Last week the NYT published an article by Louis Uchitelle profiling 3 generations of an American family - a grandfather and WWII veteran, a father from the baby boomer generation and a young man, known as a millennial - referring to youngsters who came of age in the 90s and the first 10 years of this century.
The article purported to show the decline and maybe even death of the American dream -- the expectations of ever increasing abundance and financial security for those who go to good schools and study hard.
It was a very interesting article not so much because of its content, but because of its irony. While intending to evoke sympathy, it evoked, judging by readers comments, which numbered almost 1500 at last count, precisely the opposite. It elicited passionate negativity the likes of which is rarely seen for a NYT article.
Rather than these 3 generations being seen in sympathetic light, they were openly trashed. They were tarred, feathered and hooted down in our modern day equivalent of a village green or town square - the public blog. The talkback comments were uniform in their scorn and condemnation for a family deemed both "entitled" and "out of touch."
Scott, the 24 year-old featured in the article, has turned down a $40,000 a year entry level job as a claims adjuster because he is afraid that such a job will not position him well on the corporate ladder. Instead, he spends his time on the living room laptop sending out hundreds of resumes over the last several years.
Gramps, a WW II vet who became wealthy as a stock broker says "Scott has got to find somebody who knows someone, who can get him to the head of the line." We are later told that Scott dreamed of joining the Marines, but when he was rejected in the first round, (although he was invited to re-apply) the idea lost its "sheen."
Scott and his family, have to put it mildly, caught hell from readers. The epithet "spoiled brat" appeared dozens of times in readers' comments. Notwithstanding the criticism leveled at the family, it seems to me that the American dream has not been lost. Rather we are talking about the death of an American reality.
We are living in times that in many respects seem worse today than they were 40 or 50 years ago. The key difference is that the 1950s and 60s were the golden age of the American worker. One could work for a corporation and feel taken care of through retirement complete with health, vacation and pension benefits. Those days are gone.
Instead, we are in the throes of what feels like, a ruthless, heartless capitalism, piloted by greedy corporate captains and Marie Antoinette-like leaders (think BP's Tony Hayward I want my life back) but that should not mean the death of the American dream. Rather, it is the death of the old American reality and the birth of a new worse one. This new reality has for some reason taken away our spirit. Our youth no longer dream of conquering space, of curing cancer, of eradicating poverty, but rather like Scott in the article, only of a finance job that will give him more. It is not the death of the American dream, but it is the death of America's failure to dream.
How can one hold on to dreams during hard-suffering times?
In psychotherapy we often "invite" people to dream and to share the content of their dreams in treatment. Many people are receptive to this suggestion. Their dreams when recalled often infuse them with life despite the difficulties they face.
Hard times are an opportunity to fantasize, to dream and to pay attention to what really matters. The person that won't dream is either filled with hate or is dead.
