Page 21 - Šolsko polje, XXVIII, 2017, no. 3-4: Education and the American Dream, ed. Mitja Sardoč
P. 21
r. c. hauhart ■ american dream studies in the 21st century
cent is the 2008 housing crisis in the United States (and across much of
the developed world) which led directly to the so-called Great Recession
of 2009–10. The United States has long had an official policy of encour-
aging home ownership (Carliner, 1998). Federal officials were instrumen-
tal in loosening lending restrictions on first-time homebuyers, a practice
that contributed to both an increase in home buying and, combined with
lowered down payment and relaxed credit requirements, to the sub-prime
mortgage and housing crisis of 2006–2010 in the United States (Streitfeld
and Morgenson, 2008). Numerous sources over the past fifty years have
documented the degree to which Americans literally bought into this vi-
sion: owning a home became identified as a central part of the Ameri-
can Dream (Williams, 2009; De Palma, 1988). Builders, loan companies,
banks, and private investors targeted Americans in order to sell them the
Dream. Michaelson (2009), in his account of the Countrywide Finan-
cial collapse during the 2007-10 U.S. housing market crisis, describes in
candid detail his role in sculpting gauzy, 30 second television commer-
cials urging consumers that they, too, can own a part of the American
Dream with the help of Countrywide. Lures of this nature were used to
enroll creditors in mortgages that were under-collateralized and encour-
aged buyers to purchase more expensive homes than they could afford,
sometimes based on fraudulent paperwork The combination of these forc-
es – driven by the unquenchable desire of Americans to buy a home as
part of the American Dream – led directly to the U.S. mortgage and hous-
ing crisis that ultimately spread throughout the world (Hauhart, 2011).
The aftershocks of this crisis linger today in many countries (Marks-Jar-
vis, 2015). In short, the mortgage/housing market crisis, like the student
debt crisis, owe much of its origination to the manner in which Ameri-
cans conceive of their contemporary American Dream aided and abetted
by institutions which are more than willing to sell them their vision of the
American Dream – for a price.
Reproducing Class Stratification:
Institutional Performances and Cultural Incapacity
James Truslow Adams’ conception of the American Dream envisages a
level playing field of opportunity for all. However, numerous studies of
educational institutions and workplaces in the United States suggest that
both formal and informal cultural barriers exist that prevent many Amer-
icans from achieving their American Dreams, most particularly ones that
incorporate upward mobility as a core goal. They do so, according to many
studies, through a process of succumbing to elimination.
19
cent is the 2008 housing crisis in the United States (and across much of
the developed world) which led directly to the so-called Great Recession
of 2009–10. The United States has long had an official policy of encour-
aging home ownership (Carliner, 1998). Federal officials were instrumen-
tal in loosening lending restrictions on first-time homebuyers, a practice
that contributed to both an increase in home buying and, combined with
lowered down payment and relaxed credit requirements, to the sub-prime
mortgage and housing crisis of 2006–2010 in the United States (Streitfeld
and Morgenson, 2008). Numerous sources over the past fifty years have
documented the degree to which Americans literally bought into this vi-
sion: owning a home became identified as a central part of the Ameri-
can Dream (Williams, 2009; De Palma, 1988). Builders, loan companies,
banks, and private investors targeted Americans in order to sell them the
Dream. Michaelson (2009), in his account of the Countrywide Finan-
cial collapse during the 2007-10 U.S. housing market crisis, describes in
candid detail his role in sculpting gauzy, 30 second television commer-
cials urging consumers that they, too, can own a part of the American
Dream with the help of Countrywide. Lures of this nature were used to
enroll creditors in mortgages that were under-collateralized and encour-
aged buyers to purchase more expensive homes than they could afford,
sometimes based on fraudulent paperwork The combination of these forc-
es – driven by the unquenchable desire of Americans to buy a home as
part of the American Dream – led directly to the U.S. mortgage and hous-
ing crisis that ultimately spread throughout the world (Hauhart, 2011).
The aftershocks of this crisis linger today in many countries (Marks-Jar-
vis, 2015). In short, the mortgage/housing market crisis, like the student
debt crisis, owe much of its origination to the manner in which Ameri-
cans conceive of their contemporary American Dream aided and abetted
by institutions which are more than willing to sell them their vision of the
American Dream – for a price.
Reproducing Class Stratification:
Institutional Performances and Cultural Incapacity
James Truslow Adams’ conception of the American Dream envisages a
level playing field of opportunity for all. However, numerous studies of
educational institutions and workplaces in the United States suggest that
both formal and informal cultural barriers exist that prevent many Amer-
icans from achieving their American Dreams, most particularly ones that
incorporate upward mobility as a core goal. They do so, according to many
studies, through a process of succumbing to elimination.
19
