Will consumers still consume?

Yes. For some product categories it’s going to come down to price alone because the brand has not given them a reason to pay more money for a product.  

http://newmediaandmarketing.com/the-sobering-reality-of-the-changes-in-consumer-behavior/consumers-consumer-behavior/

The stark contrast:

Maui’s volcano, Haleakala (House of the Sun) National Park

The reality of the changes in consumer behavior

Consumers are going to be watching how much they spend because they are afraid of loosing their jobs.  It’s more about needs than wants and making purchases that help consumers feel better about themselves.

There is a disconnect between the fortunes of American companies, which are doing quite well, and American workers, most of whom are earning a lower hourly wage now than they did during the recession.

Meanwhile, companies are flush: American firms generated $1.68 trillion in profit in the last quarter of 2010 alone. Many firms are not putting their next factory or R&D center in the U.S. when they could put it in Brazil, China or India. These emerging-market nations are churning out 70 million new middle-class workers and consumers every year. That’s one reason unemployment is high and wages are constrained here at home. This was true well before the recession.

From 2000 to 2007, the U.S. saw its weakest period of job creation since the Great Depression. Eventually taxes in this country are going to have to increase if we want to close the deficit.

The reality of the changes in consumer behavior

Consumer behavior has changed forever because of the recession and brands and companies are going to change the fundamental way in which they do business and how they think of their customers and prospects.  

Only 12.2% of economists surveyed by the Philadelphia Fed believe that the current backsliding will develop into a double-dip recession.  It used to take roughly six months for the U.S. to get back to a normal employment picture after a recession; the McKinsey Global Institute estimates it will take five years this time around.

That lingering unemployment cuts GDP growth by reducing consumer demand, which in turn makes it harder to create jobs. We would need to create 187,000 jobs a month, growing at a rate of 3.3%, to get to a healthy 5% unemployment rate by 2020. At the current rate of growth and job creation, we would maybe get halfway there by that time.

People plan to work into the 70s or later

Almost four in 10 workers said they'll work long past the normal retirement age, if they even retire at all, and a growing number of people said the recession will force them to work longer in life, a new survey finds.

Thirty-nine percent of people said they'll work past age 70 or simply never retire, according to the annual survey from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, a nonprofit private foundation. Fifty-four percent of those surveyed said they plan to retire between age 60 to 69, and 6% said they'll retire between age 50 to 59.

Meanwhile, 40% of workers said the recession will force them to work longer than planned and 54% said that even after they retire, they'll continue to work, according to the survey of 4,080 U.S. workers conducted by Harris Interactive in February and March.

Of those who say they'll work in retirement or after age 65, 34% said it was because they can't afford to retire and 9% said it was because they need the health benefits. Yet 87% of those workers who plan to keep working said they don't have a back-up plan if for health or other reasons they're unable to continue working.

http://finance.yahoo.com/focus-retirement/article/112761/people-work-into-70s-marketwatch?cat=fidelity_2010_changing_jobs&mod=fidelity-changingjobs

From nature brings hope

Watercolor by Carole Katz

Cautious Hiring

The percentage of small-business owners feeling optimistic about the economy fell from 67 percent in a June survey, to 47 percent in July, according to the online payroll service SurePayroll.

The caution among small businesses in many ways reflects what is happening in the broader economy and labor market. Conditions have dramatically improved since the worst of the recession, when companies were laying off workers by the hundreds of thousands. That’s not happening anymore, but neither is the next step needed to drive the recovery forward: robust hiring.

Keith Hall, commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the federal agency that tracks the job market, said US employers need to create about 130,000 jobs a month just to keep up with population growth and hold the unemployment rate steady. In July 2011, the nation added just 117,000 jobs, after adding about 50,000 in each of the previous two months.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2011/08/15/in_survival_mode_small_businesses_cant_lead_on_jobs/

Cautious Hiring

The stock market turmoil, while unsettling, has validated the conservative approach to building a business. Small businesses have remained in survival mode, and plan to stay there. That could make an already slow economic comeback even more sluggish, economists say.

