Is the American Dream Over?

[ProudDad]

America has long been a country of limitless possibility. But the dream has now become a nightmare for many. The US is now realizing just how fragile its success has become -- and how bitter its reality. Should the superpower not find a way out of crisis, it could spell trouble ahead for the global economy. By SPIEGEL Staff

Americans have lived beyond their means for decades. It was a culture long defined by a mantra of entitlement, one that promised opportunities for all while ignoring the risks. Relentless and seemingly unstoppable upward mobility was the secular religion of the United States. Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, established the so-called ownership society, while Congress and the White House helped free it of the constraints of laws and regulations.

<snip>

The United States is a confused and fearful country in 2010. American companies are still world-class, but today Apple and Coca-Cola, Google and Microsoft are investing in Asia, where labor is cheap and markets are growing, and hardly at all in the United States. Some 47 percent of Americans don't believe that the America Dream is still realistic.

The Desperate States of America are loud and distressed. The country has always been a little paranoid, but now it's also despondent, hopeless and pessimistic. Americans have always believed in the country's capacity for regeneration, that a new awakening is possible at any time. Now, 63 percent of Americans don't believe that they will be able to maintain their current standard of living.

And if America is indeed on the downward slope, it will have consequences for the global economy and the political world order.


http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,726447,00.html

[gateley]

1. Oui. nt

[daa]

4. +1

At least for the next 30 years. It took from Reagan through Bush/Obama to get to this point and it won't be reversed easily. We now have no money to spend and so investment in this country will dry up. You see it already, BMW and Mercedes plants in China and not expanding here.

[texshelters]

9. Ditto

Peace,
Tex Shelters
http://texshelters.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/memo-from-the-desk-of-john-boehner-a-sheltersleaks-production/

[ProudDad]

13. For some silly reason

I don't think the Boner Program will work... :)

[ProudDad]

11. Nope...

this is permanent...

There will be temporary and minor ups and downs but the overall trend is down...

We're in overshoot...

For the first time on Earth, thanks to cheap fossil fuels we humans are up resources and polluting the web of life that supports us faster than the Earth can regenerate...

That's the REAL reason for the current Long Emergency -- the collapse of life as you know it...

And it's global...

[asdjrocky]

2. "They call it the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it."

-George Carlin

[Swamp Rat]

5. "They don't give a fuck about you."

-George Carlin

[Swamp Rat]

3. It is for some of us.

[NRaleighLiberal]

6. 2% of the population are probably thinking it is quite dreamy right now. n/t

[arcane1]

7. If it makes anyone feel better, it's not just us

With demand exceeding supply in just about every aspect of life, it will all come crashing down eventually. Corporations will chase their short-term gains for as long as they can; since they don't think long-term, the crash will hit much harder than it should.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

8. Not for everyone

The GOP is working to turn the United States into a plutocracy, where all power and wealth is held by a few while the workers compete on the global market with the result that wages are driven down. In this warped GOP version of the American Dream, people are merely another widget that, like any product, can be shipped anywhere and is easily disposable.

[The2ndWheel]

10. That dream has only been possible for every citizen for only a few decades

And the dream is fueled by cheap energy, and the things we're able to do because of that cheap energy, and on the scale that we do them because of that cheap energy, is the foundation upon which our environmental issues rest.

The cheaper the energy, the greater the impact on the environment.

[ProudDad]

14. Here's how we're responding

hope springs eternal... :)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9681832

[Liberal_in_LA]

12. kinda

[Greyhound]

15. "it's called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it." n/t

[jwirr]

16. Been over for a long time. My children are lower middle class and

just holding on. I was homeless up until this month after spending years taking care of my severely disabled daughter so she would not cost the taxpayers so much. Damn stupid idea if you ask me now.