The New American Dream - Is To Leave

Written by Michael Thervil

Photo is AI generated

Decades ago, if you asked most people in America what does the American Dream look like for them; many would picture themselves living in a house, married, with 2-3 kids, backyard, and a white picket fence. But despite the fact that the American Dream appears to be out of reach for most people in America by consensus, there is still a small segment of American society that not only thinks that the American Dream is alive, but there are just as many people in that segment that are actually living that dream.

However, there is a new American Dream that many Americans are coming to terms with; especially younger Americans, and the new American Dream for them is to leave America. When we spoke to younger Americans, they simply didn't have the same ideologies that older generations of Americans had before them, which centered around working hard to achieve success, wealth, and a high social status and anything else they desired they wanted in life.

They didn’t share the notion that there was a level playing field in which every American had an equal and fair shot at achieving the American Dream. In fact, the reason why they stated that the new American Dream for them was more about leaving the United States instead of living in America and championing the norms, values, morals, and the social expectation of the previous generations of Americans before them was because of their concerns with America's degraded quality of life.

Many Generation Z’ers think that they can have a better quality of life elsewhere in the world, where their health and cost and living is not only cheaper but placed as a high priority. For Generation Z, there’s so much more to life through their eyes than simply working and paying bills that they quite frankly can’t afford. Moreover, they've gotten tired of not only watching Generation X’ers and millennials going to colleges and universities and getting what they perceive as “useless degrees” in which not only they can’t afford due to the over-inflated prices for higher-education and the debt trap that follows it, but also graduating and not even working in fields that reflect their degree of choice.

Moreover, Generation Z has also grown tired of watching the last two previous generations work for employers who treat them like slaves and indentured servants, while their parents and grandparents worked themselves to the bone for wages that perpetually fail to keep up with both inflation and the growing cost of living. So, for Generation Z, the new American Dream looks more like an escape plan than anything. So, the question becomes, what is/can older generations of Americans do about this? Some people from Generation Z feel as if it is way too late for any changes to take place. Then there are some Gen Z’ers have grown to have feelings of indifference, as they feel as if “the game is rigged”.

But the one constant that we find here at VEDA Communications that has played the biggest role in why the American Dream for Generation Z’ers has dramatically changed from the past generations of Americans is because of advances in technology. Technology has not only connected people around the world in ways never before thought of, but it has given the youngest generations of Americans a critical insight into the workings and experience of people from other countries. 

For instance, outside the United States, there is no such thing as a credit score in many counties. This is important to know because from the perspective of Generation Z, credit scores do nothing but allow people to be discriminated against and thus allows companies to financially exploit those who have poor credit ratings. Then there’s the ability of Generation Z to see both the cost of living and the quality-of-life other governments are willing to provide for their people. Compounding the issue, there is the option of many Gen-Z’ers to work remotely anywhere in the world.

So, is the American Dream dead? It depends on who you ask; but the short answer is it’s most certainly dying. At some point Generation Z will take over America by default. But the question we are asking is: how will Generation Z utilize their inevitable ability to effect change in order to turn America around for their benefit? If they can’t accomplish this task in certain terms, then it’s safe to say that the new American Dream is to leave America for a distant paradise of their choosing.