In 2025, many Americans feel cynical toward the American Dream. For decades, the belief that anyone could succeed in our country regardless of the circumstances of their birth was central to our national identity. Since the advent of our nation, from the Irish Potato Famine to antisemitism in the Russian Empire to modern-day laborers from Central and South America, immigrants saw America as a place to escape economic strife or persecution.
Today, it feels as though both Democrats and Republicans have given up on the American Dream entirely.
The Trump administration has made every effort to stop the immigrants that the American Dream was supposed to support. It has ramped up bans on visas for certain countries and detained nonviolent migrants in the United States. At the same time, many moderate Democratic officials have warmed up to immigration restrictions in the wake of their 2024 defeat. For instance, Neera Tanden, the president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, a Democratic think tank, claimed that previous Democratic border policy had “allowed too many people to come through and that we need to fix that.”
Anyone who believes in our nation’s historic dream seems increasingly alone. This is especially true for millennials and Gen Z, who are less likely to believe in the achievability of the American Dream than their older counterparts.
According to a poll from YouGov, 52 percent of Gen Z believe the American Dream is at least somewhat attainable, as compared to the 60 percent of baby boomers and 53 percent of Gen X. However, in the same poll, Gen Z and millennials were more likely to say that it does not exist at all, not just that it was unattainable.
Our generation never found the sort of faith in the American Dream that older generations had. But this rising lack of hope has allowed me to see the American Dream in an entirely new light — not as an existing promise, but as a national goal.
The American democracy has historically been described as an “experiment” by figures like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Just as how we can always improve our democracy, we can always move closer to the goal of having a country that anyone can come to and find success, even if we will never achieve a perfect version of either. This is why we still need the American Dream.
For many in Gen Z, their first engagement with politics came during the first Trump administration, when asylum-seeking families were being separated and the existence of widespread racism in our country became undeniable in the face of growing police brutality toward Black Americans. In this era, the idea that America was a place bright with hope where anyone could come and succeed seemed laughable.
Many young people hoped that the following Biden administration would restore this more hopeful idea, but we continued to see deportations and insufficient police reform.
However, slowed progress does not mean the American Dream has to remain a fantasy. I am confident that many people of our generation, including those reading this, agree with me even if they do not know it. I have personally seen many of those who write off the American Dream as a silly baby boomer fantasy still fight for the ideals at its foundation.
Young social justice activists fight to remove the inequalities that hinder the happiness and success of Americans. They work to eliminate racial inequality that entrenches poverty and endangers the lives of minority groups. They work to advocate for the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals, ensuring that everyone can live their lives and express themselves in the way they choose. They work to fight climate change, which threatens to rob us of achieving the same prosperity as previous generations.
All of these causes, and many more, are united by the same familiar idea that every person, regardless of their life circumstances, is entitled to the same opportunity to achieve success and happiness. In other words, the American Dream is the unifying idea that young progressives fight for.
Any young activist can recall being shunned by figures of authority for being an “out-of-touch radical.” The young people today who fight for transgender rights and economic justice are told just as frequently of the impracticality of their ideas as those who fought for abolition, civil rights or gay marriage in the past.
For some, the American Dream manifests more clearly than for others. My father immigrated to this country from Ireland when he was young and worked tirelessly to bring himself up and provide for his family. His story has inspired me for my entire life, and I find it infuriating that some others do not have the same chance as him due to their race or country of origin.
I also think of the story of my boyfriend’s parents, who left Kazakhstan after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. If he were born there instead of in the United States, he would have faced stigma and inequality due to his sexuality.
And I know I am far from the only one with stories like these. Countless Americans fight to end poverty, inequality and stigma today because their lives are built on the fruit of the American Dream. I, and countless others who believe in these ideals, will never stop working to build a nation where they are truly and fully realized for native-born Americans and immigrants alike.
In times where success and progress seem impossible, I like to remind myself that we are all the latest in a long line of dreamers fighting for the same historic principles.
Kevin O’Connell is a sophomore majoring in political science.
Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece that represents the view of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the Staff Editorial.