Small companies account for more than 50 percent of all private sector employment, and have traditionally led economic rebounds by adding jobs. That’s not happening this time. Owners have become accustomed to doing more with less and are getting by with fewer employees.

And there is nothing in the economic projections that is likely to change that thinking, said Chris G. Christopher Jr., a senior economist with the Lexington forecasting firm IHS Global Insight. Small-business owners’ confidence has been spiraling downward for months - even before the dramatic market swings of late.

Snorkeling in Oahu



A Slowdown for Small Business

Each month, the National Federation of Independent Business surveys the owners of small businesses about how they are doing and where they think the economy is going. One question asks whether businesses plan to increase or decrease the number of employees in the next three months.

Stagnant wages, coupled with the recent stock market slide and further declines in housing prices, have left consumers feeling not well-off enough to significantly increase their spending, which would encourage hiring.

When asked about the “single most important problem” facing their business, about one in four cited “poor sales,” according to the federation’s survey. Uncertainty over regulations is also mentioned frequently. About a third of businesses blame either “taxes” or “government requirements” for their current troubles, leading some economists to attribute the recent slide in overall business optimism to Washington’s protracted debates over tax policy, financial changes and health care.

Meanwhile, larger businesses, sitting on mountains of cash, have been weathering the weak recovery relatively well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/business/15jobs.html

A slowdown for Small Business

More small businesses say that they are planning to shrink their payrolls than expand them according to a report released by the National Federation of Independent Business, a trade group that regularly surveys its membership of small businesses across America.

Their finding provides a glimpse into the pessimism of the nation’s small firms as they put together their budgets for the coming season, and depicts a gloomier outlook than other recent economic indicators because this one is forward-looking.

While big companies are buoyed by record profits, many small businesses, which employ half of the country’s private sector workers, are still struggling to break even. And if the nation’s small companies plan to further delay hiring, there is little hope that the nation’s 14 million idle workers will find gainful employment soon.

What It All Means

For the 18 months of the Great Recession, labor markets deteriorated. At the end of 2009, they stopped dropping, and they’ve been stagnant ever since. Hiring is now 25% below where it was when the recession began. What 14 million Americans looking for jobs need is hiring improvement.

It is important to be clear about the actual root cause of today’s economic problems which began with the depth and severity of the Great Recession in December 2007. The bursting of the housing bubble wiped out $8 trillion of wealth, which hasn’t come back with falling home prices continuing today. Hundreds of billions of dollars of household spending has been lost, drying up the demand for goods and services that fuel employment.

Economists worry that budget cuts needed to close the deficit in the short term will take effect too soon. In the next couple of years, we need more fiscal support, not less. We need measures that will add more stimuli to the economy.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/07/06/hard-facts-america-economic-recovery/

So if the results of the American Dream Survey are more about material wealth than freedom and liberty what can this mean for the future?

Is the American Dream burning up

Building a log cabin in New Hampshire

Fact #10

Wage growth remains extremely low.

-         “Persistent high unemployment also hurts wage growth for workers with jobs…Wages not adjusted for inflation have grown 1.8% over the last year, well below the growth rate of 2.6% at he end of the recession…With inflation growing faster on average than wages since the end of the recession, real wages are lower now than when the recession ended.”

Fact #9

Racial and ethnic minorities have fared worse that whites in both the recession and the recovery.

-         “At the official end of the recession, the unemployment rate for whites was 8.7%, which has declined somewhat to 8.0%. The unemployment rate for Hispanics at the end of the recession was 12.2%, which has declined by a lesser extent to 11.9%. Black workers have been hit the hardest: at the end of the recession the black unemployment rate was 14.9%, and it has increased to 16.2%.”

Fact #8

Unemployed workers continue to face near-record spells of unemployment.

-         “The share of unemployed workers who had been jobless for more than six months shot up from 17.6% in the first half of 2007 to 29.3% at the official end of the recession to over 45.6% by the spring of 2010, an all-time record… It is currently 45.1%. The fact that layoffs have abated in the recovery provides little relief to the already unemployed.”

