American Dream

Is the American Dream dead? Or just ill?

In my parent's day, the American Dream was to own their own home, for the kids to have a better life than they'd had. They did own a house, at various times while I was growing up. At other times, they rented. My husband and I have owned this particular house for 20 years this month, so in that respect, we're doing pretty well. Other families, and especially younger families, are having a much tougher time these last few years in getting and keeping ownership of a home. I don't know exact figures, but that aspect of the American Dream seems to be slipping away.

As for the kids having a better life than the parents – my parents imagined the correct route for that was to see that we all went to college. So far, out of 3 children, 1 ½ of us have finished college. I still have a ways to go to get any kind of degree, but I've made it through over half the required credit hours towards that degree. The youngest of us has never started college. But since neither of my parents ever had any college classes – and lately, there's been some confusion over whether or not one of them even graduated high school – then it seems that my generation did better than they did.

In my husband's family, both parents were professionals, with all the schooling that that entails … some kind of degree, I'm sure. Of their 3 children, all of them have at least two master's degrees, and one also has a doctorate. So far as 'better education' goes, they definitely all have their parents beat, but that has not necessarily meant 'better off financially'.

Which brings us to our kids. Ours are still young, just out of high school a year or so. They have both taken some classes at the local community college. One signed up at a private junior college, and went deep into hock to do so. The junior college promptly lost its accreditation, but he still has to pay those loans back. A lot money down the drain for nothing. It'll be a long time before he can get back to school, if he every makes it.

I think that's why these types of economic times are called depressions. Everybody gets depressed. Everybody gives up. Welcome to the American Dream on Life Support.