Have you ever sat down and thought to yourself; “Where has the great American dream gone”?
In the past 10 years the U.S. Government reports that more than 3.5 million jobs have been eliminated in the past 10 years! What’s more frightening is that an estimated 55% of jobs created in the next 5-10 years will be at or just slightly above minimum wage. The modern two income family earners are not able to provide and care for themselves or their families like their parents.
At age 50 — 75% of the population has less than $5,000.00 saved up for retirement. Not to mention that if they were to take ill who’s going to take care of them? Medicare, Medicaid is not enough. Once you have worked so hard all of your life to earn your pension unless you’ve made a sustainable amount then you’re stuck with state run care. (I will not get on my soapbox about that issue).
What’s happened to the middle class?
Today if you’re making more than $27,500 a year you are doing better than half of this country. Realistically that’s not enough to buy food, pay the mortgage, car payments and other needs. The fact is that this is one of the reasons why both parents are working in a two parent family. Sometimes both parents are working multiple jobs to just barely make ends meet. Over the last few years the cost of living has risen but not the paychecks!
Once upon a time, most American families could afford a nice home, two cars, a motorcycle, a boat and a nice vacation at least once a year. I remember taking at least two vacations a year with my parents when I was younger. We were middle class and we were happy. But now I ask you; “Where is the American Dream”? Has it dies right in front of our eyes? The middle class is getting screwed at every turn. We work hard for what we have and it’s still not enough! Does every American need to be at the poverty level or below? Does every American need to be at the upper class level or above it?
After World War II the American Middle Class was thriving. Men were returning home from war opening new businesses, employing more people and happy to be alive. People wanted to work hard to earn what they had and keep it.
One of the biggest reasons that people come to America is to find the “American Dream”. It seems like now the illegal aliens that are coming to America are getting everything handed to them. But at what cost?
Some surprising facts:
According to a new CNN polls, 59 percent of Americans believe that is has become impossible for most people to have the American Dream.
The American Dream is impossible to achieve in this country.
So say nearly 6 in 10 people who responded to CNN Money’s American Dream Poll, conducted by ORC International. They feel the dream — however they define it — is out of reach.
Young adults, age 18 to 34, are most likely to feel the dream is unattainable, with 63% saying it’s impossible. This age group has suffered in the wake of the Great Recession, finding it hard to get good jobs.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, only 36 percent of Americans under the age of 35 own a home. That is the lowest level that has ever been measured.
Right now, approximately one out of every six men in the United States that are in their prime working years (25 to 54) does not have a job.
25 percent of all American adults do not even have a single penny saved up for their retirement.
The New Truth
We cannot survive alone here in America with a traditional “JOB” (Just Over Broke) or under whatever your case maybe. So what is the answer?
Donald Trump endorses network marketing as a great way to earn an awesome income from home. Now I know what you’re thinking it’s a scam. Really then …….
Why are women the top producers in network marketing? 89% of women are top earners. If network marketing was a scam then why is it so successful?
PLAN B IS NOW!
Have you got a PLAN B? Have you had the OPPORTUNITY? The time is NOW!
The opportunity is HERE! Find your PLAN B and learn all you can to create the financial freedom your family deserves today.
GAIN THE ADVANTAGE!
Hi Dr. Elise mam, Yes I have heard that most of the countries ladies earning by sitting at home through online. Thanks for sharing.
The American Dream was always a gross generalization for all people. Individuality of no interest. We are at a wonderful time in life. We can make of it what we desire if we put in the effort.
Thought-provoking, and so many changes in the job field and lifestyles in general. I definitely believe it’s possible to earn income online, as I’ve been engaged in freelance work from home since 2008. It’s just a matter of finding enough of those online opportunities on a long-term basis.
Hi Kleebanks,
Sorry to just be getting back to you.
Your comment was in span.
Thank you for your comment.
I believe that there is opportunity everywhere. If we are willing to do the research and the work needed we do not need a Plan B. We can massage Plan A into everything we need it to be. Flexibility and a willingness to learn and grow are key.
Thank you Elise.
