The American Dream Is Only Affordable Overseas

How Ironic [The Daily Reckoning] December 23, 2023 [WEBSITE]( | [UNSUBSCRIBE]( The American Dream Is Only Affordable Overseas San Francisco, California Editor’s note: Generations have grown up believing in the American Dream. But today, Charles Hugh Smith shows you why he believes, these days, the American Dream is only affordable overseas. How ironic, says Charles. [Charles Hugh Smith] CHARLES HUGH SMITH Dear Reader, There is an inescapable irony in The American Dream no longer being affordable in America for the majority of Americans. Definitions vary, of course, but The American Dream typically includes being able to obtain higher education, a home, a family, a family enterprise and some measure of ownership of assets that provide financial security, on wages/salaries that are within reach of the bottom 80% of workers. Put another way: if The American Dream is only affordable to those earning $250,000 a year and up or those who inherit family wealth, it isn't The American Dream. The American Dream is defined as starting with nothing but ambition and a willingness to work hard and save money and acquire all of the good things listed above without borrowing a small fortune for each one. It seems taboo to say this, but The American Dream implicitly includes a goal of no debt: no student loan debt, no home mortgage, no medical debt, no debt at all: assets are owned free and clear, and college is paid out of earnings or student loans are paid off in the first few years of full-time work. Anything less isn't The American Dream, it's a debt-dependent facsimile, a travesty of a mockery of a sham of The American Dream. The Minuses of Overseas Living The other irony is The American Dream is still affordable overseas in what is generally referred to as developing economies or the Global South, where as a general rule, dollars go a lot farther than they do in the U.S. This isn't necessarily an all-or-nothing option; many people maintain a place in the U.S. and work/live overseas for periods of time and then return home. Others are digital nomads who move from nation to nation, continuing to work remotely. Let's start with the barriers and challenges. While the vast expansion of global travel has fostered cosmopolitan zones in most large cities where English is in common use, smaller cities and rural areas are not so easy to navigate without some local language. Yes, digital smartphone tools offer instant translation, but this only goes so far in terms of learning different cultures, adapting to a new set of expectations, etc. Moving overseas with children and elderly parents offer obvious additional challenges: finding schools, senior care, etc. It can strain relationships, as one partner may love it all and the other longs to return home. [Urgent Income Demo]( Jim Rickards calls him The Banker. He’s a financial anomaly. He doesn’t target 1,000%... 3,000%... or 5,000% gains. Instead, this former hedge fund manager is all about steady – and fast – income. And he’s among the absolute best in the world at that… [Click Here To Learn His Strategy]( As the global order changes, social and political instability is on the rise. Things can get dicey very quickly, and those without local family connections may find their exposure to all sorts of unexpected risks has increased geometrically. Learning how a new culture works is not easy, especially for those who mistake the Americanized cosmopolitan zones as representative of the entire culture. Buying a house in rural Japan for the often-referenced low price ($100, etc.) entails far more than plopping down a Benjamin and moving your stuff in. The odds of the elderly locals speaking English is low, and there is more to restoring the house than newcomers might imagine. The Pluses of Overseas Living On the advantage side of the ledger, there are career opportunities, affordable rent and healthcare and adventure. I have 20-something friends who say they can't afford healthcare in the U.S. so they’re forced to live somewhere where it is affordable, for example, Thailand. For those with globally in-demand skills, the barriers to international work are lower now than they were in generations past. But all this leads to a serious question: Why has America become a country where so many feel they must go overseas in order to pursue The American Dream? And what about the disillusioned multitudes who can’t go overseas because they don’t have the skill sets? Are they potential revolutionaries in a new revolution? In the past, I reckoned the odds of America experiencing a revolution akin to France 1789 were low due to the different political, economic and cultural conditions present then and now, but recently I've considered the possibility that America's extremes of wealth, income and power inequality are a powder keg awaiting ignition. By French-Style Revolution I don't mean a violent overthrow of the ruling elite as much as a tumultuous reset of how resources and power are distributed. Systems become vulnerable to such resets when they become highly asymmetrical in how they distribute resources and power, and rigid in their defense of the extreme inequality of the distribution. The Undermining of Democratic Stability The fundamental source of democracy's stability is the dynamic competition of various interests and the dynamic equilibrium of the three branches of the state, each balancing the others by restraining the dominance of any one branch or interest. But extremes of inequality undermine this stability, as the wealthiest elites now bring such a preponderance of wealth to bear that each of the three branches of the state are now beholden to the interests of the few, leaving little recourse to the many. When the agenda and narratives have been shaped by the wealthiest elites' foundations, think tanks, corporate PR and lobbyists, then electing different representatives has little effect on the power structure. The masses can still influence cultural/social policies by voting in a liberal or conservative state, but the distribution of wealth, power and resources remains unchanged. As wealth and power are concentrated into ever fewer hands, the mythology of broad-based access to prosperity has vastly expanded the pool of second-tier elites who feel entitled (via implicit promises made by the system) to their fair share of income, wealth and power — financial security and political agency, i.e. a say in public decisions. [Biden’s 2024 Presidential Run Doomed To Fail – Thanks To New Inflation Surge?]