What Happens To (American) Dreams Deferred?

"When the majority of freedom’s luxuries are economically out of reach, we are not free."

The best poem ever written, in my humble opinion, is Harlem by Langston Hughes:

My public education was from 1996-2009; we had computers and cell phones, absolutely, but not instant access to anything, anytime. Social media wasn’t big yet. Without the wide availability of conflicting opinions, and in the era of massive patriotism after 9/11, the U.S. public education system was free to teach us the version of America that suited the country. They told us we were free to dream, and that we lived in the greatest country in the world.

Yet as an adult, my experience of America has been, if I had to sum it up, a series of dreams deferred; studying abroad, doing an unpaid internship, getting a doctorate degree, working in academia, buying a house, having some kids, travelling. It turns out that the American Dream was just an ad all along, and as the years went by and my 20s turned into my 30s, it started to become clear; none of that stuff was going to happen for me.

I don’t have long-term goals anymore. Not for myself. Making big plans feels rather… delusional.

Langston Hughes wrote Harlem in reference to the lived experience of black Americans. I wonder whether he would find it funny, or frightening, that a thirty-something white woman with blue eyes relates so deeply to his words. Would he be shocked to find such a large percentage of Americans (white, black, brown and otherwise) deferring their dreams so rich people can live phenomenal existences, or would he shrug and say “we tried to warn you all that white supremacy would end up affecting you too…”?

The second Trump administration takes office on Monday with a record number of billionaires serving in his cabinet. The three wealthiest men in the world, who nobody elected, will be sitting in the front row. As of Q1 2024, the wealthiest 10% of Americans hold 67% of all U.S. wealth, and we’re about to cut their taxes… again. History’s most pro-business candidate just got elected largely by blatantly lying to the public’s face.

Freedumb and Lieberty, y’all.

There’s no doubt in my mind that we’re going to witness unprecedented corruption and chaos these next four years, but if you’re reading this, I hope you’ll join me in considering what happens when American dreams are deferred en masse… My story is not unique; millions of us have given up on owning a home, saving for retirement, having babies, and this thought keeps popping up in my mind…

When the majority of freedom’s luxuries are economically out of reach, we are not free.

Here’s a hard reality: The richest 0.001% of Americans are royalty now. The minimum amount of wealth you would need to join their ranks is something like a half billion dollars. It’s about 3,300 people, and they hold about 3.45% of all the U.S. wealth; for comparison, the Bottom 50% (~165,000,000 people) holds 2.4%. If you’re not American royalty, you’re an American peasant. Congratulations.

I’m not gonna lie, the odds are stacked against us; from big media’s corporate interests, to social media algorithms that decide whose words are amplified, to the billionaires in charge of our government, to the level of misinformation and disinformation produced daily… fears of the fall of democracy are far from unfounded.

I created The Brie-fing because I strongly believe that the peasants of America need to get a WHOLE lot louder. We’re already seeing big business, news publications, and heads of industry suck up to this administration. We’re seeing Republican members of Congress literally just roll over and obey, because to disobey means one of the billionaires funding their opponent in the next election. We’re seeing absolutely shameless wheeling and dealing by the Royals, with no consideration whatsoever for the peasants.

We may not be able to do much, but we CAN talk shit. And we should. We should be louder than the pundits. We should be quiet-quitting America. We should be boycotting Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, X, Tesla, and the WWE. We should all have our elected representatives on speed dial and be angrier and more obnoxious than ever before. We should start coming up with methods of Trollivism (a word I made up), which is activism through trolling: buying rally tickets and not going, cart abandonment on Amazon, mass reporting of 501(c)3 organizations like TikTok did to the Heritage Foundation last year… none of this will improve our lives, but it will make us feel better.

Most importantly, it will give the power of the story back to US, the American people. This country has a poor track record with rewriting history to suit itself, but the peasants of this modern age have one big advantage over the generations who came before; the internet. We have access to information like no generation who came before. We have the ability to talk to peasants from other countries and see that they're having the exact same Rich vs. Poor conversation. We can plan, and coordinate, and dream of a world that never existed before this.

It’s gonna get a whole lot worse for a while. The question is, will it get so much worse that democracy falls, or will it get worse before it gets better?

Every fiber in my body is telling me that the answer will depend on US peasants. We better make DAMN sure the Royals don’t get to rewrite this period of history.

One thing’s for sure… we’re about to find out if a dream deferred sags like a heavy load, or if it explodes.

I know what outcome I’m hoping for.