Fact #7

“Underemployment” has also improved very little in the recovery.

-         “The number of workers who want a full-time job but have had to settle for part-time hours shot up from 4.3 million in the first half of 2007 to 9 million by the spring of 2009…and has not improved much this year (2011). If businesses had work to be done but were wary of making new hires, then they would ramp up the hours of their existing workers.”

Fact #6

The share of the working-age population with jobs has not yet improved.

-       “The unemployment rate, of course, has dropped somewhat, falling from its peak of 10.1% in October 2009 to 9.1% in May 2011. However, an improvement in the unemployment rate is only good news if a larger share to the potential workforce actually finds work, and that is not happening. The entire improvement in the unemployment rate over that period was due to would-be workers deciding to sit out the job search altogether and thus not being counted among the officially unemployed.”

Fact #5

The current problem is not that we lack the right workers; it’s that we lack enough job openings.

-         “Some have claimed that hiring has not picked up substantially because employers can’t find workers with the needed skills. If this were the case, we would expect some sectors to have more job openings than unemployed workers… There are no major sectors where that is happening.”

Fact #4

Most of the improvement seen in this recovery consists of a decline in layoffs, not an increase in hiring.

-         “Layoffs spiked dramatically during the recession, but have substantially slowed during the recovery. At this point workers are no more likely to get laid off than they were before the recession started…We have seen very little improvement in hiring, which is still roughly 25% below its 2007 average.”

Fact #3

The loss of public sector jobs is a huge obstacle to growth in this recovery.

-         “The public sector is now shedding around 25,000 jobs per month, largely due to budget cuts at the state and local level. Since the official end of the recession, the public sector has lost 430,000 net jobs, while the private sector has added 980,000 net jobs…more than 40% of the private-sector job gains in this recovery have been canceled out by job losses in the public sector.”

Fact #2

Job growth in this recovery outpaces that following the 2001 recession, but is still too slow.

-         “In the 23 months since the official end of the Great Recession, payroll has grown by 550,000 jobs. Twenty-three months after the end of the 2001 recession, payroll employment was down an additional 773,000 jobs. However, the length and severity to the Great Recession means that we are in a much deeper hole…we are still down a larger percentage of jobs (5%) than at any single point of any post-WWII recession.”

Fact #1

1. The real gap in the labor market is now around 11 million jobs.

-         “The economy currently has 6.9 million fewer jobs than when the recession started. But because the working-age population is naturally increasing…we should have added around 4.1 million jobs to keep pace with population growth.”

Economic Trends – June/July 2011

Let’s hear from an expert. Eamon Murphy writes for DailyFinance.com and published “Ten Hard Facts about America’s Economic Recovery” on July 6, 2011. He quoted 10 facts outlined by Heidi Shierholz, a staff economist with the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute.

Current economic news

We are now in July 2011. The Great Recession has officially been over for two years. Do you still believe we are in recovery?

Recently, I heard an economist speak on Fox News. Yes he said, we are in a slow recovery. However, there are three critical recovery components that are not progressing fast enough. They are unemployment, particularly the long-term unemployed, housing and oil/gas prices. Then there is the implication of the U.S. deficit and debt ceiling limit.

Freedom and opportunity

The American Dream is freedom and opportunity, not material wealth.

I agree with the history of the American Dream. It is “freedom” which includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success. Not only material wealth as evidenced in the survey.

Wake up and smell the roses!

American Dream History

Since its founding in 1776, the United States has regarded and promoted itself as an Empire of Liberty and prosperity. The meaning of the "American Dream" has changed over the course of history. Historically, the Dream originated in the New World mystique regarding the availability of low-cost land for farm ownership. As the Royal governor of Virginia noted in 1774, the Americans, "for ever imagine the Lands further off are still better than those upon which they are already settled." He added that if they attained Paradise, they would move on if they heard of a better place farther west.

The ethos today simply indicates the ability, through participation in society and economy, for everyone to achieve prosperity. According to the dream, this includes the opportunity for one's children to grow up and receive a good education and career without artificial barriers. It is the opportunity to make individual choices without the prior restrictions that limit people according to their class, caste, religion, race, or ethnicity.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dream

What is the history of the American Dream?

