The end of American Dream

To begin with, how can we define American Dream? ``The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the second sentence of the United States Declaration of Independence which states that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable Rights including Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.`` (1) and Home ownership is sometimes used as a proxy for achieving the promised prosperity, ownership has been a status symbol separating the middle classes from the poor.(2) For many people in America including immigrant people owning a private house is one of their American dreams. But these days it is very difficult for most of them. Stable economic growth, stable employment and stable wages offered by the companies are indispensableb for many people to have their private houses. Moreover, government and financial institutions play an important role to stimulating interest for those who want to possess private houses in the future. From the end of World War Second to the middle of 1980s the american economy enjoyed a steady and remarkable growth compared with other developed countries. Stable wages and stable employment inspired many workers to own their private houses. To meet their demand the housing industry offered a reasonable house with reasonable price for them. At the same time not only the U.S. government but banks offered measures for those who were interested in buying their houses. In particular, the government introduced a policy of encouraging for buying houses. This measure contributed to realizing American Dreams for many american people. Barbara Kiviat says that ``Washington lavishes homeowners with special treatment. When they file their income taxes, they can deduct mortgage interest and property taxes. When they sell, they don`t have to pay tax on the first few hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit.``(3) During that time many manufacturing companies concentrared their manufacturing operation on the the U.S. not on foreign countries. Therefore stable employment was realized. However, the situation which was favourable for many american people has drastically changed recently. These days many companies are transferring their manufacturing operations to low-waged countries such as China and India to eliminate the cost as much as possible. This has contributed to increasing the unemployment and fueling the anxiety for the future among the general public. Moreover, the number of part-time or temporary workers have increased drastically. Their wages are low and job opportunities are very unstable. Therefore they have become reluctant to use their disposable income for buying durable goods and houses. In addition to this these days many banks introduced a strict policy of lending money for only those who are capable of paying back after the financial crisis which took place three years ago. These situation help delude many american people into thinking that they can buy their houses in their life time. Economic and social situation are not reasonable to think about houseownership. Globalization of the economy and profit-oriented way of thinking among many bussiness managers destroyed the dreams of houseownership of many american people. The important thing is that self- interest oriented capitalists and the government officials who are accountable for triggering tax increase because of the mounting deficits of the federal government must be blamed for \depriving of realizing American Dreams from among many american citizens. From above mentioned arguments it is very difficult for american people to realize American Dreams today. Someone who are interested in this topic are invited to discuss with me further. References: (1) http://en.wikipedia.org... (2) http://en.wikipedia.org... (3) Barbara Kiviat, The case against homeownership, TIME September 27, 2010