by Serwan Zangana
“The European Union has been a little bit of a mess,” President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr. said as he spoke to political leaders and business people in a recent visit to Bosnia, Eastern Europe. Perhaps, Trump Jr. is living in a different America than the average Americans are living in. Obviously, “The American Dream” can be a debatable subject as the economic hardship is causing distress and affecting the majority of people, and the crisis in the American communities is creating more divisions in the country with the political conflict and government’s policy that is taking America to uncertainty.
Affordability has become a major issue in the U.S, and both the Democratic and the Republican Parties have contributed to this problem. According to Joint Center For Housing Studies/American Community Survey Data, 43.5 million American households were under the burden of high cost in 2024, and spent more than 30% of their income every month for housing costs.
Blacks, according to the United States Census Bureau, 2023, (56.2%) were under the high costs and paid more than 30% of their income on housing costs compared to Whites (46.7%) who were under the burden of high costs. The fact is that the disproportionality can very clearly be observed in housing matters.
Also, there are even more obstacles to becoming a homeowner as people struggle economically, they are not able to afford purchasing houses. According to Bankrate survey in 2024, people listed down the reasons that create difficulties for them to purchase houses as 54% said that their income is not high enough, 51% said that the cost of living is very high, and 18% because of credit card debt.
Obviously, seeking for “The American Dream” is not as simple as written and preached by the politicians as they can be framed as the main impediments to an affordability through policies and unjust laws, which puts people under restrictions. As Chen Zhao, the head of economics research at Redfin, said, “The American Dream, to the extent that it involves buying a home and raising your family, has become a lot tougher.”
Seemingly, “The American Dream” is becoming more of a “Utopian Dream,” which means an ideal or perfect world, but in fact such a world is unrealistic and unattainable. The U.S politicians in general are the engineers of the conflicts and crises that directly impact the American communities. Obviously, most of the U.S Presidents and their administrations have driven America to some global conflict or war that left a legacy of suffering for the American people.
The American economy is shrinking for the public and booming for the political community, including the Trump administration. According to Matt Stoller, director of research at the American Economic Liberties Project, the American economy is doing very well traditionally, which means looking at a strong stock market, low unemployment, and rising GDP can be indications for a good economy. Such analysis of course was prior to the U.S-Iran war.
At the same time, Stoller said that the average Americans do not see such a good economy, which is the reality that the American people are living in.
The U.S foreign policy in funding wars has always been a major factor in draining American financial resources and affecting American lives. Also, such a policy that causes turmoil in the world can be another reason to produce more adversaries for the U.S, and hence, pose a threat to American Citizens who are living abroad.
However, according to the Center For Strategic and International Studies, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) officially informed Congress that on day 6 of the Iran war, it cost the U.S $11.3 billion, and $16.5 billion on day 12.
It is noteworthy that in 2019, President Trump called former President Jimmy Carter to talk about China, which was a very wise step from Trump to seek former President Carter’s advice, as he was one of the sophisticated presidents in the U.S history. According to former President Carter, President Trump expressed his concern regarding China’s advancement and surpassing the U.S in various aspects.
In response to Trump, Carter stated, “I normalized diplomatic relations with China in 1979. Since 1979, do you know how many times China has been at war with anybody? None. And we have stayed at war,” Furthermore, Cater stated that, “We have wasted, I think, $3 trillion,” on military spending and wars.
The U.S government is monopolizing the country’s economy with the complex tax system and implementing fees and regulations through various methods, which generally impacts the middle and lower middle class. The ongoing economic problems in America and people’s struggle on a daily basis can raise a question: Is America a nation that can only be afforded by the rich?
Apparently, if the European Union is “a little bit of a mess” as Trump Jr. said, unfortunately, the United States is a big mess.