The American Dream is the national Dream of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth.

The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the United States Declaration of Independence which proclaims that "all men are created equal" and that they are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights" including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

What is the American Dream?

Who created the term American Dream and where do we go from here?

The American Dream is an idea of a liberal and prosperous America. The following quote by James Truslow Adams provides us with an insight of his idea of the American Dream.

"The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”

The United States has always been considered a land of opportunity. Many people, from the world over, have migrated to US, in search of employment and freedom of religion.

Source:

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/history-of-the-american-dream.html

Where did the American Dream come from?

Let’s think about where the American Dream came from and where it is going.

If money is the American Dream driver, it is important to work hard, make a lot of money, get educated and buy a home and other material things. What happens to your Dream when savings decrease and costs increase?

In this Great Recession and the Recovery, your pay level decreases, you experience long unemployment or self-employment with less contracts at lower wages, friends and family are impacted, your hours are cut due to sabbaticals, or wages are frozen, and in some instances, your hours of work are increasing as you pick up the slack from downsizings and your "real" hourly wage decreases.

Meanwhile inflation increases, groceries and gas costs increase, social service needs increase, homelessness increases, and so on. More people need your help and are dependent upon you.

There are abuses of power and fraud, the Madoff scandals, politicians are cheating us, and the American deficit is rising to unheard of levels.

Is the American Dream on a slippery slope? Or like other things, does it need a new definition for the 21^st century?

What do the survey results mean?

Why do immigrants keep coming to America? Why do zealots hate America? Is it wealth, escapism, class systems, war and politics? I believe it is Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, and the Opportunity to work hard and live a better life.

Belief in the American Dream and the definition of the American Dream changed long before the Great Recession. Is the American Dream money-driven or internally-driven? It is the opportunity to be prosperous, to own a home and spend money on material things.

I love to spend money. Travel requires money. I live in my own private Paradise by the ocean and near a beautiful harbor. Does that mean I achieved the American Dream? Or did I already have it? My parents worked hard to buy a house and provide for our family. We had vacations in the summer, food on the table and the money to attend college.

For me, freedom in America means the ability to choose, and to have opportunities. It is the right to buy a McMansion if I can afford it and to create a home that supports social and political consciousness if that is closer to my beliefs. It is the right to say what I want whenever I want, especially now with social media!

Hawaii

What do the survey results mean?

A man makes it rich in music or Hollywood and he says “I am living the Dream!”

A man sits on the beach on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon when a friend sees him and asks how he is doing and he says “I am living the Dream!”

What really is the American Dream? Has the American Dream definition shifted from Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness to financial opportunity? Have Americans become more materialistic and shallow? Or was the American Dream always financial opportunity?

Who really believes in the American Dream, and does it really mean different things to different people?

A Pond in New Hampshire

How will we view careers, retirement, professional development post Recession?

Survey responders’ level of education: 48.1% graduate college, 42.0% Masters/post graduate degree

Although 28.5% had continuous employment during the recession, 47.0% were unemployed at some point during the recession, with 21.9% having a family member unemployed.

51.2%: currently employed full-time

25.9%: not employed, but looking for work

14.2%: self-employed

5.6%: employed part-time

This question still needs more analysis. 52.8% are worried about retirement but only 28.5% had continuous employment. How that impacts post recession is anyone’s guess. What do you think? There’s plenty being written about this subject.

How are professionals in the mid-to-upper class responding to the American Dream?

60.2%: I am worried about the future of our country

59.6%: I appreciate what I have more than ever

52.8%: I am worried about retirement

51.6%: I feel more pessimistic about my future and the future of my family

49.7%: I am forced to do more with less

46.6%: I worry about my children’s future

41.0%: I think middle class life has become unaffordable

40.4%: I worry about my financial situation constantly

Worry, Worry, Worry

Appreciate, pessimistic, unaffordable, finances, future

How will this Great Global Recession impact the future of the American Dream?

