Bye Bye American Dream

Bye Bye American Dream

By Alex J. Noury and Natalie C. Smith

"Ya gotta believe in what you’re doing." "Stand up for yourself." "You gotta think of yourself as a winner, and you will be."

These are the sermons of one of the most popular men in contemporary pop culture, Donald Trump. His reality TV show, The Apprentice, has become an entertainment phenomenon, repackaging and reselling the increasingly elusive American Dream. It is perhaps no coincidence that The Apprentice is wildly popular at this point in American history. Never before has the divide between our nation’s richest and poorest been so large. Never before has corporate corruption and welfare been so flagrant. Therefore, we watch with rapt attention and desperation the unfolding of the American Dream on so-called reality TV, distracted from the fact that the Dream’s rewards are more fiction than fact nowadays.

The American Dream is possibly the strongest cultural force driving the US worker. It inspires us to work long hours and borrow large sums of money. This dream translates into economic self-sufficiency, manifested through successful entrepreneurship and homeownership. Yet is it truly blind? Are all Americans in an equal position to attain this dream, provided that one has enough ambition and work ethic?

According to the American Dream, increased productivity will lead to higher wages, enhanced wealth, and ultimately, to economic self-sufficiency. Pious sacrifice will reap earthly rewards. As the American working class experience proves however, this is not the reality. Not only does hard work not necessarily translate into economic success, but the fruits of opportunity are not shared equally. This stark reality taints the promise of freedom and justice that we claim as cornerstones of our nation.

For the vast majority of the US population, the American Dream is not readily available to them. In 2000, the US Census Bureau reported that 31.5 percent of families in this country make a total income of less than $35,000. In most states, this amount of money barely affords rent and food for a family, let alone car payments, health insurance, education costs or, worse, treatment for medical problems. Many middle and lower class Americans, especially single parents, rely on overtime to make ends meet. To make matters worse, the White House and the Labor Department uprooted overtime regulations with the announcement of new regulations that took effect on August 23. Workers who earn between $23,660 and $100,000 will find themselves ineligible for overtime pay if they are reclassified as "professionals, administrators or executives." Currently, $23,660 is only $5,000 above the poverty line for a family of four, and these boundaries have not taken inflation into account. So fewer and fewer workers will be protected by overtime pay as time goes on. These new rules determining eligibility for overtime pay has placed this privilege in jeopardy for over six million workers. Fortunately, the House voted to block this legislation from being enforced, but this is not likely to be the end of the fight. American workers face an uphill battle to erase what many call "the biggest pay cut in history."

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