the new american dream

i was listening to this esquire interview with emily st. john mandel.

there’s a lot to dig into this interview and it’s a great conversation that i wholeheartedly endorse listening to in its entirety. but there was a couple of minutes of discussion in here regarding the “new american dream”. i’m saddened / encouraged to see that it’s not just me that keeps tripping over this. though, i hadn’t thought about this in terms of this being “the new american dream”.

so what’s this new american dream? it goes something like this …

the new american dream:

leaving (the u.s.), or having enough money to be able to insulate yourself from the state of things.

this keeps popping up in any meaningful conversations with friends and acquaintances over the past couple of years. this has taken on a newfound seriousness. it’s no longer an abstract question or a passing joke around election time. there’s this underlying tension between; figuring out what the insulation number is, tapping out and figuring out where to go, and steeling yourself to see how you can endure with your friends and loved ones.

there’s a sad resignation behind this conversation. it’s the admission hanging in the air that something has become deeply broken in our society and it’s a mad scramble to get yours or get out. this is not a uniquely american failing, but honestly, i didn’t expect it to land so quickly, or even in my lifetime as a broad social consideration.

leaving’s in the zeitgeist.