53.5%: The recession has changed their belief in the American Dream

46.5%: The recession did not change their belief in the American Dream

79.6%: The recession had some or a very large impact on their immediate family’s financial situation

Only 3.7% had no impact from the recession on their financial situation

When the survey was taken, about half of the responders felt there was a negative impact to their belief in the American Dream.

During the Great Depression, the impact was felt for over ten years. We’re in year three of the Great Recession. What about the future of the American Dream now?

How are different generations reacting and responding to the American Dream?

Survey responders: 

50.0%: age 40-55, 1956-1971

28.4%: over 55, 1956 or before

19.1%: age 25-40, 1971-1986

This survey predominantly reached Baby Boomers and GenX.

-Baby Boomers (post WW11 to 1960s) and some Generation X (mid-1960s and the '70s up through the early '80s)

- Generation Y also known as the Millennial Generation (1980-2000)

Question 5 asked about the children:

How likely is it that your children will achieve the American Dream?

32.1%: Somewhat likely

24.1%: Very likely

18.5%: Somewhat or very unlikely

25.3%: Have no children

The survey met this question’s goal on generational views.

What is today’s definition of the American Dream?

57.5%: Opportunity – ability to achieve through education and hard work

17.5%: Liberty – having the freedom to do what you want

13.1%: Stability – having a reliable government who administers justice fairly, free of corruption and takes care of citizen’s basic needs

Opportunity wins. Even with the Great Recession.

What is happening to the American Dream?

79.2% believe the American Dream is within reach

56.2% believe their children will achieve the American Dream

The American Dream is still alive.

Did the survey answer the hypothesis?

Here is the original hypothesis:

-         What is happening to the American Dream?

-         What is today’s definition of the American Dream?

-         How are different generations reacting and responding to the American Dream?

-         How will this Great Global Recession impact the future of the American Dream?

-         How are professionals in the mid-to-upper class responding to the American Dream?

-         How will we view careers, retirement, professional development post Recession?

Let’s review each one.

Maui

Maui - Photo by seagirl39

Monet's Garden - Photo by seagirl39



LinkedIn Discussion - after first survey results posted

Michael A. – Technology Account Executive and UMass Boston alumnus

I looked and read some of the comments here and reflected for a moment. So much talk about that person is wrong, President Bush was wrong, Wall Street Greed, much amateur rancor. Its one of the things that is currently wrong about the US. When we see a problem we must immediately think of who to blame and then demonize to justify our views.

I was watching the news on several channels tonight. In several segments there I saw Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi demonizing the Republican Tax Plan. This plan was on the agenda since February of 2010 while she was Speaker of the House. The United States is faced with mounting debt, hard choices must be made. But former Speaker Pelosi can think of nothing better than to attempt to vilify and belittle a plan.

You see I believe that the American Dream is about self reliance. It’s about taking responsibility for your actions. When I was growing up having to take Food Stamps and Section 8 Housing were things to be ashamed of. Now it is a badge of courage. We have teenage mothers who have babies for no better purpose than to escape the confines of their home and in turn parental constraints.

I see families who have been on welfare for generations with no inclination to rise above it. This even though they have been afforded that opportunity, but they chose not to take it.

When elected politicians decide that they will circumvent the over riding principles of our laws and moral obligations that is owed to each citizen of this great country in allowing illegal aliens to take full advantage of the system and many times displace a US citizen of their rightful benefit.

You see, I do not believe much of the hype about Wall Street, large homes, corporate profit etc. I believe the American Dream rest with each individual to be the best person, father, mother, son, daughter, uncle, aunt they can be. To rise above the challenges of their everyday lives and make this country what it was and still can be.

LinkedIn Discussion - after posting results from Survey #1

Michael C. – leader in nonprofit management and development with multiple degrees including a M.S. from Lesley University

So, of your respondents, 80% believe the American Dream is alive and well.

LinkedIn discussion

Michael C. – leader in nonprofit management and development with multiple degrees including a M.S. from Lesley University

I guess beauty is in the mind of the beholder. The American Dream to me is freedom. Lest we forget what a short supply of that commodity exists around the world now and how much less there was when the concept of an American Dream first blossomed. I could be wrong but I think it is what causes people to flock to our borders and take their lives in their hands to get here.

