Coming. of Age in the early 2000s. I've never had this idea that the American Dream is attainable. First, I'd have to define what I mean by the American Dream, but I believe we all have an intuitive idea about what this includes. My life has followed the trends that have separated my generation from those before it. A deep, untethered sense of doom. New (and old) ways to lose one's self into chemical escape. The constant rain cloud of student loan debt shadowing each day. A sincere reservation about bringing new humans into a world of mass shootings, uncontrollable fires, 360 degree bigotry, a dying earth. The unstoppable march of patriarchal politics. Octagenarian geezers propped up by the Deep State, allowing for America to continue overthrow foreign heads of state (most recently Imran Khan of Pakistan) that do not support the American Empire and manipulate entire populations of countries into fighting conflicts on behalf of said Empire; conflicts that only end in a hell-on-Earth finale for those on the ground. Millennials are lampooned and cartooned and meme'ed to death, but really, we are a traumatized generation. The America that most of the living population grew up with and through, died on 9/11/01. We experienced this America as children and as we experienced its sad undoing, just as we were leaving home to get out into the world and start our own versions of the American Dream. It has never been more true that the only winners these days are those who started out with tremendous advantages. Generational wealth, advantages of gender and race. Advantages of mentally healthy parents and role models. My candidacy speaks to those who have struggled to "make it" in 21st Century America.
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