Hi Everyone,
Sorry if this is not the sub, but as its do with business, opportunity and market I thought i share it here.
So I have been reading couple of interviews followed by movies (during the 1900s), why did people ALL around the world wanted to come to America? Whether it's arabs, Europeans even the brits? Everyone saw a opportunity in America in the early and late 1900s and said it's where the future is, all the unimaginable happens in US. How true is this? Is it still the same situation?
Is US still the land of opportunity where someone lands with $100 and they will survive and do better for themselves (a story of a far related uncle I heard, he had $100 in his pocket and became a owner of a cleaning detergent busines, doing well for himself)
Is US still the land of opportunity that it was decades ago
byu/MoAsad1 inEntrepreneur
Posted by MoAsad1
23 Comments
No, it is incredibly hard to live and make money here now. Lots of homeless and drugs.
No
Yes. The amounts may have changed but it’s still a place where transformative change can take place.
I’m proof.
Yes
You have a much higher chance of success in any area of life or business in America than you do anywhere else. I’ve only been to 16 countries so far, but that’s a longer list than many. I do business in 9 or 10 different nations, and my company has grown larger than some. Starting from nothing to where I am could not have happened in many other places.
See anyone swimming out of America? Nope, they are all trying to get into America.
Has been for me and countless people I have seen. Still a system and a place that rewards risk taking and entrepreneurialism to an above average degree.
It’s not remotely the best place to be poor or very low income if you want to be helped out. It’s also not “safe” as in, if you do everything, you’re “supposed” to do, work hard and “follow all the rules” it doesn’t always work out – you have to find your own opportunities, be informed and take calculated risks. Caveat Emptor applies to all facets of life, should probably replace E pluribus unum on the money. But a place to go try to make your fortune? Yeah, probably still one of the best.
>why did people ALL around the world wanted to come to America?
We still have high net immigration.
Yes. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.
I graduated college $35k in debt. 6 yrs later, i’m debt free, own a home outright, have traveled to amazing places, and am building my second business after selling my first.
I worked in Germany for 2 yrs after I graduated college. Made just enough to get by and learned next to nothing while I was there. When I came back to America, my life took off.
Only in America can someone under 30 from humble beginnings do what I’ve done. And I’m one of thousands who’ve done it every year here.
The people who say it died typically have horrible attitudes, inflated egos, and believe the world owes them something. They want the results without putting in the effort. Thus, the Democratic Party found the perfect Ideal Client lol. And have promised them free everything ever since.
The public (especially the young – or all of Reddit) have adopted all kinds of pessimism, doomerism, nihilism and collectivist ideologies – that may have terrible effects in the future.
However, overall, other countries have basically only emulated the US model (mainly capitalism) and as it helps reducing poverty etc – good. But US is by far the freest large economy where you want to be .
Only one set of numbers is enough to prove my point: the number of people of every country and economic background that want to come TO the US: its as large as ever. Feet speak louder than words or rhetoric.
No
Yes it is! U see all the immigrants who are business owners ? You will be surprised to know all the businesses owned by immigrants especially in big cities, they all came to this country with nothing but they were able to build their own businesses to become rich and provide opportunities to others.
Absolutely, but it depends where you are. In my city there is still a larger startup culture along with the bigger companies here
I’m at a startup a couple years out of college here and it’s amazing
My grandparents came here in the 60s with elementary education and zero money. Within a couple years they bought a house and later on sent their kids to college paid in cash.
There might still be opportunity here relative to other countries, but it’s not even close to what it was.
I think so. I was born poor, have no education beyond highschool and now run several large companies.
I’ve met many immigrants, and other formerly-poor people who’ve made something of themselves, and built overly awesome companies and do well for themselves. In my mind it’s still about working hard, and learning to access the right information (The internet makes that great). The real issue stands at people believing there’s a low-hanging glass ceiling, so they don’t try.
Yes. Even if it isn’t what it once was (debatable) it’s better than pretty much everywhere else in the world in terms of economic opportunity. Where else would you go if you wanted to succeed?
