What is the American Dream?
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Asked what he makes of the United States after an impromptu soccer game in Charlotte, a young man argues that the American dream is real, available, and not for him. The first piece filed by a new contributor.
“I live here, I have a lot of thoughts about it,” he begins. “But that stuff about the American dream, freedom, it’s here, but it’s not for everybody. It’s for billionaires, CEOs, rich people, celebrities, presidents. Common folk, not so much.”
His definition of the problem is about time rather than money. “People in the middle class, people that have to work nine to fives, don’t have time to live much life. That’s not real freedom. Your options are limited. You have to struggle to get by. That’s struggle. That’s not living.”
Asked whether it is an American problem or a global one, he splits the world in two. “You have places like the United States where there’s huge wealth disparities, huge concentrations of wealth. And then you have these nations that are wealthy, wealthy in resources, that are taken from them. You’re either one or the other.”
And on whether the fix comes from government or from philanthropy, he declines the choice. “I think the government serves the rich. I really see them as one and the same force. I think the people should start taking things into their own hands a little bit. Maybe start to rely on one another, rather than looking for hand-me-downs.”
Filmed by Devin in Charlotte, North Carolina, his first piece for We Them Media. His words before the first question: Mo, I told you I would do it.