Freedom is our natural state as individuals.

That took hundreds of years for philosophers to articulate, back when almost no one actually owned or was allowed by the state to own property. I am in no position to disagree with them. If people decide that they are going to use that freedom to plan on getting rich, so be it. That in itself is a values statement. But no one in my family tree ever dreamed of being rich. Going back 300 years that I am aware of, they dreamed of living in a country where that dream as well as a million others were a possibility. The dream was that neither the state, nor anyone else could prevent you from pursuing home ownership or a million other dreams. Some in my family tree have grown financially secure enough to donate very large sums of money every year to those less fortunate.....another values statement, and a bi-product of the American Dream.

Everyone in my family tree, Irish and German immigrants all, simply wanted to live in a society where home ownership was an opportunity, if we were willing to work our asses off for it. My great grandmother could only speak Gaelic and she never dreamed of owning a home but she did dream that her children would be able to carve out a better quality of life than the one she met with when she landed here. No one in my family was duped into wanting a home when they didn't really want one by some evil Wall Street cabal. I think perhaps owning your own home may well be something many/most rational people would aspire to as they establish themselves financially. To someone from Ireland in the 1840's whose home was owned by landlords they never met but who could evict them for no reason plunging them into poverty and destitution, owning your own home must have been quiet the wild dream indeed. Could today's immigrants not share that common yearning?

Her son, my grandfather went to high school - the first ever in my family to achieve formal education that we know of. He went to war for the American Dream as he saw it, and worked his ass off when he came back so that his son could go to college - the first ever to achieve that level of education in our family. With that degree, my father was able to buy a house. He also worked his ass off so I could have the opportunity to dream about financial security. I have an advanced degree- the first ever in my family, and I chose to buy a home...no one had to convince me it was a good idea, but it was an option.

Someone said that Baby Boomers are "The Grasshopper Generation". Our ancestors did all they possibly could to plant and grow the field for us, and we have spent our lives consuming what they grew.........We stand on the shoulders of giants. I hope every day I can do justice to their memory, hopes and aspirations...and to still live in a country where I am free to work my ass off if I choose to, and that embraces personal freedom to dream about home ownership,… or selling hot dogs on the corner, or living a cloistered life of poverty, and every other dream in between.

LinkedIn discussion

Bill M. – Executive Director in nonprofit with multiple degrees including a M.S. from UMass Boston

This is an interesting discussion because it takes so many forms.

People often equate the American Dream with homeownership because it was probably a marketing gimmick of the 40's to stimulate the economy and consumerism. Hence, the proliferation of houses with picket fences all over America. Owning a home represents so much more than simple homeownership - it involves independence, "owning a piece of the rock", asset development, values, accumulation of wealth and so much more. It's sad to think that reference to the American Dream is completely wrapped up in materialism but unfortunately it really is. I've often wondered how that could be because it isn't what I consider to be my American Dream.

However, today I believe it represents more of an American nightmare because housing acquisition costs are so wildly escalated as well as the cost of owning the home. A much larger percentage of income (often 50% when the rule used to be 25% - 28%) is needed to pay for the basic ownership costs (PIT). It's not the 40s & 50s anymore! All costs across the board have escalated not to mention modern day additional costs (technology) to the point that fewer and fewer people can afford to own a home but that doesn't stop Wall Street from putting them in one. Or, once owned, people can't afford to maintain it so run up additional debt turning their asset into a liability. And, you can see by the national foreclosure epidemic that today homeownership is very fragile and it doesn't take much to go to the brink of disaster. This has grave impact on people's emotional state because so many of our values, etc. are wrapped up in the home and where we live, etc.

