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I’m convinced the American dream of the last nearly 100 years has been an aberration. Americans found themselves making up half the global economy post-WW2, the

by tjs8rj 5y ago

I’m convinced the American dream of the last nearly 100 years has been an aberration. Americans found themselves making up half the global economy post-WW2, the world was decimated but the population grew rapidly, demand surged for American goods, energy was cheap and freely burned. Essentially, America has been able to extract monopoly rent for at decades, and this created a massive surplus for its citizens. Going from poor to rich in a lifetime just can’t be that common. Living standards doubling every 10 years on average simply can’t be maintained. And the rest of the world has been catching up. Now America is a quarter of the global GDP, total market indices are expected to grow at 3% annualized over the next 100 years in the bullish projections, climate change requires reducing energy demands, billions of humans require reducing living standards. Don’t be alarmed: this is the normal state of humanity. The improvements we’ve seen in our lifetime have come far too fast compared to all our history. It won’t last forever. Americans still enjoy a monopoly position in many ways. Getting “really rich” is easier in America than anywhere else in the world and it’s really not close, but that won’t last forever and it’s rapidly closing.

s1artibartfast 5y ago
Add counter that the share of global GDP is largely irrelevant to the American dream. The American dream isn't about being better off than some random sampling of the world. I think urbanization is what has put in damper on the American dream. Housing security provided from owning one's residence is a central component of this dream. This housing has severely limited in the urban setting. You can look back to the life conditions of someone living in 1950s New York as a as a comparison oh, and see how this has spread to a much larger portion of the population. The places where the American dream is most alive is in the suburbs small cities with functioning economies and reasonable housing cost. In these areas, you can get a college degree or have a small businesses that provides for a home and family.
- tjs8rj 5y ago
  The share of gdp is relevant as a proxy for competition. A monopoly is what made the surplus charging the American dream. That America is losing that monopoly as reprented by its share of global gdp means: outsourcing, foreign investment elsewhere, competitive domestic prices as free trade and increasing competition abroad means lower domestic wages and lower profits. The America of today is increasingly being competed with on all fronts, meaning the castles in the sky of high paying jobs + cheap high quality goods + affordable living accommodations which were once possible in the monopoly America are increasingly fading as America loses those surpluses. In short: once we were the place where all wealth flocked and flowed, and like a bloated VC startup, it meant high wages, amazing benefits, affordable housing on tap, and so on. But now the market is more competitive, and if we want to compete those insane benefits are being cut away. The American Dream is a reference to those unsustainably good times during the rarefied airs of global monopoly. Now reality returns and we think things are collapsing.

by tjs8rj 5y ago

s1artibartfast 5y ago

Add counter that the share of global GDP is largely irrelevant to the American dream. The American dream isn't about being better off than some random sampling of the world. I think urbanization is what has put in damper on the American dream. Housing security provided from owning one's residence is a central component of this dream. This housing has severely limited in the urban setting. You can look back to the life conditions of someone living in 1950s New York as a as a comparison oh, and see how this has spread to a much larger portion of the population. The places where the American dream is most alive is in the suburbs small cities with functioning economies and reasonable housing cost. In these areas, you can get a college degree or have a small businesses that provides for a home and family.

tjs8rj 5y ago
The share of gdp is relevant as a proxy for competition. A monopoly is what made the surplus charging the American dream. That America is losing that monopoly as reprented by its share of global gdp means: outsourcing, foreign investment elsewhere, competitive domestic prices as free trade and increasing competition abroad means lower domestic wages and lower profits. The America of today is increasingly being competed with on all fronts, meaning the castles in the sky of high paying jobs + cheap high quality goods + affordable living accommodations which were once possible in the monopoly America are increasingly fading as America loses those surpluses. In short: once we were the place where all wealth flocked and flowed, and like a bloated VC startup, it meant high wages, amazing benefits, affordable housing on tap, and so on. But now the market is more competitive, and if we want to compete those insane benefits are being cut away. The American Dream is a reference to those unsustainably good times during the rarefied airs of global monopoly. Now reality returns and we think things are collapsing.