( [Click here for more...]( Biden has given America its worst inflation crisis in over 43 years. But if you think the worst of inflation is over, think again… A deadly new “Second Wave” of inflation is coming – one which could send the price of food, gasoline, housing and more skyrocketing much higher than they are today. Will this new crisis mean Biden’s 2024 Presidential run is doomed to fail? [Click Here To See My Urgent Warning]( These second-tier elites are primarily university graduates and the offspring of upper-middle class households who have been led to expect a secure slot in the upper reaches of the economy or state is a birthright gained by their education and class. That there are no longer enough slots for this class means those left out constitute the raw material of a potently dissatisfied and potentially angry political class. Historian Peter Turchin presents this as the result of the overproduction of elites, a dynamic he has traced back to previous eras of tumultuous upheaval. Hubris Another common factor driving the masses to revolt is when the essentials of life are no longer affordable or available in sufficient quantity. Historian David Hackett Fischer has documented the perilous impact of inflation, i.e. the collapse of the purchasing power of wages. Yet another potentially explosive factor is the supreme confidence of the wealthiest elites that the system they rule could ever turn against them or crumble beneath their feet — in a word, a hubris as extreme as their wealth and power. The resignation of the masses and the ease of distracting them with ginned-up controversies and crises and consumerist novelties has fed elite confidence that their supremacy is unassailable. This hubris leads to the elite becoming tone-deaf to their own excesses and the instability their excesses are generating within the system, an instability that's currently hidden beneath the resignation and distraction of the masses and the mute frustration of the second-tier elites facing lifetimes of insecurity. Earlier Promises Can’t Be Kept Another factor is the promises made by the state generations ago can no longer be met without creating new money on a scale that guarantees destabilizing inflation. This new money is issued as Treasury bonds which are purchased for income by the wealthy, further exacerbating wealth and income inequality. The power elite are incapable of demanding sacrifices of the wealthy as the prime directive of the status quo is to defend the current asymmetry of wealth and power. This undermines the collective consensus needed to take the collective action needed to reset the system. Combine all these factors and the result is a potentially volatile mixture awaiting a catalyst. The confidence of the status quo that it is essentially omnipotent (the Federal Reserve will always save us, etc.) and eternal is itself a factor in the mix. The key factor is the rigidity or flexibility of the power structure. If the structure is incapable of resetting to a more flexible, symmetric distribution of power as resources, it will come apart as pressures mount. Regards, Charles Hugh Smith for The Daily Reckoning [feedback@dailyreckoning.com.](mailto:feedback@dailyreckoning.com) Editor’s note: Jim Rickards is one of the most connected men on the planet. He’s worked inside the intelligence community… briefed Congress on financial disasters… and even helped the CIA build a top secret A.I. program. So when he issues an [urgent new briefing…]( you might want to pay attention. And Jim just issued an urgent new briefing. It’s about [a strange and powerful new A.I. project he’s been briefed on…]( A project he says could have a big impact on your life in the very near future. He even agreed to go on camera to explain what’s going on — and what you need to do about it. [Go here now and check it out.]( Thank you for reading The Daily Reckoning! We greatly value your questions and comments. Please send all feedback to [feedback@dailyreckoning.com.](mailto:feedback@dailyreckoning.com) [Charles Hugh Smith] [Charles Hugh Smith]( is an American writer and blogger, and serves as the chief writer for the blog "Of Two Minds". Started in 2005, this site has been listed No. 7 in CNBC's top alternative financial sites, and his commentary is featured on a number of sites including Zerohedge.com, The American Conservative, and Peak Prosperity. [Paradigm]( ☰ ⊗ [ARCHIVE]( [ABOUT]( [Contact Us]( © 2023 Paradigm Press, LLC. 1001 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. By submitting your email address, you consent to Paradigm Press, LLC. delivering daily email issues and advertisements. To end your The Daily Reckoning e-mail subscription and associated external offers sent from The Daily Reckoning, feel free to [click here.]( Please note: the mailbox associated with this email address is not monitored, so do not reply to this message. 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