Hi Alicia. I know the American Dream is still a reality. I was in Dallas a few years ago and was taken from my hotel to the airport by a young Somali immigrant. We got to talking, and I learned that he was not only driving his own car, he hired other drivers to drive his other cars. He said his income was in the mid six figures. He said when he looked around, he saw opportunities to make money everywhere, but he just didn’t have the time to do it.
This young man had come from a war-torn country with nothing. He definitely believed in the American dream. My driver started driving for someone else and WORKED HARD to get where he was.
My husband and I went on a cruise with about 100 people who were children and grandchild of Vietnamese boat people. They obviously believed in the American Dream. It was definitely a different kind of boat ride.
Quite honestly, we have become such a country of whiners. There is opportunity, but there is an unwillingness to work on the part of so many Americans. The American Dream is no longer to get a job at a manufacturer and work until you qualify for a pension, but the Dream is not dead for those who are willing to work their butts off until it becomes a reality.
Thank you Dee Dee for your comment.
Hi Alicia, Yes, the original American Dream is no longer so easy to attain. But years ago, the dream was just a small house with a white picket fence and 2.5 children and maybe a dog or two. But now the American Dream has become so much bigger and the opportunity to attain it, so much smaller. Now, young people see movie stars, celebrities, sports heroes, and internet “gurus” flaunting their extravagances. Even our president elect reminds us that we cannot attain the dream, it is beyond our grasp.
However, now we are not limited to our own country. There are people all around the world who want what we have to offer. So how do we reach them?
I have never personally been successful in network marketing. Either I chose a product that was not easily sellable – or – I did not believe in the product enough to promote it well. And I did not have the needed support along the way.
But I have seen some people make a huge success with network marketing, especially if it is not their only source of income.
Great post – Gives us a lot to think about.
Warmly,
Dr. Erica
Thank you Dr. Erica for your comment.
I really value your input.
I think we must keep moving forward to gain the advantage.
What a powerful lead to introduce network marketing and your own business opportunity. Yes, it can be lucrative. However, it does require a lot of work, a lot of time, being outgoing, reaching out to others, handling rejection, and it requires a certain amount of money to get started. So it helps to have a job first and pursue the opportunity on the side, at least at first.
Warmly,
Dr. Erica
Hey Dr. Erica,
Thank you.
Hello Alicia, Wow what a post! So much to think about HUH?
Thanks for sharing..
Chery :))
It’s so sad. Us millennials are going to college (hoping for better pay) but student loan debt is killing us. We will for sure see smaller families come from my generation because we cant afford them.
Hopefully things will start turning around with a new President.
We expect much more these days don’t we? I’m not disputing the struggles of those with lower incomes but I know I could live on a lot less if I didn’t consider many things essential. Mobile phones, computers, cable TV, health insurance, heating and cooling and the much higher utility costs that go with them. I grew up in a house in cold England with one coal fire and a paraffin heater. We were quite poor but got by.
The old Australian dream of a house on 1/4 acre is long gone. We do better than most countries but not as well as we did.
Sue, I must agree with you.
Hi Alicia,
Really great post! I would agree with Donald Trump that network marketing is so much better than a JOB 😉 Really interesting statistics on what is happening to the American Dream…..sad but so true! Thanks for sharing your thoughts 🙂
Hi Alicia mam, Internet plays an important role in our daily life. It is helpful to spread our message and so many people earning online through internet and technology. Due to few spam online jobs people lost belief in online jobs. Still few people earning online successfully. Thanks for sharing
Hi Sazia,
Yes I agree. Thanks for reading.
Hi Alicia,
First time on your blog. Lovely to be here. I’m also in the UK and we have similar problems. The NHS as Mandy pointed out is massively under pressure and being completely ran in to the ground.
Things have changed at such a pace. I wonder if it’s time to create a new vision for the American dream or the equivalent of it all over the world. One thing about being in dyer circumstances is that it sometime forces individuals to take their destiny in to their own hands and make their own changes instead of being reliant on the dependence of societal changes, policy, and so forth.
Either way, we all have the ability to live the life of our dreams regardless of whether the ‘American Dream’ as it once was still exists.
Looking forward to more of your blog posts.
Beth 🙂
Fascinating and well thought out post. This certainly isn’t the first reference I’ve seen to the loss of the American Dream, but if we take a step back it’s easy to see that the entire world is in a state of flux and, to be honest, none of it should come as a surprise because it’s been coming on for years.
