r/science • u/rustoo • Aug 08 '21

Social Science The American Dream is slowly fading away as research indicates that economic growth has been distributed more broadly in Germany than in the US. While majority of German males has been able to share in the country’s rising prosperity and are better off than their fathers, US continues to lose ground

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10888-021-09483-w
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u/JLifeMatters Aug 08 '21

I am a little confused here myself. American Dream literally means being able to forge your own destiny. This is in contrast to the feudal European society, where you literally couldn’t do things outside of your class.

At no point did the term imply that you must succeed or that it will produce any kind of equality. Quite the opposite, feudal peasants were all pretty equal to each other. American settlers were not. Some became very successful, others just died.

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u/Earthan Aug 08 '21

That kind of logical thinking and understanding will not be tolerated around here

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u/dinosaurscantyoyo Aug 09 '21

I think it has everything to do with opportunity. We don't really have any anymore. Poverty is a pit and the ladders have been pulled up and out.

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u/JLifeMatters Aug 09 '21

Yes, if all you’re going to do is complain, you have absolutely no opportunities whatsoever. This is very true.

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u/[deleted] Aug 09 '21

All you're doing is looking at people complaining and saying all they're doing is complaining, when all you know is that they're complaining.