1/11/2015 The American Dream Is Dead, and Good Riddance - The Daily Beast http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/07/the-american-dream-is-dead-and-good-riddance.html 1/18 Getty Keli Goff WAKING UP 07.07.14 The American Dream Is Dead, and Good Riddance It’s time to redefine what it means to be successful in America. New analysis confirms what many already assumed to be true: a sizable number of Americans can no longer afford the American Dream. Inspired by the new book, Chasing the American Dream, USA Today calculated that subsidizing the American Dream costs approximately $130,000 annually, meaning the dream is only within reach for about 1 in 8 American families. The shocking six-figure price tag generated international headlines. But instead of inspiring handwringing about how to make the American Dream more affordable, I hope these numbers show us something else: the American Dream as we know it is dead, and good riddance. Perhaps nothing is more responsible for the lack of contentment plaguing some Americans today than the outdated notion of the American Dream that has been peddled to all of us for as long as we can remember. I’m referring to the version that usually involves some mention of a white picket fence. As part of its calculation USA Today cited certain key benchmarks for achieving the American Dream, notably home ownership, educating two children, as well as owning a good car. But for many of us our American Dream doesn’t involve all of the above, and in some cases any of the above. THE DAILY BEAST POLITICS ENTERTAINMENT WORLD U.S. NEWS TECH + HEALTH
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
1/11/2015 The American Dream Is Dead, and Good Riddance - The Daily Beast
The American Dream Is Dead, andGood RiddanceIt ’s time to redefine what it means to be successful in America.
New analysis confirms what many already assumed to be true: a sizablenumber of Americans can no longer afford the American Dream. Inspired bythe new book, Chasing the American Dream, USA Today calculated thatsubsidizing the American Dream costs approximately $130,000 annually,meaning the dream is only within reach for about 1 in 8 American families.
The shocking six-figure price tag generated international headlines. Butinstead of inspiring handwringing about how to make the American Dreammore affordable, I hope these numbers show us something else: the AmericanDream as we know it is dead, and good riddance.
Perhaps nothing is more responsible for the lack of contentment plaguing someAmericans today than the outdated notion of the American Dream that hasbeen peddled to all of us for as long as we can remember. I’m referring to theversion that usually involves some mention of a white picket fence.
As part of its calculation USA Today cited certain key benchmarks forachieving the American Dream, notably home ownership, educating twochildren, as well as owning a good car. But for many of us our American Dreamdoesn’t involve all of the above, and in some cases any of the above.
THE DAILY BEAST POLITICS ENTERTAINMENT WORLD U.S. NEWS TECH + HEALTH
Stitch
Stitch
Stitch
1/11/2015 The American Dream Is Dead, and Good Riddance - The Daily Beast
But over the years this definition of the American Dream has been lost.Instead, when we talk about the American Dream, we often find ourselvestalking about marriage, children, mortgage debt, student loan debt, stuff, morestuff, and even more stuff (to fill up the house you owe the mortgage debt on).
Thankfully, the tide appears to be turning back in favor of Adams’ definition ofthe American Dream. A 2011 study found “a sense of meaning” to be the mostimportant factor for Millennials in defining a successful career, even though“meaning” is not the kind of thing that always helps with a mortgage. Perhapsnow that the American Dream as we have long known it is now out of financialreach for an increasing number of Americans, more will take the time to reflecton what the American Dream means for them personally, and maybe for ourcountry as a whole in the 21st century.
SHARE TWEET POST EMAIL 158 COMMENTS
PROMOTED STORIESRecommended by
Mohamed Al-Sayaghi/Reuters
AdamBaron
NEVER FORGET 01.11.15
The Forgotten War That Spawned
Stitch
1/11/2015 The American Dream Is Dead, and Good Riddance - The Daily Beast
Paris’ AttacksWhile the attack against Charlie Hebdo captured the world’s attention,
Yemen continued to bleed from relentless attacks from Al Qaeda.
LONDON — The massacre at the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo was neitherthe only nor the deadliest terror attack to occur on Wednesday. Hours beforethe Koauchi brothers made their way to the offices of the French satiricalmagazine, thousands of miles away, in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, a car bombstruck a crowd of men lined up to enroll at the city’s police academy. Roughlyfour-dozen were killed as the bomb went off, strewing blood and body partsacross the street.
