About two months ago I was sent a book to review called ‘Scratch Beginnings’ by Adam Shepherd. It wasn’t the kind of book I’m used to receiving because it wasn’t really about coaching or self-development. Actually on reflection maybe it was about self-development, but not in the traditional sense.
I took the book with me on my last trip back to the UK and thoroughly enjoyed the read finishing it in two days, something almost unheard of for me
I’m not going to offer a review of the book because I’ve gone one better with today’s post kindly supplied by Adam Shepherd the author of ‘Scratch Beginnings’.
I’d love to get your take in the comments on whether you think the ‘American Dream’ is alive and well or whether the reality is it’s in desperate need of smelling salts, 20,000 volts and a stiff drink to bring it back to life.
Read on….
Millions have experienced homelessness this year and millions more will face it next year. Millions more fight to get by on meager paychecks amid a falling dollar and rising expenses. Immigrants take a fat chunk of the domestic jobs, while other jobs are exported to China and India and Russia. Higher education costs are up, while the value of that hard-earned piece of paper is down.
It caused me to wonder about the actual attainability of the American Dream, about the overall possibility of busting out of the cycle of poverty.
I was working for this lady during one of my summers off from college, odd jobs around her house—raking leaves, pruning bushes, staining the deck. It was the summer of ’03, and I was working hard, sweating my teats off. One day, after I had completed the day’s duties, she handed me a copy of “Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich.
I read it cover to cover that evening. Disgusted by Ehrenreich’s victimized tone, I spent the next few days considering a plan of my own to discover if her proposed death of the American Dream was, in fact, true.
So, in the summer of ‘06 I set out to do just that.
My premise was pretty simple, actually. I would begin my journey in an unknown city randomly chosen out of a hat. I would launch my journey in that city with just $25 and the clothes on my back. In one year—having been restricted from using my credit history, education, or any contacts—my goal was to have $2500, an operable automobile, a furnished apartment, and, most importantly, a little wiggle room to go after more worthy pursuits: community college or my own small business, for example.
Essentially, I was going to be discovering the vitality of the American Dream.
But things didn’t go as planned from the beginning. Late on the Tuesday evening of the onset of my journey in a city that—unknown to me at the time—was #7 on the list of America’s most dangerous cities, I was confronted by enough seedy strangers to determine that surviving on the streets was simply not an option. I needed a roof over my head.
So, I made my way to a homeless shelter where I stayed for 70 days working a variety of day labor jobs before a fellow resident at the shelter showed me how to get a better paying job. I worked hard and saved my money, truly pulling myself up by my bootstraps. In the end, I hit my fair share of road blocks before eventually proving triumphant.
After all was said and done—project lived, book written—I took some time to reflect on what I had done. Two things came to mind immediately.
First, things didn’t go as planned. I crushed my toe on a move, developed an ulcer, and got into a pretty serious physical altercation—and that was all during the second half of my journey after I had already “made it.”
The most important aspect of my journey, though, was that my story wasn’t by any means unique. Having confronted a wide variety of attitudes in the lower class, I met Derrick and Omar and Phil Coleman, guys that I knew were going to make it just as I met people that were sure to be grinding it out for the rest of their days.
Let’s be honest, though. I’m a young, healthy, white dude. I didn’t prove anything. Of course I can make it, right? (Although, since publishing Scratch Beginnings, I’m beginning to meet a lot of young, healthy, white dudes that are struggling just as much as the next person.) But that’s not the point.
I never set out to “prove” anything. I didn’t have to. Plenty of people from every demographic (Hispanics that don’t speak English, anyone?) are doing that every day. I just wanted to discover, for myself, the difference between someone who makes it and someone who doesn’t.
Successful people might have a number of things in common—a college education, a successful marriage, an established career—but the one thing they all have in common is this: they know what they want and they are willing to do whatever it takes to get there.
On the flipside, people that may be struggling to taste that same bit of success just simply aren’t comfortable stepping out of their comfort zone, to take a risk, to discipline their vision into reality.
The definition of the American Dream is so fluid. Ask any two people on the street and you’re going to get two different answers. To me, the American Dream encompasses the freedom to wake up in the morning—regardless of your personal circumstance—and make the decisions necessary to change your life. Good decisions reap positive results. Bad decisions, well, don’t.
The American Dream lives. It thrives, actually. But don’t ask me. Ask the millions of people that are living it.
More information on Adam Shepard’s story, “Scratch Beginnings,” can be found here.
Let us know your take on the ‘American Dream’ in the comments.
LINK LOVE: I have been attempting to negotiate the release of Dean Hunt today. He had been kidnapped by a vicious killer bunny rabbit and it was down to me to save his life. All will be revealed by clicking here.
