As I sat down to right the blog this morning I began struggling with the very question that I pose in the title. What is the American Dream as it stands today? The world has changed a tremendous amount since the idea of the American Dream took shape, but have we out grown the idea that the American Dream is about materialism… or that to pursue the dream you need to pursue homeownership, a traditional job and a traditional family? Look in the 1930s (when the idea of the American Dream came to life) people thought the world would look like Orbit City (it’s a Jetson’s reference… get with it) by 2018… and even though we’re not far off from living life like George, Jane, Judy, Elroy, Rosie, and Astro… our idea of the American Dream is not the same any more.
I’d like to take a look at the most popular line of the Declaration of Independence… mind you I made a small alteration and changed men with humans… our forefathers made a minor (to say the least) oversight on who was granted these rights… I don’t think they’ll mind the adjustment.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all humans are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Correct me if I’m wrong but I didn’t see anything about owning a single-family colonial in a nice suburb or anything about owning a 5 series BMW with burgundy leather… and dare I say it… I didn’t see anything in there about who you could or couldn’t spend the rest of your life with. All I see, is that we as American’s are free to pursue Happiness (this is supposed to be the “then it hit me movement”). Sooo… come full circle with me... the American Dream is the pursuit of Happiness. It’s nothing more. I was chatting with the team in the office this morning and each one of them told me their American Dream is different. For Brandon (our UW Manager) …the American Dream is earning a stable enough living to travel the world helping the less fortunate. For Frank (our newest WHL Account Executive) the American Dream is to pay off his student loan debt (a dream for every college student) …Matt Pfrommer (our Ops Support Manager) wants to retire and open a surf shop on the beach (even though he needs an umbrella to shade him from the sun). For Charles Howell (our Closing Manager) his American Dream is to travel to the Amazon and study Agalychnis callidryas (red-eye tree frogs for those who haven’t watched enough David Attenborough) … for Josh Teti (our Processing & Opening Manager) his American Dream is travel to Europe and drink beer with every Premier League (most popular soccer league in the world) superfan.
My point is… everyone’s American Dream is different. It’s not the same, it can’t be framed in a picture and it can’t be purchased at store. It’s special and unique, because we live in a world where everyone doesn’t share the right to pursue whatever makes them happy. I’m sorry for how deep this blog has gotten… BUT if your dream is to own a home. I know just the company for you (shameless plug).
In mortgage news… the 10-yr is still at a comfortable level keeping mortgage rates down. Purchases are hotter than ever, Leandra English finally gave up her fight for power at the CFPB, our industry continues to push for digitization and non-bank mortgage employment is growing!
Oh… do you want to know what my American Dream is? It’s pretty clear isn’t it? It’s to become the Director of Mortgage Operations for a non-bank mortgage lender and write a blog…
Talk to you soon!
MJ
Photo by Tom Coe on Unsplash
The opinions expressed in this post are the sole view of the writer and do not reflect the opinion of Princeton Mortgage Corporation.