Homeownership isn't for everybody but you cannot convince the American public because Wall Street sold them a bill of goods and we were brainwashed, albeit willingly. Most people fell for it hook, line, sinker, pole, & boots! The byproduct of Wall Street's relentless desire for more profit at any cost has been translated into the American home. The result is a Narcissist society that demands whatever they want in a nanno second at any cost. They borrow money at an alarming rate as a tool to increase their income with little regard for the consequence or the fact that it needs to be paid back. No one believes in saving anymore - just whip out a credit card and that takes care of it. No one is willing to wait and save for anything. We have no real economic values. The result is an out of control society that has choked on its own success. There was no greater evidence of how out of control we've gotten than when the 9-11 disaster happened and President Bush told us to go shopping. Imagine, in the midst of a crisis and chaotic emotional state and the President of the U.S. says go shopping. What has happened to us? We are ruled by materialism, consumerism and a throw away society that has a "devil may care attitude" with no regard for the future or anyone else. The bill for all of this will come due and we are seeing this American Dream shattered perhaps as it should be.

I'm concerned for the collective emotional trauma that will hit so many people. Everyone blames someone else for their problems. We say less government but the first question asked when something goes wrong is where was the government? We can't have it both ways. The truth is the first place to look is in the mirror. It's time we got real and started taking responsibility. I think it's time to jettison the old idea of the American Dream and replace it with one that has real personal values and responsibilities.

LinkedIn discussion

Austin P. – UMass Boston Alumni 

Better said than what I wrote but right on the money. I don't know that home ownership necessarily provides security though it can certainly provide a (sometimes false) sense of security. Are any of us secure? Ask the people who invested with Madoff, or sunk there retirement money in the stock market. Once you get past subsistence, having a skill that enables you to earn a living doing something you feel is important, enjoyable....could be described as achieving a sense of security or comfort with oneself. And there's nothing wrong with owning a home or anything else for that matter. One might consider need vs. prefer, and the true or complete cost both personal and for the world at large. Funny, I've never considered basic heath care a material thing, obviously it is. And I'm all for universal health coverage, soc sec, decent public schools, living wage and the like. I'm thinking as I type, probably not the best thing to do.

LinkedIn Conversation

Wayne M. – Bioinformatics with multiple degrees including a Ph.D. from U. CA Berkeley

I largely agree with you regarding the corrosive effect of pervasive materialism in modern life. However, I think its matter of degree. Like the Goldilocks and famous bears, a certain moderate amount of materialism is a good thing, and in any case essential. Putting to rest hunger, disease and ignorance all costs $'s, but the world will a better place when they are vanquished. I'm sure you think so too.

The problem as I see it is that the _middle ground_ has been eroded to the vanishing point. People don't just want a home of their own, which I think is a reasonable goal, representing a degree of security that looms larger and larger at least on my personal (and, alas, homeless) horizon as I grow older. No, they want a 10,000 sq ft McMansion, preferably in a choice zip code, with three cars for the garage and a hi-def TV in each of the seven bathrooms. A bit over the top.

It’s the absence of any non-material dream that is deplorable.

What I think you are saying to the readers here is that one's dreams should not be reducible to a 30 second commercial, and if they are then this is a real existential warning sign. When an entire culture is so afflicted, beware.

LinkedIn Discussion

UMass Boston Alumni 

The American Dream is a marketing device. In that sense, there is no American Dream. It is a manipulation that isolates us, belittles our individual human dreams, and promotes the belief that we become unique by becoming like everyone else. For many, the American Dream is owning a house. Pretty frigging lame, if you ask me. It wasn't always and won't always be defined by home ownership. There is no such thing as an American Dream. There are dreams that people have - American people, French people, Russian people. And if the people who dream only of great wealth and power would stop poisoning the human dream pool with their self serving non-sense, and if people were less eager to buy into their BS, America and the world would be a better place than it is today.

LinkedIn Discussion

Gilman H. – Creative Director and executive with multiple degrees, including a MFA from Rhode Island School of Design

I think there is a myth about the American Dream - that we are taught in early childhood. The challenge is: does the myth meet one's expectations? As the global economy emerges we are seeing that other systems also work for other cultures and countries - and that in itself may be confronting to a nationalistic belief such as the "American dream'. Also as the US population and multi cultural demographics have increased, we are learning 'to share' that simple dream with others.

