What Does “The American Dream” Mean to You?

This question has been rolling around in my head for a few years but it’s become more salient to me because of life changes and the recent economic/political climate. I think finishing graduate school, getting married, becoming a father, and beginning to make student loan payments instead of receiving disbursements threw me for a loop. My expectation of some financial relief when school was over was totally unrealistic and I’m finding myself more strapped than I was as a student. I find myself really questioning the concept of the American Dream that was instilled in me from my parents, grandparents, and educators. I’d like to make it personal and explore what it means to me and how it has informed my decisions.

I need to start out by stating that my experience growing up has been within the privilege of a white middle class household. My parents were college educated, homeowners for almost the entirety of my life, and my family never needed to worry about the basic necessities. I just want to acknowledge that other people’s experience and ideas of the American Dream may be vastly different than mine based on a number of factors including but not limited to their socioeconomic status, immigration status, and the generation that they grew up in.

My idea of the American Dream was that I would maintain a similar lifestyle to my parents and possibly surpass them if I got a graduate education. I thought that they would help to finance my college education and that I would go on to get a job and make good money much like they did. I thought that if I worked hard for my first few years after school that I would quickly pay off any student loan debt that I needed to incur and buy a house much like they did. I expected to have a job that would provide health care, a paid retirement, nice vacations, and if I played my cards right maybe a second home such as a lake house or cabin to get away to. I expected to drive newer vehicles and to be able support a wife and children on my income alone. Where did I get these ideas? I think the sources of the ideology were school, family, and church.

I was told many times as a child that I could do or be anything I wanted. I was told that I had above average intelligence and that “if you work hard you could be the President someday, boy.” I was told that this great country was established upon the belief that all men are created equal and that I had a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I was told that poor people were just lazy and that they had the same opportunities that I did. These ideas are very warm, seductive, and comforting when you’re a child growing up in the middle class. They were so palatable and easily incorporated into my beliefs; it wasn’t until much later that I actually questioned them. Even as I struggled to thrive I held on to these beliefs because the alternative truth was uncomfortable and depressing. I don’t think I fully let go of these ideas until my master’s program forced me to critically analyze them.

So, where did my American Dream go? What happened? Here’s my story as I see it today. I acknowledge it may change in the coming years.

My father was an early baby boomer and he found himself a part of the generation that first felt the effects of the eroding ideal of the American Dream; it was called “downsizing.” He had worked approximately 25 years for Remington Arms, a company that was bought out in the eighties by the mega corporation DuPont. He was an accountant who had worked very hard, putting in many long hours, and was promoted into management, to eventually find himself one step away from becoming the treasurer of the company. After the buyout Dupont began laying people off and cutting costs (downsizing) to increase the short term profitability of the company. My father was given the option of early retirement or a demotion with a greatly reduced salary. He took the early retirement with plans to move on and start over. He soon realized that starting his career over in his 50’s was not going to be easy and he struggled along, interviewing for positions, attempting to start his own bookkeeping business, working various odd jobs, doing taxes for H&R block, and even working in retail at a lumber yard to try to keep the bills paid. Eventually his health deteriorated to the point where he could no longer work and he had to retire. He did retain some retirement benefits from Remington but he was basically left with nothing after all of his medical expenses. I remember my father’s bitterness about how he was cast aside after all the years that he gave his time and energy to his company. The concept of corporate loyalty was dissolving; a part of the American Dream was lost. The idea that workers and their employers had a contract that the workers would give their best effort and that the employer would take care of them until they died was over.

Needless to say I had to figure out my own finances and by the time I was college age they had no means with which to help me.

My first venture on my own as a young man was to try surviving with just my high school diploma. I worked three jobs for a while, a series of different full time fast food jobs, a full time warehouse job, and a part time serving job. I did this for a few months and was barely getting by. Minimum wage at the time was between $3 and $4/hr and I hated the way that the power tripping managers at these jobs treated me for the meager pay. I thought that they were fools that should have pursued an education but instead sold out on their dreams to get a nice car and a better apartment. I still held onto the American Dream and somehow believed that I was going to figure this out and get into college and everything would still turn out the way it was supposed to.

I took a full time job at a convenience store that paid a little better and a part time job at Toys R Us doing basic retail work. I did this for a time hoping to save up to get back to school. I had no healthcare, had to live with multiple roommates, and was still barely scraping by. When I think back I realize that my parents gave me a vehicle (my old 69 Beetle) and that was a huge advantage that many of my co-workers did not have. I quit the convenience store job and started going to community college. I took out the maximum amount of student loans, which at the time was not much. I was lucky and got a full time position at Toys R Us for $5.75/hr. This was a huge triumph for me and meant that I could afford to live in a rented house with only two roommates instead of the apartments where I lived with 5 other guys and had to share a bedroom. After struggling at minimum wage and being treated like crap for so long I felt really appreciated. Not long after that I was offered a management position and I took it because it meant that I would get healthcare and benefits. It was no American Dream but I felt like I was moving in the right direction.

