In the United States, there has been a long, proud saying amongst American citizens that the nation is the “land of opportunity and prosperity”. For generations, people around the world have journeyed to the shores of the country and viewed the union as a “land of liberty from sea to shining sea”. Millions of people have arrived, prospered, contributed and assimilated over generations and achieved their own versions of success, contentness and the “American Dream”. Sadly, in the modern sense, it appears increasingly apparent to a growing number of Americans that this “dream” is no longer a reality. In a recent Axios report from 2023, nearly half of Americans polled believed that the American Dream was dead- with a massive number stating that although it once held true, it is no longer a reality.
These statistics are unsurprising. Since 2021, widespread inflation has crushed the American working class. It is currently estimated that six out of every ten Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. What’s worse; for citizens making around the median household income of some $70,000 annually, home ownership has been deemed nearly impossible as interest rates have soared, and housing costs have spiraled to insane heights. The buying power of the dollar has precipitously declined, and the reality of everyday life for so many citizens is that the cost of basic necessities like food, energy bills and other items have risen so sharply that people can no longer live the same quality of life or achieve the lifestyle that they once could.
As America appears to deteriorate at the seams, the country gears up for the upcoming 2024 presidential election contest. This election appears likely to be a rematch of the 2020 affair in which Donald Trump was defeated by Joe Biden. Trump is mired in many legal battles and is hard-pressed for cash; he recently increased his ownership of his social media firm (truth social) to 65%.