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“the American Dream encompasses the freedom to wake up in the morning—regardless of your personal circumstance—and make the decisions necessary to change your life.” Exactly. Of course it’s alive. It may be harder than ever, but the opportunity exists, and the American dream is all about opportunity.
Vered – MomGrinds last blog post..Breaking: Cosmo Magazine To Change Its Name
This is certainly an interesting experiment. There are personal factors which if can be discovered and encouraged can be helpful for eliminating poverty.
But yes, a white, healthy, single, educated male with no history of abuse or psychological trauma is starting with an ENORMOUS advantage. Also, leaving behind one’s stuff, education, credit history, and contacts is very different than starting with a traumatic education, negative credit/huge debt, contacts you WISH you could get rid of, etc.
Certainly some minority immigrants make a better life for themselves here in the states, although many do not.
There is certainly more opportunity in the United States for starting a business, but there is far less social insurance (both from the state and the culture) than many countries in Europe.
The conventional American Dream of “start off a poor immigrant and become a 1st-generation millionaire by pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” is a multi-level marketing scheme. Only a rare few can achieve this goal, not because of their positive attitude and relentless efforts, but because of how the game is structured–money filters upwards to an elite few, and that number is shrinking.
A revised American Dream of “providing for the needs of all and taking care of the planet while curbing excessive wealth and providing opportunities for innovation and self-expression” is alive and well, especially with president-elect Obama. His whole campaign is based on this new dream.
Well, I really was homeless and unemployed a couple years ago and it wasn’t an experiment.
I have to say that the talk about recession/depression/end of the world doesn’t frazzle me as much as I think it does others. I think that is because I am not so attached to what I do or do not have. I know that even if I have nothing, that doesn’t mean I am nothing.
Neds last blog post..Zen Lesson Zero: No Objective
You are right that living the “american dream” will have different meanings for different people. However you hit the nail on the head with your introspective definition of the american dream that “the American Dream encompasses the freedom to wake up in the morning—regardless of your personal circumstance—and make the decisions necessary to change your life. Although maybe more challenging for some than for others and much harder to achieve but the opportunity to make decisions is there for all of us in North America.
I agree that the American dream is about possibility and the freedom to make choices. Most people who say “The American dream is dead” will never achieve their goals because they’re looking to blame a failed idea instead of pushing themselves in new and perhaps uncomfortable ways.
Also, I think Duff hit the nail on the head with the MLM analogy/new American dream idea, so I’ll just say ditto Duff!
Loris last blog post..BeMeaningful: @penguinasana He is amazing, huh? His energy was bigger than everyone in the room. Did you attend thenYoga Journal conference this year?
I admire you for your guts in making the journey. I’m not sure if I would have done the same, with the aim of discovering “the difference between someone who makes it and someone who doesn’t”.
Most certainly, I like your version of what “American Dream” means. Highly inspiring!! Can we make it global?
Evelyn Lims last blog post..HAVE-DO-BE or BE-DO-HAVE?
I don’t know about the American Dream but “sweating [your] teats off” made me giggle like a schoolgirl!
Albert | UrbanMonk.Nets last blog post..How To Build Confidence By Just Paying Attention
Great post. Beautifully written.
“On the flipside, people that may be struggling to taste that same bit of success just simply aren’t comfortable stepping out of their comfort zone, to take a risk, to discipline their vision into reality.”
These are inspiring words, Adam.
Bamboo Forest – PunIntendeds last blog post..Clowns are Downright Creepy
As a non-American, I’ve always found the American Dream a kind of strange idea. It says that anyone can make it big and yet the US has one of the largest rich-poor gaps in the developed world. (#3 after Mexico and Turkey – http://www.philly.com/dailynews/national/20081022_Rich_poor_gap_widens_in_U_S_.html)
Everyone *can* but few do. How is that viable dream?
Alex Fayle | Someday Syndromes last blog post..Goals and patience: Michael Martine interview
Um well, ‘this doesn’t prove anything’ but then it somehow proves the American Dream is alive and well. Hmmm
The American Dream (in it’s current form) is killing the planet (and the consequences will happen within this 25yr olds life time).
Social mobility in the US is no higher than in some other countries.
My biggest problem with it is that it lets the rich assume that their wealth proves their virtue: that it is all their own doing. I doubt it somehow. In whose experience are the weatlthy more moral than the poor.
The intellectual problem: If I can do it anybody can (may be true but I doubt it) becomes if I can do it everybody can (patently untrue – the rich don’t want to pay their immigrant cleaners the same as they get; they aren’t working to make everybody rich, quite the opposite).