I was working 60 hour weeks in my new position and I was constantly exhausted so I thought it would be best if dropped down to part-time in school. I was making straight A’s but I couldn’t keep it up. I ended up dropping completely out of school and focusing on my job. I was being offered promotions and was offered a salaried position which included stock options and bonuses. I was so tired of struggling to survive. It seemed like the answer at the time. I was 26 years old and naively decided that it was time to settle down and stick with what I was doing. The upper managerial types kept telling me about the great opportunities ahead of me and I guess I drank the Kool Aid. After a year in my new management position I had my yearly evaluation. I had worked very hard, very long hours, and had been given the highest possible rating in every aspect of my job performance. I was given a 3% raise that equated to about 30 cents an hour. Again the American Dream eluded me; I did what I was supposed to do and I wasn’t rewarded. They told me to hang in there and shoot for a promotion and that it would all be worth it.

I was furious and immediately decided to return to school. I was looking for a quick way to get an education that would turn into a lucrative career and I didn’t want be in school for years and years. This was in the early nineties and the high tech industry was booming. I found a technical school that charged me $14,000 for a two year program in Computer Graphic Design. They made many promises about what I would be taught and how they would help me find a good white collar job when I graduated. They promised that many people in the field were starting at $60K/year and that in a few years I could expect a six figure salary. Those promises were lies. After school I left my retail job, vowed to never work in retail again, and moved to Portland to find a job as a graphic designer. I couldn’t even get hired as a copy boy at Kinko’s. The dot-com bubble had just burst and after burning through my meager savings I did what I had vowed to never do; I went into the local Toys R Us store and asked for a job. I ended up giving them 13 years of my life.

After working here in Portland for about a year and obtaining my residency I enrolled at Portland State and began to work on my Bachelor’s degree. I had learned the hard way that short cuts don’t work in education and so I went back to the Dream and began working very hard. I was working full time and was a full time student through much of it. I was determined to do this if it killed me. I would surpass my parent’s education so that I could finally achieve the standard of living that they had when I was growing up. It took me a long time to finish my undergrad. I had to take breaks when I got overwhelmed; there were times when I thought I was losing my mind because I was working too hard. Finally in the summer of 2008 I graduated. I began my Master’s program the next quarter and continued my pattern of full time work and full time school. Throughout my education I took out student loans to supplement my income. The money I made, even working full time was not enough to survive on. At the end of all of it I find myself buried in student loan debt.

I work as a professional in my field. My profession requires that I spend large amounts of time and money on trainings, licensure, and certifications. The salary is commensurate with what I made as a retail manager 10 years ago. The healthcare plan is adequate and affordable for me but the cost goes up exponentially when you add a spouse and child. It would be about 25% of my take home pay to cover them. I have no retirement plan. I work long hours. My work is complicated and difficult. I have looked into various employment options in my field and I have not found anything that would compensate me any better that I’m qualified for right now. This is it. I’m living the dream.

I know the story isn’t over. I still have dreams about finding a way to increase my income by starting a business where I can apply my professional knowledge and skills. I guess that’s part of the American Dream to me too; starting up my own venture and trying to make it work. I honestly haven’t deeply explored what it would take for me to do something like that. It seems so daunting. I yearn for the American Dream of my grandfather’s day when you got a good job with a company, stayed with them until you retired, collected your pension and social security, and your biggest challenge was to figure out how to keep yourself occupied from age 65 on. I don’t think that exists anymore unless you get elected to Congress. Where did it all go? What happened? I’m definitely no expert but here are a few of the factors that I think are significant:

CEO vs. Average Worker pay:

Inequality of the super rich to the middle class:

Lack of Union Membership:

Despite all of this I still have an American Dream. Today, my American Dream is that the system can be changed to ensure that inequality of opportunity is eliminated. I dream that we will be able to put power back into the hands of the middle class and stop letting the superrich manipulate and control us through the media and corrupt financial systems. I dream that all people will have access to a decent secondary education that emphasizes critical thinking skills over test scores. My dream is that my son will grow up and live in a USA that provides affordable healthcare for every American, get a good college education without going into large amounts of debt, with some hard work he will be able to obtain stable employment that pays him a wage that affords him the opportunity to own a home, have his basic necessities taken care of, and to save money enough money for a comfortable retirement. That’s not too much to ask, right?

I don’t know exactly how we get there but I do know that protesting the status quo is the beginning. I have seen the media focus on the negative aspects of the “Occupy” protests, the dirty park where people left their stuff behind and a bunch of dirt kicked up or whatever. Let me just say that they are completely missing the point. Let’s focus on the messes of the top 1%’s policies and politics. How about 36 million Americans including 13 million children live in households that experience hunger or the risk of hunger? How about 40 to 50 million Americans who have no health insurance (many of whom such as my wife can’t get it because of a pre-existing condition)? How about the 10% unemployment rate? How about the millions of Americans that are underwater in their homes, have had their homes foreclosed on, or cannot get into a home because of the unscrupulous practices of our financial and political leaders that wanted less regulation of the housing market? I could go on but I think you see my point that a dirty park is pretty insignificant in light of the overall state of affairs.

This can all get really gloomy and I think many people just tune out and keep grinding away feeling guilty and depressed that they haven’t been able to achieve their dreams. The more people tune in to what’s happening and protest the more pressure it puts on the top to make change happen. You can hear the tone changing already. The 1% will not allow things to change without a fight but they can’t withstand the pressure from a majority of Americans that have the same agenda. The tipping point will be reached and things have to change. I just hope things don’t have to get worse before they get better.

What does the American Dream mean to you?