Are there problems here, absolutely! But those same problems are fostering more creativity and resilience than ever before for those willing to face the challenges. I recently shared a story about a girl who was 13 when she got pregnant and despite the overwhelming odds against her she cared for her son, who was born with cerebral palsy, finished high school, got a job and earned 3 scholarships that made it possible for her to go to college, which she started at the age of 17.
The bottom line is we all have the same choices, play the victim card and accept whatever circumstances the winds of fate send our way, or take responsibility for owning our lives and creating our own reality.
Hi Alicia,
Like Mandy I’m in the UK and can only echo what she says. It had been gradually dawning on me that the American Dream that some of us Brits always envied was no more. Interesting for you to come out and actually write about it. I haven’t done the UK research but I imagine UK savings stats are pretty much the same.
Like many others I was saving for a pension and a great chunk of it “disappeared”. So even when I tried “things” went pear-shaped.
However, at least those of us with blogs are awake and preparing Plan B. Like you, I’m with a network marketing company – also promoting a training program to help people understand online marketing.
Joy – Blogging After Dark
Hi Joy,
I really appreciate your comment.
Hi Alicia, thanks for this insight into your country. I think it’s much the same here in the UK, many people are on the bread line, more than ever before. Wages simply do not pay the cost of living now. Landlords and councils have become greedy to the point of fleecing their house occupants, and as for buying a house, we have very little chance of that in this country now. The Government have decided to implement a minimum wage that they say covers the cost of living. That’s a laugh! It’s nowhere near. I’m sure many are thinking ‘at least the UK has the National Health Service’. It’s true, we do get free health care, but it is fast becoming less caring and more driven towards a total collapse – some say the Government are orchestrating the whole scenario so they can privatise it all. The world is going mad and it’s all down to those in power who seem to want everything for themselves and leaving nothing for the rest of us. I’d love to know more than a handful of people who are actually earning good money online too. There’s lots of talk about how much can be made but almost everyone I know online is not even covering their outgoings to stay online.
Enjoy the journey!
Mandy,
I knew things were tough in the UK. It will be interesting to see how voting to separate works out.
We cannot rely on the Goverment to help us. We must provide for ourselves.
That’s one more reason I am trying to help others in the UK understand about Nutrigenomics and how they can benefit from it physically and momentarily.
Thanks for your comment.
Gain The Advantage,
Alicia Osmera
Hi Alicia,
I am not from the US, and it’s interesting to get some insides.
I believe that we do have a way to grow as individuals with the technology today.
Thank you for sharing!
Emi,
It is amazing to me how greedy American’s can be and how we need to change our ways of thinking.
Thanks for your comment.s
I agree Alicia, your mindset is what drives you for good or for bad, everything starts there.
Have a beautiful Sunday!
Hi Alicia,
Provocative post. You bring up hard questions that society needs to find answers for – before we become a 3rd rate country.
There’s hope because most other countries, that are also losing their manufacturing base to locations with cheaper labor, lower corporate taxes and more lenient pollution controls, are also face with adapting to this jobs shift.
I’m not all that convinced that the answer will be found within the ‘information age’ via the Internet. That would be nice, but we’ll (as a society) need to do a better job of providing training.
It’s eye-opening that the current candidates for president, are still promising they’ll bring back the middle class via more jobs in the production of traditional industries. That’s myopically unrealistic and they know it!
Good post,
Edward
Edward,
Thank you for your comment you’ve made some valid points.
Hi Alicia,
Thanks for sharing this very thought-provoking post as it has some very strong points! I would agree with Lesly about the Internet that it definately plays a HUGE part in our technology and not sure what would happen if it all crashed………I can say one thing though, without the Internet and all of the ways it helps brands to get seen, it would be really difficult to really expand!
Joan,
Thank you for your comment.
The internet plays a huge part on just about everything we do for business and personal life.
Gain The Advantage,
Alicia Osmera
Hi Alicia,
Well, the way I see it is there are so many social and technology factors creating change in the USA that it’s happening fast and challenging to keep up with it all. The Internet plays a big part. I often wonder what would happen if it crashed. We are so dependent on it – and there are many opportunities available online. You’ve written a strong post here, and I agree about Network Marketing