The end of the American dream

According to the Gallup Foundation, only 44% of Americans  believe that today's youth will have a better life than that of their parents, an all-time low reading that causes a rethink on the American dream. The report's findings are no surprise. America, much like the rest of the Western world, has racked up a phenomenal amount of public and private debt in a rather blind search for "a better life". But that better life, made of larger houses, longer commutes and more work hours, has made none happier. So this really brings about the question "what is the American dream today?".

Not only. In the everyday quest for survival and financial stability Americans have found themselves in an increasingly inhumane job market. Relocation, fear of lay-offs and overtime have taken precedence in the collective mind over family, friends, and all the things that make life a pleasure. Moving your factory every five years from the US to China, then to Vietnam, then to who-knows-where, makes a lot of sense in the accounting books. But it destroys families and it creates massive costs that do not show up in a company's balance sheet, but in other forms. Increased mental health needs, higher divorce rates, more money for the lawyers and less for broken up families. Less happiness for kids that are bounced back and forth between parents. No, those costs do not show up on Wall Street's trading floor. But they are real. And Americans have started to notice.