Yes. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t pitfalls that can get in the way of realizing those opportunities…
1. Education used to be a sure fire way to economic success. It didn’t cost an arm and a leg, and it was a differentiator in the workforce. Now, it’s almost expected as the next step after high school. The cost has gone up about 4% per year for the last 6 decades, but the starting salaries of people coming out of college hasn’t kept pace with that, which means the “value” of that education has been diminishing every year. Lastly, far too many jobs that don’t require a college degree have people with college degrees working in them. In other words, we are churning out more college graduates than we need.
2. Kids. They used to be affordable. Back when a household could run comfortably on a single middle class income, having a child was a life event that could be absorbed into a d fee family’s finances. But a lot of households require two incomes to make ends meet. Throwing kids into the mix means childcare, which has costs as much as a lot of lower income salaries. For homes that have a small econkmix tailwind and are getting by, having kids can put a serious dent in that forward momentum.
3. Inflation. Believe it or not, inflation has been a real problem for longer than the last few years. For the last 60 or 70 years, incomes for the majority of Americans have not kept pace with inflation. For them, they either get no raise, or the raise that they do get isn’t enough to cover the increase in costs of rent, food, healthcare, etc. this means that every year, American households have less discretionary/disposable income to spend.
4. Debt. It is pervasive. The availability of debt to finance everything from homes to groceries is a real problem. The lack of real income growth means that Americans turn to debt to buy the things they need/want. For a lot of goods (homes/cars/phones) this allows sellers to price their products based on the monthly payments that their customers can afford, as opposed to the cost of the item. Said another way, the only reason why “starter” homes can be priced at $400k is because people don’t have to save up $400k to buy the home. The only reason people spend $1k on a new phone is because they can break it up into 36 payments. Cars can be financed over 7 years now. And, sadly, some people have to finance grocery purchases. So debt has had a double negative effect…it’s allowed costs to rise on lots of goods, but it also carries with it an interest burden which is a financial drag on the people who carry that debt from one month to the next.
But all that said, relative to other places…there’s still lots of opportunity in the US. It may mean finding ways to live cheaply (roommates or living with family longer than is ideal)…it may mean being more selective about whether a college degree is a good idea for your career path (and finding ways to manage the cost of higher education)…it may mean delaying having children…it may mean coming up with a good/service that targets people who are wealthy because they have money to spend. But for the creative and driven individual, opportunities exist and are there to be had.
Yes and no. You can start business and prosper, but the previous opportunities that were lucrative are dissipating to corporate take over. Land/property/housing is not affordable and being bought up by corporations and conglomerates.
Land ownership for farming is less and less possible and viable. Even if you could afford the farm land, the cost to enter the market is so high it’s not viable. Also the current individual land ownership have been dying off and selling what they have to move into old folks homes and the highest bidders are big companies. You’re priced out.
Yes
I used to believe the U.S. was the ultimate land of opportunity, but lately, it feels like the deck is stacked against small businesses. The support is out there, but navigating the bureaucracy can be a nightmare!
Let’s say there’s a company with openings for great position that pays very well. They have 5 openings. Now 100 people apply. The 5 people that land the job will be ecstatic and loving life. The 95 who didn’t get it will be pissed off and discouraged.
For the most part, people that have done well will say US in regards to finance/opportunities is great. People who haven’t done well will say it isn’t.
Absolutely
I think it depends on where you immigrate from. The US is not really a land of opportunity, it’s the land of money and personal responsibility. The infrastructure and standard of living is nice enough that it’s sometimes worth being a homeless US resident than a rich resident in another country. And if you make money in the US, you can send a lot back home and raise your family to a higher status. But if you immigrate over, you start at the bottom of society and sometimes considered a scum. Only people who value money can really succeed here. The rest of the normal people who value community and family will not think it’s worth it to stay here permanently.
Millions are risking death to get in so obviously yes. Also all the big new tech companies were both in the USA.
No. But in my opinion, it is still better than everywhere else.
Compared to the rest of the world, holy shit yes