The Struggle for the American Dream

Why Has Life Gotten So Hard?

For the first time in America’s 244-year history, the dream of a better, rich, fuller life for all – the so-called American Dream – seems out of reach for many people, regardless of color, creed or politics. The post-war economic boom collapsed in the 1980s under the weight of trickle-down economics, deregulation and privatization, offshoring of jobs and a shift in the importance of shareholder value over the value of labor. And then, Covid-19 laid bare a structural hollowness in the U.S. economy that few realized had gotten so bad.