If the American Dream is dead...

[Graves]

I actually learned a lot from my World of Warcraft days - I think that was even my first introduction to entrepreneurship.
I think there's a lot of untapped potential in MMO games right now - really a good opportunity to make games that are both fun and valuable.

 

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[Bozigian]

My brother is like this but with call of duty

[video=youtube;MT0-OL_71yU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT0-OL_71yU[/video]

At first, i wanted to become a video game desginer but then I lost interest after firguring out that they didnt really make a lot of money.

My high school economics teacher is the person who got me into finance, and seeing how much hedge fund managers made and what they have to do to get their is what has me interested.

 

[365]

The U.S. is the world's largest economy. I don't see many reasons not to start your career or business in this country (though admittedly there are some).

 

[hatterasguy]

Its far from dead, people just like to complain.

 

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[mrhahn]

"The grass is always greener on the other side". You really can't always be thinking "what if". You've got to focus on your current situation and actually take action instead of wishing what could be.

 

[CEBenz]

Anyone else see the US's tax ranking on that post Ryan put up? It was no surprise to me that Singapore was at the top of the list. I was surprised I didn't see Panama though.

The #1 issue in this country is the educational system. We don't teach financial literacy, heck, sometimes I wonder if we teach any literacy anymore.

When I was in school, I had it in my mind that I was going to be blue collar and that was the way to be (I blame to much country music for this mindset, specifically Aaron Tippin) as I got into my early 20s, I realized that I was not on the right path for me, but I still hadn't figured out what that path was. I've only slowly been moving towards it since the financial crisis began.

Realistically, we also don't teach the options. Doctors raise doctors, engineers raise engineers, that sort of thing. While some break this mold, many don't. It's not because they don't want to, but I'd say many of them don't know much else.

 

[hatterasguy]

As far as taxes go the US is the cheapest to pay taxes in among every 1st world country. You can't really compare it to tax heavens or 3rd world crap holes.

Taxes in this country have been dropping for the past 30 years, personal income tax used to be very high, and we did fine with it. I believe 93% was the highest tax bracket.

As said above people like to complain and scream its human nature.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

This Is Not the American Dream | BNET

 

[GlobalWealth]

As far as taxes go the US is the cheapest to pay taxes in among every 1st world country. You can't really compare it to tax heavens or 3rd world crap holes.

This is not true. The US has the highest corporate tax rate in the world and one of the highest personal tax rates in the world. In some states, the combined tax rate puts the US at the top of the list in the world for highest tax rate, ie. CA and NY.

Your presumption, and many others as well, is that other countries are tax havens or 3rd world countries. The reality is there are many, many countries in the world with much lower taxes with no sacrifice in quality of life.

Taxes in this country have been dropping for the past 30 years, personal income tax used to be very high, and we did fine with it. I believe 93% was the highest tax bracket.

This is also untrue. The US lead the way with lowering tax rates in the '80s under Reagan. Since that time the rest of the world was forced to reduce their tax rates to compete. However, the US has since raised several 'hidden taxes' and especially over the past 2 years many states have dramatically raised their state tax rates.

Much of the rest of the developed world has continued to reduce tax rates to remain or even gain a competitive advantage while the US remained stagnant or even raised rates.

Its true that the US tax rates are lower than in the '70s, but you need to compare apples to apples. Even Russia has a lower tax burden than the US now.

 

[Davidla]

I agree with the people who say that the U.S is still one of the best places to come and "live the dream".
On the other hand, I think that the "american dream" is slowly dying down.

As the economy became global, I think it is inevitable for resources change hands and equalize (I.E outsourcing).
Like connecting a pipe between the buttom of two barrels - one allmost empty and the other full. The water levels will equalize.
So the economy and quality of life in the U.S will go down, while other economies will strengthen.
I dont see a reason why the U.S economics will become better, instead of gradually becoming worse.

That being said - the U.S is still a place where one can come with ambition and "live the dream", or atleast live comfotably. I got to meet many people who came to the U.S speaking little english, worked their asses off in sales and quickly enough were making 6-8k a month (which is atleast 2-3 times more than what they could've earned in their original country - a dream for them). Those were just regular people - the entrepreneurs within them are making completely different figures.

So I dont think The American Dream is dead, but generally speaking things are changing for the bad.
This just strenghens the logic in being entreprenurial and controlling your wealth.

 

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