I saw a report on CNN this morning that some huge percentage of people in "Generation Y," which apparently is comprised of 18-29 year olds, no longer believe in the "American Dream" as something that they will achieve. Now, I believe this phrase has many different meanings depending on the person, but according to the criteria posed by the organization who did the survey, this means working hard, earning money, having financial security as a retired individual in the form of Social Security, living out your golden years traveling around the country in an RV or lounging on a porch with grandkids. Basically, if you work hard, everything will follow the exquisitely perfect path that your grandparents have taken and you will drift toward non-existence blissfully and without stress.
What is my response to this, as a member right smack in the middle of the Generation Y age group? NO SHIT, CNN. Of course we don't believe in the American Dream. We have grown up in a world that is tragically different from that of generations before. My whole life I have been told that I will never be able to retire because Social Security will run out by the time my parents are done with it. As I look for jobs I fear that even though I am working hard, my position will be outsourced to India or China because the labor is so much cheaper. I worry that even if I make a lot of money, half of my salary will go to paying off student loans or credit card debt. Although people have been immigrating to the United States for hundreds of years, the numbers have soared in recent history, meaning I have to compete for the fulfillment of this illusive "American Dream" with people who are so hungry for it that they have risked life and limb to get to this country in search of it...which means they are far more motivated than I am.
Generation Y has been taught that life is tough, and it's certainly not fair. We are not a generation who was raised in a world of social upheaval like our parents; we came into this world at the end of the Cold War, something that came in like a lion and went out like a lamb with David Hasselhoff standing on the crumbling Berlin Wall. We have been raised in a time of fear, where we watched people dying instantly on 9-11 or bodies being transported home from Iraq. We have grown up in a culture more and more obsessed with those who make millions for doing very little, making us wonder why the hell we are working our asses off and making barely enough to get by with absolutely no recognition for it.
We are a jaded generation, and the idea of the American Dream seems archaic and almost quaint in this day and age; something our grandparents and parents may have achieved in those halcyon days of the 50's and the tumultuous 60's. I have only ever hoped that I could make enough to live comfortably, and the idea of retirement has never even crossed my mind.
So you might want to think about the stupidity of this poll, CNN. We are not lazy, and we definitely aren't stupid; we just know better than to believe in those kinds of things actually happening to people.
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2 comments:
Well said!!
you know, the concept of 'the american dream' doesn't even faze me. to quote 'reality bites': 'that's the american dream of the 90's, that could take years...'
in my mind, the american dream no longer exists. i'm like you, i have never thought about retirement. instead, i'm still trying to figure out what i want to do. i don't believe in a whole lot, and i'm pretty sure i'll never be rich. i hate people like paris hilton and kim kardashian (who IS she anyway?), and don't understand what people deem important anymore.
they wonder why we're cynical? they've given us everything to become a cynic about, and yet...'wonder why they don't have the american dream anymore?'
my american dream is to just be happy. it's increasingly hard to even do that these days.
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