The "American Dream" is dead.
And it's not just dead in America. Thanks to the ubiquity of US pop culture and its usurpation of native cultures around the world, the death of the American Dream has global repercussions.
Hard work and making sure your kids get a decent education, so that they'll make an even better go of things, well, that might still work today, if you're lucky.
But in all probability, it will not.
Hard work don't mean shit if the place you worked for thirty years gets bought and stripped bare by the hedgies. That happens over and over again, and it's just considered business as usual. Look at what happened to Sears Canada once that asshole in Florida got his hands on it.
Goodbye pensions! Goodbye jobs!
As for getting an education, good luck with that.
The recent Ivy League admissions scandal is just a step beyond what always goes on. Certain schools have a more prestigious degree than others, and that can make all the difference in a career. The stupid children of the rich are far more likely to get into those schools than the smart children of the poor.
Not that all rich kids are stupid, and of course poor folks have lots of stupid kids too. But unless you've got the right credentials from the right place, that university degree you owe $40,000 in student loans on is gonna take a big bite out of your paycheck as a barista or an Uber driver.
And, horror of horrors, the kids are figuring this out.
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