It’s a coincidence that has grown all the more notable—and tragic—in light ofthe emerging ties between the Charlie Hebdo attackers and al Qaeda in theArabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Yemen-based terror group that officials haveaccused of carrying out Wednesday’s car bomb. According to the AFP, SaidKoauchi, the older of the pair, traveled to Yemen multiple times between 2009and 2011, studying at Sanaa’s Iman University, a controversial institutionheaded by firebrand cleric Abdulmajid al-Zindani, prior to training with AQAPin camps in the south and southeast of the country.
Notably, Inspire, an English-language, AQAP-affiliate magazine, explicitlythreatened to kill Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier in its March2013 edition, and at writing time, AQAP has reportedly taken credit for theattack on behalf of the group, though the ultimate extent of the Koauchibrothers’ ties to Yemen and AQAP is still unclear. Either way, the attack hasrefocused attention to the impoverished, conflict-stricken country.
Hailed as a textbook example of a successful counterterrorism strategy by U.S.officials as late as fall of last year, Yemen has instead been riven with unrestlately. An internationally backed power transition agreement has fallen apart,and the country’s economy—to say nothing of the central government’s controlover the bulk of the country—has appeared to collapse as well. And no one inthe circles of power in the West seems to have noticed.
Indeed, last week’s violence in Paris seems to underline how little progress hasbeen made against AQAP. Despite the efforts of the U.S. and Yemenigovernments, it still appears to possess the ability to unleash horrors againstWestern targets.
Yemen had already developed areputation as a hotspot for extremismby the time Koauchi allegedly firstarrived in 2009. Many western-bornMuslim hardliners flocked to Salafiinstitutes in the country, mostfamously, perhaps, the Dar al-Hadithinstitute in the far northern town of
1/11/2015 The American Dream Is Dead, and Good Riddance - The Daily Beast
Dammaj. While the bulk of theseforeigners simply came to study, anumber joined up with extremists onthe ground. One of the most notoriousamong them was “Underwear Bomber”Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, aNigerian student trained by AQAP whoinfamously attempted to blow up apassenger airliner on Christmas Day2009.
But while such rare plots againstforeign targets have garnered AQAP themost attention, the bulk of activity—and the bulk of their attacks—hasoccurred on Yemeni soil. It is this
violence the West ignores at its peril.
As the central government’s control over much of the country evaporated overthe course of 2011 in the wake of the Arab Spring-inspired uprising against thecountry’s long time leader, President Ali Abdullah Saleh, AQAP quickly movedto take advantage. While the group was pushed out of its former strongholds inthe southern Abyan in a Spring 2012 military offensive, they’ve quicklyregrouped.
AQAP has continued to find safe haven in areas across country, ranging fromthe eastern province of Hadramawt—where the group’s fighters have displayedaims of establishing an Islamic emirate—to the oil and gas rich provinces ofMarib and Shabwa, to Abyan itself. AQAP has continued to unleash a steadyflurry of attacks on military and security targets, supplementing their financesthrough everything from bank robberies to taking foreign hostages for ransom,allowing the group to buy new weapons and loyalties as it aims to spread itswrit to new territories.
Only the most diligent of news junkies would be aware of this bloodshed, giventhe dearth of coverage in most Western media—a disheartening oversight,because AQAP represents perhaps the purest distillation of al Qaeda’s ideologyand ambitions outside of the core group headed by Ayman al-Zawahiri. Mostterrorism analysts consider it the most dangerous al Qaeda franchise.
The U.S. has worked to counter AQAP’s growth, gaining a comparatively freehand from President Abdo Rabbu Mansour Hadi, Saleh’s successor and aformer vice president. He has openly backed American drone strikes in thecountry.
But while the sharp uptick of U.S. drone strikes has succeeded in taking out ahandful of key figures, including AQAP deputy emir Said al-Shihri andcharismatic extremist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, the barrage of remotely operatedAmerican airpower has failed to deliver anything resembling a knock-outpunch to the terror group.
1/11/2015 The American Dream Is Dead, and Good Riddance - The Daily Beast
America in 2013 ascompared to 2006,and has introduced
low- and zero-calorie beverages to
that end.
consumers trust.
Sometimes it takes going to the “ends of the Earth.”
Traveling to highly bio-diverse areas like the forests and jungles of Brazil, Peru,Malaysia, China, and Taiwan, PepsiCo is discovering indigenous ingredients,thousand-year-old recipes, and their possible applications in new and existingproducts.
