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I don't know the origin of the concept called "the American dream" but I've heard as well that it involved something like:
3 bedroom house
White picket fence
2.2 kids
1 dog
2 cars in the driveway
2 weeks of family vacation
One breadwinner and one homemaker
Available to anyone who can work at the factory 40 hours a week. Basically "The Wonder Years" TV series in a nutshell.
But the idea that if you work hard you'll get ahead is ultimately the core of it. Some measurable, definable "hard work output" equals some obtainable reward, and harder work means even more reward. And really smart plus really hard work means even more opportunities are unlocked.
A lot of countries can't offer this or don't have a system of advancing through social glass ceilings or "castes".
So in that way it at least seems like the US still offers this although more and more difficult to achieve, connections are more crucial, or figuring out some trick (a side gig) is needed.
I know way too many people with a college degree that can hardly afford the rent.
I've got that. 35, wife doesn't work, second kid on the way. The fence isn't white and there's actually 3 cars, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of the convertible in the garage.
That's awesome! That particular dream is far from unobtainable, but I think it went from basically a gimme for anybody who followed the college degree route to being something much more difficult for everybody to achieve.
Unfortunately a college degree means almost nothing now. It's still a prerequisite for a lot of paths, but most college graduates are genuinely idiots. Truly worthless, can barely write a proper paper, dults.
My senior year I was grading papers written by juniors in another department and was embarrassed for them. I asked the professor, and he said he had to grade them on a curve because if he failed them all he's in trouble.
College is now seen as this transactional, I give you money, you give me a degree, then someone gives me a good life. Nowhere on there was there hard work or skill mastery.
An undergrad degree is just the new highschool diploma now for this reason. Someone needs gradschool or genuine merits they can show off to separate themselves from the watered down pool of degree holding fools.