinese, and every other countries dream. Why the heck are my tax dollars paying the pensions of ukrainians?

[@joeberta368]

Trump draped on it.

[@dianahill5116]

Trump has No Scruples.

[@cky7765]

The American dream only works for wht$ lmao

[@iralas]

What about the Israeli dream? Shouldn’t we be prioritizing them?

[@Ornelas11B]

Joe Biden happened. Stupid question.

[@debdeb62065]

Maga and Trump happened.

[@twsnow1891]

@@debdeb62065LOL LOL LOL $2.89 gas, zero dead Ukrainians, Palestinians or Israelis during trump. A lot fewer people died from covid during trump as well.

[@jbourqueofp]

its deader than george floyd