Has the American Dream Become a Nightmare?

 The American Dream can be summed up currently by the jobs report in November of 2021. According to the New York Times, 4.5 million Americans willfully quit their jobs. What could possibly compel such record numbers of people walking out of their place of employment and into an immediate state of uncertainty? Is it reasonable to believe the human race has become so incredibly lazy and indifferent that gainful employment is no longer of much importance? Well, I'd like to think that's simply absurd, but when you delve deeper into the current state of the National economy, as well as, the general distrust, many citizens are showing towards the US government, perhaps that indifference is more palpable than originally thought. 

   The Pew Research Center has done studies on the populations trust of the US government since 1958. As of May 2021, numbers reached historic lows, only one quarter of Americans can say they trust the US government to do what's right, 2% (all of the time), or 23% (most of the time). When this data was first compiled in the late fifties three quarters of Americans polled say they trusted the federal government to do what's right nearly all of the time. What has transpired over the last 65+ years to completely flip these numbers? Presidential assassinations, unpopular wars, steep increases in the prices of living are some examples of definitive kinks in the armor of the once blissfully endless hopes of the American Dream. Amongst Republicans and Democrats alike the current president, Joe Biden, stands a full ten percentage points lower than the infamously paranoid, and heavily detested, Richard Nixon.

   The harsh treatment of immigrants and refugees over the past decade has given the tired, huddled masses coming across our Southern border some real trepidation. The once iconic statement written on the Statute of Liberty has basically become an obsolete message of hope and country. 

   As of October 2021, 1.7 million immigrants have been detained at the Mexico border with the United States, which is the record over a 12 month period (BBC news.com). And this is post Trump, mind you, the Biden Administration has done next to nothing with just about everything of any importance over his 1st year as President but none more despicable than his listless approach to the immigration issue.

   We can only hope as certain Central American countries, mainly Mexico,  can continue building up their industry and win their everlasting war on Drug cartles. Those two issues are currently heading in the right direction. According to France 24 news, homicides dropped 4% from 2020 to 2021. Not a drastic sway, but enough to breed some cautious optimism for the crime fatigued people of this lovely, yet unpredictable nation. Despite brutal economic numbers in 2020 when the economy contracted by over 8%, the numbers being compiled by Forbes.com show a six percent growth in 2021 which can be considered another optimistic sign. But when you look at some of the other US neighbors including: El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Haiti the pictures are definitely not heading in the right direction. 

   According to statistica.com, El Salvador has had 83 murders per 100000 people making it the most deadly country in the world. So perhaps you stringent anti immigration folks could better understand why these people flee their incredibly violent country. And these people have no illusions of what they face just making it to the border, price gauging, human trafficking, the threats of arrests and being separated from their children are all not enough to stay in their failed state. 

   Getting to Haiti, as of September 2021 Haiti is by leaps and bounds the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. Considering Haiti was once the wealthiest colony in the Americas and right up through the Clinton Administration was a top tourist destination for Americans. Plagued by war and political assassinations over the past three decades Haitians aren't hoping to achieve the "American Dream," they're more just escaping a situation so dire that I'm sure an American nightmare would so immensely change their life for the better (cfr.org).

   My own personal experience with the American Dream was forever damaged when my parents divorced, the split causing money problems that more than likely could have been avoided if the folks didn't wind up hating each other. Still, my under funded public schools, where just making it through class without a brawl or teacher walkouts was considered a major victory. My family owned no business, did not have the cash or the care too send me to University despite my many talents that most were aware of at my younger days. Alas, after a 6 month stretch at a community college, several dead end jobs and even a stint in the Teamsters, where myself and 12 other coworkers were unceremoniously laid off due to budget cuts. So at the moment I'm facing the Nightmare, the nightmare of the American Dream. How did we get here, when I say we, I say many others of my generation facing a terrifyingly, uncertain future. They told us in elementary school you could be anything you want to be. But when all you want to be is a functioning member of society, perhaps have a career as a blue collar worker and even that aspiration seems unattainable that's when the Nightmare begins. Will we every wake from the Nightmare of the American Dream.