Firstly a huge thanks to Adam for writing the post. It has certainly stirred up some interesting and thoughtful comments yet again.
I don’t know Adam and I haven’t used affiliate code when linking through to Amazon, so I don’t stand to make anything from anybody buying his book. I hope you’ll do so and get the full story.
@ Vered – Agreed it’s tougher these days. The opportunities that lay in front of the early innovators are less so now. Having said that, how many people have got very wealthy on the back of the Internet?
@ Duff – Great points man and thanks for widening the debate. Let me tell you without going into gory detail. Medical bills could have led to us having to return to the UK. The fact that more people in this country go bankrupt because of medical bills is the single biggest black mark on this nation. I hope the new guy coming in today can do something about that!
@ Ned – An experience like that is going to expand that comfort zone in a hurry. Not that I’d want to go through being homeless, but it’s nice to push back the boundaries.
@ Sharon – Does that not apply to 80%+ of the worlds population?
@ Lori – Maybe it should just be ‘The Dream’ because I’m not sure it’s confined to the US. I agree with your concept though. At the end of the day it’s all about personal attitude.
@ Evelyn – It’s funny with us talking about courage last week. What Adam did demonstrated courage in my opinion. Quite frankly when I was reading his book I was thinking that I’d have gone home after the first night! It was fairly harrowing stuff for somebody that whines when the pool pump won’t switch off!
@ Albert – :-)
@ GF – If you like his post, you’ll love the book.
@ Alex – That is something that troubles me too. For every one person that ‘makes it’ there are probably 10,000 that don’t. Surely the law of averages would suggest that even in the most impoverished countries, a few people will drag themselves out of poverty.
@ Evan – Brutally honest as usual ;-) To be fair, I do understand what you mean and there are some issues that I have with the ‘American Dream’. But to say that the ‘death’ of the planet is purely down to that concept may be a bit too much for me at least. Without going too far down that particular road I think blame can be laid at the door of many other nations and it’s too easy to simply say they followed the American route.
Great story. Valid conclusion.
Anja Merrets last blog post..Elizabethan theatre and modern Chinese art – great day out in London
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment everybody! And thanks to Tim for allowing me to guestpost. Since coming forward with this story/book, I’ve been wide open to all kinds of very fair criticism. I’m just happy that it gets people thinking about and discussing the present state of the American Dream.
Couple of comments:
@Vered-MomGrind: Precisely.
@Duff: I don’t think the American Dream was ever to start off a 1st generation poor imigrant and become a millionaire. Start off a 1st generation poor immigrant and provide a better life/opportunity for your children. That’s the American Dream I’m talking about.
And I’m excited about Obama, but his system is only going to work if we are working hard to better our situations. He can give us each all kinds of money and resources, but if we aren’t sacrificing to help ourselves, it’s all going for naught. Are we ready for that?
@Ned: :) You get it. Why don’t others?
@Sharon: Good point. People ask me, “What if you would have started in another city in America?” And I say,”Hell, what if I would have started in another city in the world?” Would I have had such profound results if I would have started in Africa or Europe or Asia or South America. My goodness…this is America! Even in the wake of such a tough economy, we still have it really, really GOOD.
@Lori: Exactly.
@Evelyn and Bamboo Forest: Thanks! Of course we can make it global.
@Alex: But WHY is there a gap? Is it because of the economics or because of our own individual attitudes? Is it because there are parameters working against us or is it because we are too busy spending money on luxury cars we can’t afford and houses beyond our means and iPods and Coach bags and “stuff” when we could be investing for our future? Personal debt in America is astounding. Whose fault is that? Is our failure at the American Dream somebody else’s fault or it our own greedy fault?
Read “The Millionaire Next Door.” Last couple of years excluded, there are more NEW millionairres (adjusted for inflation) than ever before in our history. Why? Because some people (way more than we think) are making smart decisions instead of searching for a winning lottery ticket or somebody to sue (which is, by the way, the NEW American Dream). Hard work, smart decisions: it’s not the easy way, and that’s why we have a gap between rich and poor. Fewer people are willing to make necessary steps toward prosperity.
@Evan: I imagine your stepping away into other issues (environmental, maybe?) and that’s not my gripe. Fact is that we do have greater upward social mobility in the U.S. than in any other country. Do we appreciate that? Even many students that are graduating with college degrees aren’t willing to pay their dues and work their way up. Gotta have it NOW. That’s the new American Way, and we need to change gears away from that attitude.
Hi Tim,
I didn’t say the American Dream was the only thing killing the planet. I said that it was. As is Australia (where I’m from) and many other places as well.
