I don't think the American Dream is totally dead, but it was represented inaccurately for so long that people failed, became completely disillusioned and angry, so they gave up. People allow themselves to hate others because of their wealth, the distribution and difficulty in achieving success but if you look at who these angry/jealous people are, they often didn't learn to handle money, may not have had parents who knew or would/could teach about money, how to get ahead, etc. It doesn't just fall into someone's lap but when wealth is shoved into peoples' face on a minute by minute basis, it creates resentment. Robin Leach had a show called 'Lifestyles of The Rich & Famous'- I don't think that helped. Too much 'Look at what I have". The Kardashians are another example.
We also have news media that doesn't report news, they report agendas and it's very slanted; some to the Left, some to the Right, very little is truly balanced. Probably best to look at news sources outside of the US for that and even then, they need to be checked.
The US has a lot of people who gave up trying to live within the laws, so they don't. Crime rates rise and fall, but at the moment, it's best to stay away from some places.