LinkedIn Group Chatter

Individuals provided comments on the survey and in LinkedIn groups. Here are some of the LinkedIn comments:

Dan G. – Marketing and Advertising executive with BA degree from Michigan State University

Personally, I believe the American Dream means different things to different people and that presents problems. For even if I had chosen one of the listed "definitions" for the "Dream" in the survey, it wouldn't be the definition my children would have.

BTW, in research conducted by MetLife, there was only decrease of 4-points from '08 to '10 in Americans feeling that the American Dream is "alive and well" (74% to 70%). However, and again, I'd venture to say that the definition of the Dream is all over the place and that it's no longer "a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage"!

Follow-up comments:

Interesting survey. Think it would be a better/more effective one if you had a marketing researcher design the questionnaire. Lot of "gaps" and assumptions that, IMO, makes a clear analysis problematic, given that the American Dream means so many different things and that questions about it being achievable need to be tied to its definition. And, given that the question about the Dream being achievable for one's children can't be tied to anything given that we don't know their definition. Kind of like asking someone how they research and/or purchase insurance without separating out auto from home from life.

FWIW and without knowing specifically what you're writing about, I believe it's critical to define the American Dream which means many things to many people, even within families (parents vs. children), and that it's also critical to link expectations about achieving the Dream to what people believe it is. For example, while some in a relatively high socio-economic level might define the Dream as "opportunity" and feel that it's (still) achievable, those in a relatively low socio economic level may 1) not define the Dream as "opportunity" and 2) if they do, don't believe it's achievable and, perhaps, never did.

Couple of things top-of-mind:

Even within the middle class the American Dream is defined differently, depending on Generation/Life Stage.
It isn't just about how the recession has impacted their perception of and belief in the Dream and their children's future. For many, it's how it impacted their own future in terms of retirement -- can they retire? Will they outlive retirement? Where did their retirement funds go? Etc.

Question 10

Question 9

Question 8

Question 7

I had to accept a 47% pay decrease or be unemployed

I was unemployed multiple times during the recession

I have taken a cut in pay

My husband and I have both been unemployed for more than 1 year.

Being self-employed, one could say I was unemployed before the recession and at some point during it

I have been unemployed for nine months, my husband has been unemployed for 16 months

Friends and extended family have been unemployed during the recession

I am currently unemployed

As an independent, less contracts

Many friends are out of work, underemployed or worrying about remaining employed

my hours were cut by 40%

I have been unemployed since 04/09

Question 6

Question 4

Question 5

Question 3

Question 2

The opportunity to be prosperous, even rich.  This is the dream which has persisted since the early 1800s.

I used to think owning your own home, now I'm not so sure.

Happiness - ability to be happy through good and bad times

Freedom

All of the above. I dream big!

Originally it was Opportunity, now not so sure.

Too many people are paying the price for others lack of ethics.  All too often our current system of government is rewarding those who choose not to work, or those who are manipulating the systems that were put in place to protect people from economic disaster.  However, today we are seeing more and more the rewards going to those who are abusing the system.  This is not an incentive to work hard or invest in the "dream" that is more now a Mirage than a possibility for a hard working, honest person. I am blessed with a good life, others should have that same opportunity without the fear of unethical people and businesses taking that away.

Liberty and Security.  You can't have one without the other.

Money driven and egocentric opportunity

The American Dream means owning a house and spending money - not much of a dream if you ask me, very lame.

I fear that 'equality' (as in equal before the law) has been redefined as lowest common denominator and removed any attempt at meritocracy

Question 1

Comments:

I never thought much about "the American Dream" and I don't know what it's supposed to mean.

I never believe in it

I never believed in the American Dream.

Belief in the American Dream and what defines that dream changed long before the current recession.

To a large degree it has delayed my ability to possibly attain them

The American Dream is a marketing tool, always has been.

I knew the depression was coming now it is here.

hard to say:  I'm an ex-pat (left the States for the Middle East in 1972)

it has destroyed my faith in the current political system

didn't believe in it! We are less mobile between income quintiles than most European countries, for starters.