The American Dream Is Dead

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My idea of The American Dream is represented by the movie "You Can't Take It With You," directed by Italian immigrant Frank Capra, based on the play by Kaufman and Hart. The film is about an eccentric family that pursues their passions instead of wealth. They're good at some of the things they do and bad at others, but between them, they make enough money to get by. The head of the family is the grandpa, who left a stressful, high-paying job to become an expert on stamp collecting. The antagonist is a greedy banker, who (SPOILER?) ultimately decides to give up his pursuit of wealth and live in the house, too. (There are also some dated aspects to the film, but that's the basic idea.) So, a relatively anti-materialistic version of the American Dream.

The problem is that, in my experience, it's very difficult to even just get by in modern America, especially without a steady job. I couldn't make ends meet on my freelance writing gigs. Some people act like they give out "entry-level" jobs like candy, but in my experience, I had to beg for one and I spent years unemployed because nobody would hire me. At this point, I've worked a low-paying retail job for 15 years. How can you dream of something like owning your own home when it's that difficult just to get started?

things can't keep going as they are, they are dragging down, and something eventually must give.