American dreams shift in weak economy

6th February 2012   ·   0 Comments

By Lydia Beyoud
Contributing Writer

BALTIMORE (Special from New America Media)—Derrick McLaughlin, 43, a real estate agent in Baltimore, remembers the first time he heard of the American Dream. It was when his grandmother, an immigrant from Trinidad, bought her first house in Brooklyn, N.Y., after decades of saving. That was the moment when she believed she had attained her American Dream, she told him. “You would’ve thought it was a mansion from the way she talked about it,” McLaughlin recalls, noting that she likely would never have been able to buy a house in her home country. “The idea of the American Dream is what got her to leave Trinidad” as a woman with young children, McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin believes his grandmother’s experience was em­blematic of what the American Dream used to be—not an important event to everyone, but momentous for her. As for himself, he says, “I’m maybe at the three-quarter’s mark,” of achieving the American Dream. “I have the things as a kid that I thought I wanted,” but added, “the Ameri­can Dream changes based on where you are in your life.”

McLaughlin was part of a recent study on the American Dream conducted by the Investigative Reporting Workshop. For the 17 men and women interviewed, the American Dream continues to resonate. But that dream is tinged with caveats, doubts and hesitations.

A Matter of Definition

Though most people interviewed said that the American Dream is individually defined, their re­sponses shared common themes. These include the ability to own a home, the pursuit of education, an eventual payoff in professional success and financial security from hard work, an agreement that the dream is usually achieved later in life, and the ideal of leaving descendants better off than themselves.

Respondents also reported that achieving the dream meant meeting the modest goals of living comfortably, but also that it meant becoming wealthy.

Scott Kelmer, 40, who was recently laid off from his contractor job with Verizon, said, “Everyone in the world wants to come to America,” reinforcing the group’s belief that people immigrating to this country can still “make it” through hard work and education. “Part of the dream is to be on top, and helping people while you’re there,” said Gregory Parson, 23, a pre-med student in Baltimore.
This idea was shared by a number of American University students polled in a related study, with more than half saying that the dream held more value for people outside the United States than for those already here.

First Hearing About the American Dream

Not surprisingly, the current economic chaos has affected the dream.

Long-serving politicians and corporations are “balancing their checkbook on the backs of the middle class,” said McLaughlin, making it far more difficult to pursue the opportunities believed to be available in this country.

Most participants agreed that this is particularly true for young people. It has become significantly harder for younger people to achieve the American Dream than in generations past, several said.

“I want to move out of my parents’ house. I want my own house and I want to put my own family in it,” Parson said. But, he added, that is out of reach. He is committed to becoming a doctor, he said, but worries about taking on thousands of dollars in student loans to do it.

Though the youngest in the group, Parson said he had already achieved the American Dream, because “I’ve had opportunity, which is what it is about.” He said that once he becomes a doctor, he hopes he will be able to help others achieve their own dreams.

Frustration with the current political and economic system was apparent. But few among those interviewed have a sense of what can be done to help turn things around. And immediate economic needs are pushing bigger concerns to the side.

“All I can do is help where I can help. My first responsibility is to my family,” said Paul Drgos, 36, a computer programmer and recently divorced father of three.

Parson said he felt a sense of duty in helping the country recover from the recession but was unable to articulate what he might personally be able to do. “I feel responsible for having to fix it, but I don’t feel responsible for having caused it,” he said. “I feel thrown into it.”

Signs of Improvement are Few

“I’m doing OK, but I deal with people who aren’t doing OK every day,” said McLaughlin. The economic situation is unlikely to turn around until the nation can form a better-functioning government, “or until the American people get to the point that Occupy Wall Street becomes Occupy America,” he said.

Only one person interviewed said the nation’s financial situation would improve within the next year. Many peg it at a two- to five-year recovery, although Kelmer thinks it could take as long as a decade. For their personal situations, however, people are generally more optimistic, believing their lives will improve within the next year or two.

This attitude was particularly prevalent among the better-educated or more affluent members of the group, who had a sunnier outlook about the time needed for both the general economy and their personal situation to improve.

Decades of Gallup polls support these findings, showing that Americans typically have a more negative outlook for the nation but a stable and positive one regarding their personal situation. Since the economic recession in 2007, the differences in these views have only increased.

In keeping with this attitude, some participants have been able to turn national and personal misfortune to their advantage through home ownership. Drgos said that he managed to avoid the burden of a home worth less than its market value, because his ex-wife received the house after their divorce settlement. One young woman bought a house for less money than she had originally planned because of depressed housing prices in the Baltimore area. McLaughlin’s business as a real estate broker has thrived for the same reason, as he is able to purchase homes below market value, refurbish and resell them.

Achieving the Dream

For most participants, the dream is still a work in progress. The younger people generally said that they were on the path to achieving their dreams, though a few people reported that they are genuinely struggling to make ends meet. The retirees in the group said they have achieved the American Dream, though not always in the manner they had hoped. One man had planned to travel the world in his retirement, but that is no longer possible.

Those shifting expectations — and making peace with them — may be a key to securing the dream. With an economy still staggering after the recession’s official end, the new American Dream may be just having enough, not having it all.

Despite the uncertainty and readjustments, the American Dream still has meaning, McLaughlin said: “We’re in trouble the day people stop thinking they can attain that.”

This story originally appeared on the Web site of Investigative Reporting Workshop.

This article was originally published in the February 6, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper