At one point in time, it was fairly easy to define the American Dream. It almost always started and ended with owning a home. A house of your own would provide stability, a source of future income due to the equity accrued over time and a sense of community with your neighbors. All of this is still true; however, the dream of home ownership has become drastically more difficult for the younger generation.
I recently read a study that revealed a majority of adults between the ages of 18-29 prefer socialism over capitalism. Although this would’ve been unheard of twenty years ago, it can come as no surprise given the shifting landscape of wealth and affordability in America. Student loan debt, the rising price of everyday goods and a housing shortage have created a bleak outlook for those entering adulthood.
Bleak though it may be, all is not lost.
I’d argue the American Dream isn’t tied to homeownership but freedom of choice. The freedom to decide the career you want to pursue, where you want to live and how you want to raise your family (if you even want a family) would all be higher on the list than simply buying a home.
Let me clear, I’m a homeowner. As of today, I have equity in my house, but that wasn’t always the case. The first 3 properties I either owned or shared ownership of yielded zero profit. In fact, I lost over $30K on the house I sold prior to the home I currently live in. The decision to purchase a fourth time with no guarantee of what the future may hold was a choice my wife and I made together. We had the freedom to decide and we did what we thought was best for us and our family.
Freedom provides no instruction manual. One day we’re living with our parents with little to no responsibility, the next day we’re on our own, looking for a place to call home and attempting to pay the never-ending pile of bills that hit our mailbox. The reality of our newfound freedom is both exhilarating and challenging, creating long term financial impacts that may not be felt until we hit our late twenties or early thirties.
Given the affordability crisis we face today, what’s to be done? Should we shift our eyes longingly toward socialism, allowing the government to assume an even larger role in our daily lives? As Lee Corso of College Gameday fame would say, “not so fast my friends.”
Freedom of choice provides us with the ability to both succeed and fail. Without our freedoms, the American Dream as we know it would wither on the vine. In its place would grow a constrictive behemoth that would begin to control every aspect of our lives. Never mind owning a home, the idea of owning anything would become alien to future generations. The issues we face today, though daunting, would pale in comparison to an America without the freedom to choose our own path.
Owning a home can and perhaps still should be something to aspire to, but it shouldn’t be the only thing. I’d gladly lose my home in order to rent where I choose versus having a government entity decide where I should live. Our freedom to choose continues to be the one and only aspect of the American Dream that truly matters. Without it, we become another empire lost to history. A failed experiment with the best of intentions that was felled by its own greed and capitalist aspirations.
Just remember your freedom to choose as the holidays roll around and you reach for that second helping of stuffing.
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