Two American Families

The PBS documentary titled “Two American Families” follows two “middle class” families in Milwaukee from the early 90s through the Great Recession in 2008, to the latest installment done in 2024. It captures the changing landscape of the American economy over 30 years, caused by a blend of globalization, economic policies like NAFTA, technology and the changing workforce.

The documentary looks at how both families struggle to make ends meet and find stability after the men, the breadwinners, lose their high-paying union jobs when manufacturing moves away for cheaper labor. Although they looked for other jobs over the decades, neither found jobs that offered compensation or benefits to match their union jobs.

Both families struggled to support themselves. One father went through several careers and retraining, yet the family lost their home during the recession, and he and his wife ended up divorcing. The other father worked odd jobs throughout the decades in airports, forestry, garbage, lawn care, and hauling junk—any job he could find to make ends meet—but was never able to get an income that paid as well as the job he was let go from.

Both families, now in their sixties, are living with zero retirement savings and health issues. Neither feels they can retire from the physically demanding jobs they currently have. They have no money saved, and feel the only option is to “work until they die.”

What I found most painful was the father whose biggest regret was not spending time with his children who are adults now, when they were young, even though he was working to make sure his family survived. Both fathers think they have failed.

What happens to a person when you give your life believing that if you just work hard enough you can make your dreams a reality? But after a lifetime of trying, you can’t. There are no second prizes for losers in America.

We are taught that if we work hard and stay focused, achieving the American Dream is guaranteed. The Dream embodies the belief that “anyone, regardless of where they were born or their social class, can achieve their own version of success through hard work, determination, and initiative.”

James Truslow Adams described the American Dream as a place “where life should be better and richer for everyone, with opportunities for each according to their abilities and achievements.” In essence, the American Dream is about rising above your circumstances if you give your best.

However, the harsh reality depicted in “Two American Families” reveals that the American Dream doesn’t account for the economic shifts and systemic barriers that can thwart even the most determined efforts.

The documentary illustrates that despite hard work and perseverance, external factors such as globalization, economic and government policies, the erosion of union jobs, the unequal distribution of wealth, inequality and a host of other factors can drastically alter one’s trajectory. Not everyone can pull themselves up by their bootstraps.

The stories of these two families serve as a sobering reminder that the promise of upward mobility and financial stability is not guaranteed. The American Dream, while inspiring, often overlooks the complexities and inequities of the modern economy. Their experiences challenge us to rethink and redefine what it means to achieve success in America, and what our priorities as a society should be.

It should not be so focused on shareholder profits and the bottom line that making money and cutting costs becomes more important than making sure everyone has an opportunity to live a good life. And we should not focus so much on achieving the American dream that we work ourselves into the ground and lose sight of what is really important.

Resist the Grind…