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What dream?by Jamie McKenzie(about author) |
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Working in security for the past three years with many people who were barely scraping by financially, I often heard the expression “Living the dream!” when co-workers were asked how they were doing. Their tone was heavily sarcastic, sadly. In some cases, they were providing security for something like a Taylor Swift concert at minimum wage while concert goers were spending more than $800 for a seat. Some people obviously are living the dream if they can afford such concerts, but we have a classic divide between the haves and the have-nots that worsened during the Biden administration. For many working class citizens, the quality of life declined as grocery prices soared along with the costs of gas and housing. The past two decades have been especially hard on blue-collar and middle income workers as high paying jobs have shifted away from our factories. For these Americans the American Dream has curdled, while other workers have enjoyed great riches. Many of them voted for change -- for Trump. Ode to the working stiffLong ago, Langston Hughes asked in one poem, “What happens to a dream deferred?” Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?In the 2024 presidential election, it seems likely that many lost faith in the Democrats’ ability to make the dream come true. Some gave up eating beef unless it was chopped and cheap or too tough to chew. They watched the elites enjoying filet mignon and great success while their own lives declined in quality. Back in the 1950s as I was growing up, many Americans believed this was the land of opportunity, that one was quite likely to improve upon the life created by one’s parents. Social mobility was expected. And hundreds of thousands of immigrants came here with that dream in mind. According to The National Conference of State Legislatures, upward mobility in the USA has been in decline for decades: Intergenerational economic upward mobility has declined since the 1940s and is now largely unattainable for many low-income families. This downward trend is attributed to decreased economic growth and disparate distribution of that growth across economic classes.While President-elect Trump has promised to revive the dream for these angry and disillusioned citizens, it remains to be seen if his policies will help them with their grocery biills, with filling their tanks with gas and with finding affordable housing. If he is not successful, many of these voters will once again vote for change in the next election, if they bother to vote at all. Hold fast to dreams |
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