According to a recent Gallup poll, 70% of Americans now believe the American Dream is no longer attainable for the average person. This stark figure represents a seismic shift in national consciousness.

The myth of American exceptionalism is crumbling under the weight of reality. Economic Collapse

The numbers tell a story of economic devastation wrought by unfettered capitalism. Since 1978, CEO compensation has grown 940%, while typical worker compensation has risen just 12%.

Three men now own more wealth than the bottom 50% of Americans combined.

Nearly 40% of Americans cannot afford a $400 emergency expense, according to the Federal Reserve, while Wall Street posts record profits.

“What we’re witnessing isn’t just inequality — it’s a systematic transfer of wealth from the working class to the ultra-wealthy,” says economist Dr. Thomas Piketty, author of “Capital in the Twenty-First Century.”

The average American worker needs to work 2.8 jobs to afford rent in most major cities, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

Real wages, when adjusted for inflation, have remained essentially stagnant since the 1970s while productivity has increased by over 250%. Healthcare Crisis

Americans pay 2.5 times more for healthcare than citizens in other developed nations while receiving worse outcomes.

Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy in America, with 66.5% of all bankruptcies tied to medical issues, according to the American Journal of Public Health.

“The American healthcare system isn’t broken — it’s functioning exactly as designed: to extract maximum profit while providing minimum care,” notes Dr. Marcia Angell, former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Over 500,000 families go bankrupt each year due to medical bills — a phenomenon that doesn’t exist in any other developed nation.

  • miguel@fedia.io
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    2 days ago

    “That’s why they call it the American Dream, because you’d have to be asleep to believe it” –George Carlin

  • Asafum@feddit.nl
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    2 days ago

    The average American worker needs to work 2.8 jobs to afford rent in most major cities, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

    Not even a “normal” fulfilling life and it requires 2 incomes. No house, no family, no savings, definitely not on a single income. I’m rapidly approaching 40 and have been single for a decade now so a happy relationship and 2 incomes in my life is about as likely to be a thing as unicorns are. Then COVID comes around, kills millions and destroyed the housing market so I’ve completely gave up on the idea that I’ll ever own a home.

    “Retirement” for me is a shotgun sandwich deep in the woods somewhere I won’t be found.

    Ahh the American dream.

  • klemptor@startrek.website
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    2 days ago

    “What we’re witnessing isn’t just inequality — it’s a systematic transfer of wealth from the working class to the ultra-wealthy,” says economist Dr. Thomas Piketty, author of “Capital in the Twenty-First Century.”

    Aka, a trickle-up economy.

    Thanks, Reaganomics!

  • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    We’ve been granted eyes and we use them to see. The oligarchs aren’t hiding any of this. Everything is visibly stagnant and the only movement is in these bitches’ net worths. Nothing means anything anymore.

  • Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    The American Dream is still going strong; it’s just the contents of the dream that have changed. Currently the dream is to get the fuck out of the US and into somewhere less dystopian.

  • Jumpingspiderman@lemmy.world
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    23 hours ago

    Why would anyone think that a nation is in decline because the majority of the citizens stopped believing a pernicious lie used to facilitate exploitation of working people. To me, people finally realizing that the American has long been absolute bullshit is a sign that Americans have finally grown the fuck up and our better days are to come.