FROM THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITY TO THE LAND OF OH NO
Feb 19, 2025
Illustration by Brian Stauffer
By Kelly Suquinagua
Kelly Suquinagua is a student at City College of New York (class 2028), majoring in business administration and management.
These days, America is beginning to look less great and more dull and frightening. For all its promises, it is starting to resemble a third world country disguised as a first world nation. Wasn’t the whole motto “The land of freedom” and “This is where dreams come true”? Lately, it feels like we’re doing the opposite of what we’re preaching.
Growing up in New York with immigrant parents from Ecuador, I’ve always lived in fear for both my safety and theirs. I’m constantly checking my surroundings, worrying if someone nearby could cause harm because violence rates remain high. Even grocery shopping has become stressful due to rising prices. My parents have even stopped buying eggs, a household staple, because they’ve become too expensive.
Walking through New York, I’ve noticed how filthy the streets are; food littered on the ground, dog poop, even people peeing and pooping in public. I once thought New York was supposed to be beautiful and clean. But seeing all this made me wonder: “Wouldn’t this dump be considered a third world country because of how filthy and dangerous it is? How do people even say America is great when I see literal poop everywhere?”
Instead of leading the country toward progress, our leader has only made things worse. Donald Trump, through multiple executive orders, has done so little to develop the country. Policies such as banning birthright citizenship, ending DEI initiatives, withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization, imposing tariffs, and cutting funding for immigration resources have only caused more divisions and made life harder for many. These policies don’t promote success; they push us further back, maybe by years or even decades, given what the future is looking like.
America was built on promises of equality, opportunity, and progress, yet those ideals seem to be fading. If we continue down this path, what will be left of the “American Dream”? At what point do we stop pretending this is the land of opportunity and start demanding real change?
While America struggles, other countries are making moves to tackle crime, boost their economies, and improve daily life. Looking at places like South Korea, China, El Salvador, and Mexico, it’s hard not to wonder, “How did we fall so far behind?”
For instance, El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, has reduced homicide rates, punished gang members, and welcomed international trade. What was once considered the most dangerous country is now becoming a place of success. Meanwhile, our president signs executive orders that take away rights, stop development, and isolates us from our allies.
In The Nation, Alfred McCoy, J.R.W. Smail Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, writes in “Trump’s Second Presidency Will Only Accelerate America’s Imperial Decline” that, “Calling tariffs ‘the greatest thing ever invented,’ Trump has proposed slapping a 20% duty on all foreign goods and 60% on those from China. Such duties will undoubtedly end up crippling American farm exports, thanks to retaliatory overseas tariffs, while dramatically raising the cost of consumer goods for Americans, stoking inflation, and slowing consumer spending.” (McCoy) This suggests that Trump’s presidency will drive America’s economy into decline rather than growth.
Even my parents have noticed what’s happening. When I asked them about Trump’s executive orders, ICE raids, and rising crime rates, all they could say was, “Well, what can we do? We can’t stay home, fearing for our lives. We need to work to support you and your brother. If they get us, then it’s okay because you have each other and can move forward.”
Their response scared me because they came to America for opportunities and a better future. Now, they aren’t even afraid of going back to Ecuador. I’ve even heard my mom say we might as well move back with how things are. She can’t stand the danger, filth, and instability, all of which have only worsened under our new president.
In “Trump and I can agree: The US is a ‘third-world country’’, Belén Fernández, a contributing editor at Jacobin Magazine and has written for the New York Times states, “The US advertises itself as being at the vanguard of global ‘development,’ but the nation’s healthcare, poverty, and other indicators suggest a policy of willful counter-development instead. Back in 2017, Philip Alston, the United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, visited the US for two weeks. At the end of his trip, he issued a statement on how he found the country ‘exceptional in…ways that are shockingly at odds with its immense wealth and its founding commitment to human rights.’’ (Fernández) This argues that America isn’t the land of opportunity it claims to be, but rather a place with broken promises, poverty, and rising violence, making the so-called “land of opportunity” feel out of reach for many.
America used to be a place where people believed dreams could come true, but now it feels like things are only getting worse. The government and our leader is only making life harder for those in need, while other countries are improving. With more violence, higher prices, and no real help from leadership, it’s hard to believe the “American Dream” is still alive. If things don’t change soon, America might not be the country it once was.
Works Cited
Fernández, Belén. “Trump and I can agree: The US is a ‘third-world country.’” Al Jazeera, 20 August 2022, https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/8/20/trump-and-i-can-agree-the-us-is-a-third-world-country. Accessed 5 March 2025.
McCoy, Alfred. “Trump’s Second Presidency Will Only Accelerate America’s Imperial Decline.” The Nation, 21 November 2024, https://www.thenation.com/article/world/america-hegemony-trump/. Accessed 5 March 2025.
