The End of the American dream
00:42
The USA has always been known as the land of plenty, a place of wealth and opportunity.
Yet for Americans things have hit rock bottom, with the situation looking almost as bad as it did in the 1930s depression era.
The American middle class would be considered well off by European standards. Their yearly income is between 40,000 and 120,000 dollars. And yet they are struggling more than anyone else in the US to meet their daily living expenses.
01:22 Soundbite Heidi Shierholz, Economic Policy Institute (Soundbite English)
01:37 Soundbite Thom Hartmann, Author and Journalist (Soundbite English)
01:55 Soundbite Jonas Cox, Employees (Soundbite English)
02:00 Soundbite Amy Knisely, Childminder (Soundbite English)
02:10 Soundbite George Schenk, Entrepreneur (Soundbite English)
02:18 Soundbite Jerry Abreu, small entrepreneur (Soundbite English)
02:27
With over 1 Million inhabitants, Boston is one of the largest cities in the United States. But the middle class are being forced out. Property prices here are far too high for the average American family.
02:49
This is the home of the Cox family. Husband Jonas works for a software company, his wife is in publishing.
After the birth of their first child, Jonas’ wife stayed at home for a year. Without a second income the family nearly went though all their savings. A few months later Jonas lost his job. Although he was only unemployed for 4 months, the family’s saving are gone and they are now deeply in debt.
03:18 Soundbite Jonas Cox, employee
03:30 Like the Cox family, three quarters of all Americans are so out of pocket that their monthly income is not enough to maintain their debts, let alone feeding their family and putting a roof over their heads.
03:44 Soundbite Jonas (Soundbite English)
04:11 Soundbite Heidi Shierholz, Economic Policy Institute (Soundbite English)
04:44
Travelling north from Boston is a bleak journey through the old industrial towns of New England. Their heyday has long since past. Textile manufacturing was outsourced many years ago to third world countries offering cheaper labour.
05:10
Vermont, near the Canadian border, has always been a popular tourist spot. Its many ski resorts and stable weather conditions have made it famous for its winter sports.
05:36
Yet on a day like today, a clear day with plenty of snow, the slopes are almost empty.
05:53
Within the villages of Vermont you can still find the old American spirit. Neighbours trust each other, front doors always stay unlocked.
Here you find people that still treasure the original pioneering ideals. Hard working yet wayward free thinkers. People that want to live in harmony with nature and are conscious of their environment.
06:15 6 Years ago, George Schenk and his wife went into the forest and cut down some trees from which they built this log cabin and made it their home.
06:30 Even for frugal people like the Schenks, times have been better.
06:39 George Schenk Founder of ‘American Flatbread’ (Soundbite English)
06:49 The Shenks’s have been producing ‘American Flatbread’ for over 30 years.
07:01
The couple own a restaurant. They have franchises in other American towns and also own a range of frozen food.
07:10
They also deliver their flatbread to schools and prisons.
They were doing well and were hoping to retire soon. But along came the credit crunch and crunched their retirement plans with it.
07:21 Soundbite George Schenk Entrepreneur (Soundbite English)
07:41 The couple had to use their pension funds in order to send their children to university. It is a tough decision to make between the children’s education and retirement funds, yet it is one that many average Americans families simply have to make these days.
07:58 But George doesn’t want to complain and the last thing he wants is pity. He maintains that even when times are tough you still have to focus on the positive effects.
08:09 Soundbite George Schenk (Soundbite English)
08:40 Soundbite Thom Hartmann, Author and Journalist (Soundbite English)
09:22 A lot has changed since the 1960s when the wife stayed at home to bring up the children whilst her husband went out to work. Today, both husband and wife have to bring in an income and even that is sometimes not enough to make ends meet.
The idea that people spend much more now than before is a myth. The costs of living, education and healthcare have risen exorbitantly, yet wages haven’t increased at the same pace.
09:48 So what has changed in the past two generations to make this the case?
10:01 On this farm inVermont three generations are living under one roof.
10:09 For the people in Vermont, Washington and its politics are very far away. The political opinions of the Lincoln family are very diverse. The experience of life on their farm has been very different for each generation.
10:29 Soundbite Doug Lyford, Farmer (Soundbite English)
10:54 Soundbite Ashley Lincoln, Hospital admin worker (Soundbite English)
10:59 Soundbite Doug Lynford (Soundbite English)
11:04 Soundbite Ashley Lincoln (Soundbite English)
11:10 Farmers across Vermont are suffering from financial pressures.
11:17 Soundbite Edward Lincoln, Farmer (Soundbite English)
11:33 Yet the Lincoln family don’t want to accept any help from the government.
11:37 Soundbite Sam Lincoln, Farmer (Soundbite English)
11:34 Soundbite Doug Lyford, Farmer (Soundbite English)
12:08 Soundbite Ashley Lincoln Hospital admin worker (Soundbite English)
12:18 Soundbite Sam Lincoln, Farmer, (Soundbite English),
12:30 Although farmers are struggling, this family business is surviving – for now. The Lincolns have come up with other sources of income. These days they are undertaking forestry operations for other businesses.
12:56 On the other side of America from Vermont, right by the Mexican border, lies the state of Arizona.
An average American city, it has many fast food chains along the outskirts – all are suffering from lack of customers.
