American Dream Was Stolen Long Before Trump

The rise of neoliberalism in the 1970s put the US's share-the-wealth ethic under a cloud. Indians' view of what America promises has changed drastically since then

- SUGATA SRINIVASARAJU

VER since President Donald Trump began unsettling the United States, commentaries in formal and informal exchanges have often sighed that the very idea of America has come under attack. The desperate sigh, that could cover miles and stretch across continents, makes a distinction to communicate the decline of the 'free world' and our times.

The standard progression of the narrative indicates it is one thing to target immigrants, foreign students, trade, environmental agreements, the military and monetary pacts. But to maul and dismantle the long-held perception of the US, which is willy-nilly linked to a certain rational construct, liberal ethos and cosmopolitan embrace, is a tectonic shift. If a nation ever had a fantastic marketing line in history, the US had it in the sublime phrase—'The American dream'. The suggestions emerging now are that the dream seems to be over; it has turned into a nightmare.

Although 'American dream' sounds almost like a truism, it has meant many things to many people both inside and outside the US. It's like a phrase with a universal semantic connotation, but the dream itself has been nuanced across generations. America allowed immigrants to chase diverse freedoms, liberty, the good life and democracy; while encompassing a Protestant ethic, an emphasis on individuality and individual success, and a certain meritocracy. It has also accommodated an unabashed worship of profit. People have picked what they wanted, depending on where they stood on the arc of their personal progress.