The American dream: Fallacy, myth or reality?
ONE of the cultural shocks that greeted me after I disembarked from my maiden flight to the US at New York City’s J.F. Kennedy International airport, was hoards of shabby people sleeping on street verandas. <br>
by Vivian E. Asedri
ONE of the cultural shocks that greeted me after I disembarked from my maiden flight to the US at New York City’s J.F. Kennedy International airport, was hoards of shabby people sleeping on street verandas.
The scene, so peculiar to what I was used to in Kampala city, prompted me to ask my cab driver who those people were, and when he said they were homeless, I was as perplexed as I was confused.
My perception of the US to be with streets paved in gold, where hunger and poverty are extinct, and every citizen lives in modern housing with 21st Century gadgets, suddenly fell apart as reality sunk in. This misconstrued perception lingers in the minds of many Ugandans today, thanks to the images portrayed and exported in form of Hollywood movies, glamorous magazines and music superstars and their music videos.
It partly explains why I have had difficulty convincing some of these Ugandans of the reality on the ground here, which is never projected in these media blitz. How, for instance, could I tell them that according to statistics compiled by the National Alliance to End Homelessness in US (NAEH), between 750,000 and one million Americans are homeless in the ‘richest’ nation on earth?
The NAEH study found 50% of this homelessness is caused by drug abuse, mental illness and the remaining half consists of two-parent families and single mothers with children from abusive families.
And how could I make them accept facts of a recent comprehensive study by the Brookings Institute, a non-profit and independent public policy research body in Washington DC, that the number of poor Americans under the United Nations and Federal poverty guidelines grew by 5.2 million to a whopping 40 million between 2000 and 2008?
In real terms, this poverty translates to annual earning of below $21,800 (sh41m) for a family of four. Better yet $1,816 (sh3.4m) a month. It might seem ridiculous as it is like comparing apples and oranges. But when you factor in the costs of living in the US and Uganda, these are American families who would not know where their next meal will come from or have a roof on their heads if not for relying on some Federal and state programmes that provide relief hand-outs.
From a microeconomic perspective, wealth is acquired by saving on wages and investing it; inheritance from parents and relatives; or by winning the lottery. This theory has been proven true, regardless of where in the world you live. However, the notion of the American Dream: Becoming prosperous with your own home, fleet of vehicles, hefty bank accounts, credit cards, yacht and speed boats,…..is a double-edged sword that often times turn these dreams into horrible nightmares. Besides the three categories of wealth acquisition mentioned above, the latent dynamics of living this American Dream hinges on the majority of people consuming what they do not own because the banks own the homes, cars, yacht and credit cards.
Accordingly, those who can afford to continue paying the monthly premiums to the financial institutions enjoy this dream, assuming all factors remain perfect. But with macroeconomic forces that cause boom and doom cycles every 10 to 15 years due to economic growth and contraction respectively, you would be naïve to think that you are insulated from the American Dream slipping out of your grip.
The current global recession that originated from the US with a drastic drop in purchasing power and hence employers shedding off workforce with ripple effect of people losing their properties to the banks, forcing some to become homeless, is all it takes for this dream to become history.
Interestingly, it appears Uganda has not faced the brunt of this recession like other developed countries because the culture of consuming what we do not own is not yet deeply entrenched in our lifestyles. For example, while loan acquisition from banks by Ugandans to build or buy family homes, vehicles and to start businesses, is on a low-scale, the majority of Ugandans are used to spending hard cash to acquire these properties. So no bank comes after you for non-payment if you lost your job before completing building your house or paying off your car loan. You just put work on the house on hold and resurrect it when you are gainfully re-employed.
With this outlook in mind, I would like Ugandans to look at the positive side of the fence and appreciate what they have. Of course we are still bedevilled by preventable diseases, chronic corruption and nepotism in resource allocation. But the Government should stop giving lip-service to cater to workers’ welfare, but pay a living wage to our teachers, nurses, economists, doctors, engineers, researchers and other skilled workers.
Then, Ugandans would certainly live this dream within Uganda without joining the trek of mass brain drain for greener pastures.