For example, visits to local markets in these regions have allowed PepsiCo tofind ingredients like exotic antioxidant grape-like fruits, ruby-red yumberriesand ginseng, betel nuts, seaweed, and sweet tropical longans, and allowed thecompany to observe how they are being incorporated into regional cooking.These insights and discoveries help PepsiCo anticipate, rather than react to, anever-changing consumer landscape. It’s all part of a longer-term PepsiCo planto broaden its portfolio through science-based research and development.
During the last three years, PepsiCo’s investments in R&D increased by animpressive 25%. And research and development facilities in the United States,United Kingdom, Shanghai, Germany and Mexico — to name a few — areengines of innovation, driving topline growth. The new Shanghai location, thelargest outside of North America, serves as a hub for new food and beverageproducts, flavors, packaging, and equipment throughout Asia.
The investments in science-based R&Dare paying dividends. In the UnitedStates, PepsiCo has debuted nine of thetop 50 new food and beverage productsacross all measured U.S. retail channelsin 2013. They are Mountain DewKickstart, made with 5% real fruit juice;Starbucks ready-to-drink Iced Coffee;Tropicana Farmstand beverage that’s100% juice, which includes one servingof fruit plus one serving of vegetableper 8 oz. serving; the fresh-brewedLipton Pure Leaf Tea; Muller QuakerGreek-style yogurt; Tostitos CantinaTortilla Chips, Doritos Locos TacoChips, Ruffles MAX, and Cheetos Mix-Ups.
Work on science-based strategies includes a focus on enhanced consumerexperiences and preference drivers such as taste, texture, aroma, andconvenience.
“There are a lot of clues that nature gives you,” says Dr. Mehmood Khan,executive vice president of PepsiCo and chief scientific officer, who overseesthe food and beverage company’s global R&D organization. “What’s interestingto me in the past couple of years is the merging of biology and chemistry andanalytical technology that has opened up more applications with the potential
1/11/2015 The American Dream Is Dead, and Good Riddance - The Daily Beast
to create more new products in our innovation pipeline. It’s exciting.” He likensthe rapid-fire changes underway to the difference between black and white orcolor TV and high-definition technology: “We can see things now we didn’t seea year ago because the technology wasn’t available.”
Less Is More
For decades, consumers generally only cared about taste and price. Now betterinformed, they want to know about the sustainability of a product and itspackaging; where and how an ingredient is sourced; exactly what is in aproduct, and how it fits their specific functional needs. Not only do they wantmore information from manufacturers producing their foods and beverages,but consumers are also more inclined than ever before to share informationand recommendations with each other. And they also expect those products toremain affordable and taste great.
PepsiCo’s science-based R&D capabilities are helping the company anticipateand meet the consumer needs on a global scale. For example, PepsiCoeliminated approximately 402,000 metric tons of added sugar from itsbeverage portfolio in North America in 2013 as compared to 2006, and hasintroduced low- and zero-calorie beverages to that end.
Within the same timeframe, nearly 3,900 metric tons of sodium was removedfrom PepsiCo’s food portfolio, and the company continues to invest in newtechnologies and recipes that even further reduce salt levels.
Working with scientific and technology partners to create, what R&D calls amore efficient salt, PepsiCo R&D scientists recently discovered how the sizeand shape of salt actually affects taste perception. A couple of years ago at aforum, says Dr. Khan, “we taught medium-to-small companies some of thistechnology so they could utilize it in their products. We believe it was good forthe industry to adopt some of this as well.” Of course, it was also good for the
1/11/2015 The American Dream Is Dead, and Good Riddance - The Daily Beast
Orthodox Christmas, the city’s parks and squares were full of families, andnobody seemed too concerned about safety. “The terrorists’ message isaddressed to us activists but they should know that their bombs will not stopour work,” says Sergei Sarafanyuk, a member of the Odessa Euro-MaidanCoordination.
SHARE TWEET POST EMAIL 44 COMMENTS
PBS
Lewis Beale
HISTORY REPEATING 01.11.15
New Documentary Shows The‘Moderate’ Klan of North CarolinaThe Tarheel State had a reputation as the most progressive in thecountry on race relations. But it also had the biggest Klan chapter inthe South.
If you were driving through North Carolina in the mid-1960s, chances areyou’d see this billboard:
“You are in the heart of Klan country. Welcome to North Carolina. Join theUnited Klans of America, Inc. Help fight integration and communism!”
Klan support in the South was not exactly breaking news. What made these
1/11/2015 The American Dream Is Dead, and Good Riddance - The Daily Beast