So growing up, I had this idea that the American dream was about that if you put in an honest amount of work, you would be rewarded with a good life. This would mean you would be able to take care of yourself and your family, afford a car and a house. In my view, working one job would probably be enough.
Nowadays, I get the idea that the American dream has become about working your ass off in order to have a chance to become a millionaire. Somehow glorifying “the grind” appears to be a part of it too now.
Further, the prosperity of past generations was in the wake of WWII and destroyed economies around the world. The US was virtually untouched and had a boom-time that is unrealistic under any other circumstances. The US literally started on third base and our parents or grandparents thought they hit a triple.
I didn’t get into it in my nutshell, but Nixon’s Vietnam policy had a bonus. Because we were making so many bombs, the US steel mills couldn’t keep up with the demand from Japan and Germany. they ended up building their own plants, plants that were much more modern and used less energy. When the Oil Boycott hit, the cheap foreign cars were in high demand and Detroit was left scrambling. After the Vietnam War ended, the US had old, worn out infrastructure in the ‘Rust Belt.’