The American Dream is Dead.

The American Dream is dead.

The white picket fence is a barrier, keeping such a lifestyle locked away for the suburban upper class. The middle class is shrinking; economic inequality is far from going down. The top 0.1 percent of all American families have about as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent of all American families combined. The common american is having less of a political voice, less power, and the richest of the richest are the ones really controlling America. Our national ethos of opportunity, liberty, and freedom is starting to crumble into pieces. The world is burning up around us.

This narrative is not completely false, and from an economic standpoint, yes, the American Dream is dying, but it is inaccurate because it assumes the American Dream has ever existed or been attainable for most people in this country. This is simply false. Currently, we are more equal than ever before. It is not in the past that we had a voice; it is now. It is now, when women can vote. It is now, when LGBT couples can marry. It is now, when blacks are free from their chains, and own their bodies. In fact, even among white males, it is now that those of that demographic who do not own land have a voice, as there was once a time when only land-owning white males could vote. It is now that the rich have less of a vote.

This is not to say that everything is perfect for the marginalized and oppressed(we still have lots of work to do), but to shout that The American Dream has died ignores the progress we have made as a society and romanticizes the past. A past not at all rooted in a belief of “all men being equal”, not at all governed by ideals of opportunity for all, despite what many may claim. It is wrong to claim the American Dream is dead, because it assumes it was ever alive. The American Dream is not dying, it is being born, and we have a lot more work to do before it is no longer just a dream.