The property market in Arizona is on the verge of collapse. Nowhere else in America have so many people lost their houses through repossession. Mostly because the property owners were unable to pay off their credit card debts.
13:44 Estate Agent Jennifer O’Brian shows us around a repossessed property. Superficially the house seems to be in good order, but the previous owner dismantled everything she believed she could turn into cash.
13:57 Soundbite Jennifer O’Brien, Estate Agent (Soundbite English)
14:35 Jerry Abreu loathes the daily walk to the letter box. He knows there will only be new invoices, which he is unable to pay.
14:46 The businessman has lost $800,000 in the stock market and as a consequence, his house. The investment of a lifetime – all gone.
14:59 Soundbite Jerry Abreu, Video game sales (Soundbite English)
15:22 What was most upsetting for Jerry was that nobody supported him when his world collapsed. In contrast, the banks got billions.
15:32 Soundbite Jerry Abreu, Businessman (Soundbite English)
16:00 Like so many representatives of the white middle class, Jerry believes that the times when Washington was representing the people’s interest are long gone. He is increasingly inclined to sympathise with the conservative Tea Party, as much as he dislikes their extremism and racist views.
The ideas of the Tea Party appeal to a growing part of the discontented middle class, who are longing to bring back the good times.
16:23 Soundbite Thom Hartmann, Author and Journalist (Soundbite English)
16:42 This was the house Jerry and his wife Chimea used to own.
16:48 It is not easy for them to go back. It was the place where they wanted to bring up their children and grow old together.
Once a family home, everything is now owned by the bank.
17:44 Soundbite Chimae Abreu (Soundbite English)
18:02 Soundbite Jerry Abreu, Businessman (Soundbite English)
18:38 The collapsing property market is only one symptom of the economic downturn affecting America’s middle class.
18:46 Soundbite Christian Weller, Lecturer for Economics, University of Boston
(please read slowly)
Companies are looking for short term profit, a quick fix, if you like. One of the easy ways is through health insurance; they now let the employees themselves pay for it. Another problem is the increased competition with China and other low wage countries, as well as lack of organisations like the Unions. Only 7.5% of all Americans are Union members. That puts the individual in a very vulnerable position.
19:30 INSERT : August 1981
19:33 The weakening of the Unions had already started during the Regan presidency. Ronald Regan took on the toughest Union at the time – the Air Traffic controllers. He broke down the strike and set the tone for the future.
Today the decline of the Unions continue. In Wisconsin, the republican governor Scott Walker made it his goal to break up the Teachers’ Union, who were supporting Obama’s democratic politics.
19:56 Soundbite Lawrence Mishel, Economic Policy Institute (Soundbite English)
20:21 The gap between rich and poor is increasing rapidly.
20:26 Soundbite Thom Hartmann, Author & Journalist (Soundbite English)
20:37 Soundbite Heidi Shierholz, Economic Policy Institute (Soundbite English)
21:16 Many Americans have lost hope of change. Every month around 120,000 people are declared bankrupt.
One such couple was Amy and Jeff Knisely. Jeff is working in the middle management of a bank and Amy is a childminder. They don’t want to say exactly how much they are earning, but it is only just enough to take their kids camping once a year. That is their only luxury.
21:45 Soundbite Jeff Knisely, Bank employee (Soundbite English)
22:03 Soundbite Amy Knisely, Childminder (Soundbite English)
22:18 Since their insolvency, Amy spends hours every day looking for bargains in every available paper. Shopping has become a complicated and time consuming undertaking. It is part of Jeff’s and Amy’s daily struggle to keep their heads above water.
22:35 Soundbite Amy Knisely, Childminder (Soundbite English)
23:05 There will be more women declared bankrupt in the US this year than women obtaining a University Degree.
There will be more children in the US this year with bankrupt parents than divorced parents.
The most frequent new year’s resolution in the past five years has been ‘paying off debts’.
Without a doubt, all this has a devastating impact on American society.
23:31 Soundbite Thom Hartman, Author & Journalist (Soundbite English)
23:59 Despite all this, a belief in the American Dream still survives within some. Rob and Sarah Hammelman made it their ambition to grow wine in the Arizona deserts.
24:19 The bank refused to give them a loan for this new enterprise. But they managed to get enough money together to buy this vineyard, with the help of family and friends.
24:31 Rob Hammelman, winegrower (Soundbite English)
24:52 After they had finished University, Jeff and Amy worked on vineyards all over the world. This year will be the first season on their own vineyard.
25:00 Soundbite Sarah Fox Hammelman, Winegrower (Soundbite English)
25:09 But is hard work really enough to fulfil your American dream these days? What are Sarah and Jeff hoping for?
25:20 Soundbite Sarah Fox Hammelman, Winegrower (Soundbite English)
25:53 Anthony Laskaris is more sceptical. 20 years ago he emigrated from Greece. He is the manager of a bicycle shop with 9 employees. In his opinion the decline of the middle class is unstoppable.
26:12 Soundbite Anthony Laskaris, Retail manager (Soundbite English)
26:48 Even though globalised trade is highly criticised by many Americans, the USA is still outsourcing much of their manufacturing.
26:59 Soundbite Anthony Laskaris, Retail manager (Soundbite English)
27:25 How will the struggle of the American middle class affect the nation’s status in the world? The signs are everywhere that this is a country in crisis.
27:42 Soundbite Jerry Abreu, Businessman (Soundbite English)
28:20 end