To the doubting Thomases who still believe their economic salvation lies in the US, UK, Japan or South Africa, my word of caution is this: Not all that glitters is gold!
The writer is a medical
information technologist,
San Diego, California, USA
ONE of the cultural shocks that greeted me after I disembarked from my maiden flight to the US at New York City’s J.F. Kennedy International airport, was hoards of shabby people sleeping on street verandas.
The scene, so peculiar to what I was used to in Kampala city, prompted me to ask my cab driver who those people were, and when he said they were homeless, I was as perplexed as I was confused.
My perception of the US to be with streets paved in gold, where hunger and poverty are extinct, and every citizen lives in modern housing with 21st Century gadgets, suddenly fell apart as reality sunk in. This misconstrued perception lingers in the minds of many Ugandans today, thanks to the images portrayed and exported in form of Hollywood movies, glamorous magazines and music superstars and their music videos.
It partly explains why I have had difficulty convincing some of these Ugandans of the reality on the ground here, which is never projected in these media blitz. How, for instance, could I tell them that according to statistics compiled by the National Alliance to End Homelessness in US (NAEH), between 750,000 and one million Americans are homeless in the ‘richest’ nation on earth?
The NAEH study found 50% of this homelessness is caused by drug abuse, mental illness and the remaining half consists of two-parent families and single mothers with children from abusive families.
And how could I make them accept facts of a recent comprehensive study by the Brookings Institute, a non-profit and independent public policy research body in Washington DC, that the number of poor Americans under the United Nations and Federal poverty guidelines grew by 5.2 million to a whopping 40 million between 2000 and 2008?
In real terms, this poverty translates to annual earning of below $21,800 (sh41m) for a family of four. Better yet $1,816 (sh3.4m) a month. It might seem ridiculous as it is like comparing apples and oranges. But when you factor in the costs of living in the US and Uganda, these are American families who would not know where their next meal will come from or have a roof on their heads if not for relying on some Federal and state programmes that provide relief hand-outs.
From a microeconomic perspective, wealth is acquired by saving on wages and investing it; inheritance from parents and relatives; or by winning the lottery. This theory has been proven true, regardless of where in the world you live. However, the notion of the American Dream: Becoming prosperous with your own home, fleet of vehicles, hefty bank accounts, credit cards, yacht and speed boats,…..is a double-edged sword that often times turn these dreams into horrible nightmares. Besides the three categories of wealth acquisition mentioned above, the latent dynamics of living this American Dream hinges on the majority of people consuming what they do not own because the banks own the homes, cars, yacht and credit cards.
Accordingly, those who can afford to continue paying the monthly premiums to the financial institutions enjoy this dream, assuming all factors remain perfect. But with macroeconomic forces that cause boom and doom cycles every 10 to 15 years due to economic growth and contraction respectively, you would be naïve to think that you are insulated from the American Dream slipping out of your grip.
The current global recession that originated from the US with a drastic drop in purchasing power and hence employers shedding off workforce with ripple effect of people losing their properties to the banks, forcing some to become homeless, is all it takes for this dream to become history.
Interestingly, it appears Uganda has not faced the brunt of this recession like other developed countries because the culture of consuming what we do not own is not yet deeply entrenched in our lifestyles. For example, while loan acquisition from banks by Ugandans to build or buy family homes, vehicles and to start businesses, is on a low-scale, the majority of Ugandans are used to spending hard cash to acquire these properties. So no bank comes after you for non-payment if you lost your job before completing building your house or paying off your car loan. You just put work on the house on hold and resurrect it when you are gainfully re-employed.
With this outlook in mind, I would like Ugandans to look at the positive side of the fence and appreciate what they have. Of course we are still bedevilled by preventable diseases, chronic corruption and nepotism in resource allocation. But the Government should stop giving lip-service to cater to workers’ welfare, but pay a living wage to our teachers, nurses, economists, doctors, engineers, researchers and other skilled workers.
Then, Ugandans would certainly live this dream within Uganda without joining the trek of mass brain drain for greener pastures.
To the doubting Thomases who still believe their economic salvation lies in the US, UK, Japan or South Africa, my word of caution is this: Not all that glitters is gold!
The writer is a medical
information technologist,
San Diego, California, USA