Out of Reach
The Struggle for the American Dream
A film by Adam Najberg | Directed by Faith Kohler & John Miller
“Do you think life is overall better or worse for workers than it was 30 years ago? 40 years ago?”
The American Dream is out of reach.
For the first time in America’s 244-year history, the dream of a better, richer, fuller life for all seems out of reach for many people — regardless of color, creed, or politics.
The post-war economic boom collapsed in the 1980s under the weight of trickle-down economics, deregulation and privatization, the offshoring of jobs, and a shift toward shareholder value over the value of labor. And then Covid-19 laid bare a structural hollowness in the U.S. economy that few realized had gotten so bad.
The American Dream — or the American Struggle?
Does the American Dream really exist anymore? With so many suffering economic hardship, has it changed from the American Dream to the American Struggle? This film takes an intimate look at the erosion of the American middle class over the last 40 years, told through the eyes of families in Milwaukee, Wisconsin — once the nation’s factory floor.
A City on the Edge
Once a beacon of middle-class prosperity, Milwaukee has become a microcosm of the economic challenges facing the nation. The film explores how decades of trickle-down economics, the offshoring of jobs, and a shift toward shareholder value have reshaped the city and its people.
Three Generations. One Fading Dream.
Out of Reach is told through the powerful, personal stories of Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, Millennials, and Gen Z workers. We see their struggles and victories as they fight to hold onto a life their parents and grandparents worked for — a life that now seems to be slipping away.
The Human Cost of a Broken System
From the factory floor of Master Lock to the halls of political office, we follow our characters as they navigate a system of shrinking wages, disappearing benefits, and rising inequality. Their journeys reveal the urgent need to find new pathways to the American Dream.
