In 2008, America Stopped Believing in the American Dream

In 2008, America Stopped Believing(bəˈlēv) in the American(əˈmerikən) Dream

By Frank Rich

If you were standing in the smoldering(ˈsmōldər) ashes(aSH) of 9/11 trying to peer(pi(ə)r) into the future, you might have been overjoyed(ˌōvərˈjoid) to discover this happy snapshot(ˈsnapˌSHät) of 2018: There has been no subsequent(ˈsəbsəkwənt) major(ˈmājər) terrorist(ˈterərist) attack(əˈtak) on America from Al Qaeda or its heirs(e(ə)r). American troops(tro͞op) are not committed en(en) masse(maˈsā) to any ground war. American workers are enjoying a blissful(ˈblisfəl) 4 percent unemployment rate(rāt). The investment class and humble(ˈhəmbəl) 401(k) holders alike are beneficiaries(ˌbenəˈfiSHēˌerē) of a rising(ˈrīziNG) GDP and booming stock market that, as measured(ˈmeZHərd) by the Dow(dou), is up some 250 percent since its September 10, 2001, close. The most admired(ədˈmī(ə)r) person in America, according to Gallup, is the nation’s first African(ˈafrikən)-American president, a man no one had heard of and a phenomenon(-nən,fəˈnäməˌnän) no one could have imagined(iˈmajən) at the century’s dawn(dän,dôn). Comedy(ˈkämədē), the one art whose currency(ˈkə-rənsē,ˈkərənsē) is laughter(ˈlaftər), is the culture’s(ˈkəlCHər) greatest growth industry. What’s not to like?

Plenty(ˈplentē), as it turns out. The mood in America is arguably(ˈärgyo͞oəblē) as dark as it has ever been in the modern era(ˈerə,ˈi(ə)rə). The birthrate(rāt) is at a record low, and the suicide(ˈso͞oiˌsīd) rate is at a 30-year high; mass shootings and opioid(ˈōpēˌoid) overdoses(dōs) are ubiquitous(yo͞oˈbikwətəs). In the aftermath of 9/11, the initial shock and horror(ˈhär-,ˈhôrər) soon gave way to a semblance(ˈsembləns) of national unity(ˈyo͞onətē) in support of a president whose electoral(əˈlekt(ə)rəl) legitimacy(ləˈjidəməsē) had been bitterly(ˈbidərlē) contested only a year earlier. Today’s America is instead marked by fear(fi(ə)r) and despair(diˈspe(ə)r) more akin(əˈkin) to what followed the crash of 1929, when unprecedented(ˌənˈpresəˌdəntid) millions of Americans lost their jobs and homes after the implosion(imˈplōZHən) of businesses ranging in scale(skāl) from big banks to family farms.

It’s not hard to pinpoint(ˈpinˌpoint) the dawn of this deep gloom: It arrived(əˈrīv) in September 2008, when the collapse(kəˈlaps) of Lehman Brothers kicked off the Great Recession(riˈseSHən) that proved to be a more lasting existential(ˌegziˈstenCHəl) threat(THret) to America than the terrorist(ˈterərist) attack of seven Septembers earlier. The shadow it would cast is so dark that a decade(ˈdekād) later, even our current(ˈkə-rənt,ˈkərənt) run of ostensible(äˈstensəbəl,əˈsten-) prosperity(präˈsperitē) and peace(pēs) does not mitigate(ˈmitəˌgāt) the one conviction(kənˈvikSHən) that still unites(yo͞oˈnīt) all Americans: Everything in the country is broken. Not just Washington, which failed(fāld) to prevent(priˈvent) the financial(fī-,fəˈnanCHəl) catastrophe(kəˈtastrəfē) and has done little to protect us from the next, but also race(rās) relations, health care, education, institutional(ˌinstiˈt(y)o͞oSHənl) religion(riˈlijən), law enforcement, the physical(ˈfizikəl) infrastructure(ˈinfrəˌstrəkCHər), the news media, the bedrock virtues(ˈvərCHo͞o) of civility(səˈvilətē) and community(kəˈmyo͞onitē). Nearly everything has turned to crap, it seems, except Peak TV (for those who can afford it).

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http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/08/frank-rich-2008-financial-crisis-end-of-american-dream.html