Hi Adam,
No the issues are directly related. “The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment”. Give me the source of your facts on social mobility. It may look to you (young, white, educated) that there is great social mobility but it may not look that way to others.
I do think the attitude of ‘gotta have it now’ is a problem – for all sorts of reasons: physical and ecological and many others.
I’m not so sure about this American Dream business. My dream is to own a car and a house and not have to rely on anyone other than myself. Apparently that is a pretty hard bargain these days.
Melissas last blog post..Fifty Comments
I think the whole American dream thing is a croc. At least the way it’s described so often. Main things that bug me about it:
1. The belief by some that it’s a uniquely American thing.
2. The belief by some that there is some kind of hard and fast choice between wealth and social safety net.
3. The belief by some that “freedom” means free to be rich (and that taxation should be based upon that).
4. The belief by some that America has it right, when it comes to our structure which privileges the privileged to a degree unseen in any other Western nation.
. . .
IMO, Scandinavia balances the social safety net with freedom to achieve personal goals the best. I’d say the rest of Europe is close. We fall waaay down the list and weight personal, selfish, self-centered goals in excess.
I also think we give short shrift to cultural attainments, knowledge, science, the arts, etc. I wish the American dream meant the degree of knowledge we gain about the world, ourselves and each other, rather than personal riches. I wish overall “enlightenment” was the dream of this nation.
“To me, the American Dream encompasses the freedom to wake up in the morning—regardless of your personal circumstance—and make the decisions necessary to change your life. ”
I think that is it. The American dream is the choice to have the life you want. Like in your “smarter goals” video they have to be in line with your reality (I will never be a great hockey player. I don’t skate that well) but you can make so many choices to have the kind of life you want that the only thing that really is stopping someone is themselves. Many people just cannot take risks. Being able to take risks is the difference IMHO between someone who is taking on the American dream and a by stander.
@ Melissa – Hard maybe, but very doable for you, of that I have no doubt. Aim high!
@ Doug – I had a sneaking suspicion that would be your take. I kinda agree with what you say, but I also think Adam’s take and especially his belief in the individual has some validity. Maybe we’re just old and cynical ;-) Having said that I do think a lot of Americans are very ignorant of other countries and what they have to offer.
@ Laurie – That was Adam’s take, not mine. I’m unsure of what the American Dream is or ever was for that matter. I love his book, but I don’t know if I came away thinking “Ok now I realize, this is how it is, or that is how it is.”
Tim,
To elaborate a bit. I definitely believe in individual responsibility, initiative, and working hard, etc. I also believe that hard work, personal responsibility and the like are not in opposition with effective government that provides for the common good. I read too many “conservatives” who seem to believe they *are* in opposition. That any attempt to help folks start from the same part of the football field means “dependence on gubmint”. It doesn’t mean that in any way, shape or form, as far as I’m concerned . . .
To mix a couple of metaphors. Life is a football field and a race. Some people start pretty close to the goal line already. They’re born with a “first and goal” situation. Other kids start all the way on the other part of the field and have a whole lot longer road to hoe. I think it’s the government’s job to help even the playing field as much as possible. Get children to roughly the same part of the playing field, equip them with the best tools possible to help them do their best, and them let them play.
I don’t mean penalize kids that start at “first and goal”. But government resources should be targeted to help kids shorten the field so they can compete with the first and goal kids. No government funds should go to help those kids with a short field increase their lead.
We should fund this with extra taxation on the rich. They should fund the shortening of the field for the less fortunate. They can afford it, by definition.
Beyond all of that, once the kids are all equipped with the best of the best, it’s still ultimately up to them, as far as creating, mapping and achieving their goals. That would be my American dream.
Along with a New Atlantis for the arts, philosophy, science, and overall enlightenment, etc. :>)
Dougs last blog post..Happy Birthday, Edgar Allen!
I think the American Dream is alive in everyday and moment all across Amercia. Just some are more focused on their dreams and taking actions that get them there. ALot has to allign to get significant wealth along the journey. I witness this and I am part of it as well. During this time it is economically more difficult then in the past generation and health care can obliterate wealth I have witnessed that as well. It is still possible to have the American Dream.
@Adam, I really admire your gumption in doing this experiment and am eager to read your book and hear the whole story.
I think that my interpretation of the American dream is very close to this:
“To me, the American Dream encompasses the freedom to wake up in the morning—regardless of your personal circumstance—and make the decisions necessary to change your life. Good decisions reap positive results. Bad decisions, well, don’t.”
But tempered with the knowledge that for some people the road to realizing that one does have choices and one really does make decisions is a harder one than for others.