Man who struggles despite making three times the minimum wage questions the American dream

It is easy for the older generations to say that today's youth lack the motivation to own property or settle down. But, looking at the younger generations' perspective of condemning the current staggering economy, one can not help but find them reasonable. Amid many online tirades of people struggling with the high cost of living, the viral video of Nicholas Sumners–who goes by @nicsmnrs on TikTok–from Virginia caught the internet's attention. The man reasoned out why he thought the "American dream" was long gone and people in the comments could not agree more.

In utter disbelief, Sumners asked the social media users, "Can somebody explain to me in crayon-eating terms why I make over three times the federal minimum wage and cannot afford to live?" He then forewarned the viewers that he did not want answers like, "Pull yourself up from your bootstraps" or "Work 90 hours a week." Working for overwhelmingly strenuous hours to afford a normal life was not the standard that Sumners would like to set. "That's not the goal, guys!" he yelled furiously, putting forward an eye-opening point. As per Sumners, the two political parties currently dominating the U.S. were the reason for the skyrocketing cost of living.

Sumners then delved into the realities of how previous generations had it easy in life. As it turns out, his parents' combined income when they were his age used to be half of his current income. Most importantly, they could afford to live alone. "I cannot afford to live anywhere alone," an enraged Sumners said. He pointed out how the rents are unreasonably high, costing thousands of dollars even for one or two-bedroom apartments. "It is embarrassing to come out and say that it is a struggle to survive right now," Sumners pointed out. After all, he knew he was just one among the millions struggling to make ends meet.

While his grandparents lived in a lavish abode, he had fallen victim to inflation and unaffordable living. "Why are we allowing it?" the angry young man asked. And when he toiled at work for hours and went home, Sumners was frustrated to find on the news that the government had once again wasted its citizen's hard-earned money to help another country. "We have lost it, folks. The American dream is dead. It is over, gone and forgotten," he emphasized. 

This Gen Z content creator's rage caught the media's interest. Sumners explained to Fox News that his anger was mainly because, despite doing "everything he could do," he still could not afford life. From student loans to grocery, the shooting costs that left the young man struggling in life made him hopeless about his and his country's future. 

With over 11 million views, his video is still causing a stir online, with thousands of users rallying around Sumners's opinion. "We've completely lost the plot of what minimum wage was intended for. It should be like $30/hour by now if it actually kept up with the cost of living," pointed out @queeennnnie. "I make over 5x the minimum wage and I can't even afford to go do stuff. Like I make just enough money to pay my bills and eat sandwiches," said @blakeharvey21. "It's like somebody stronger and bigger steals your crayon and eats it till you only have a crumb of it left and then you get asked to draw Mona Lisa with the crumb," added @geese_sucks.

You can follow Nicholas Sumners (@nicsmnrs) on TikTok for more relatable content about life.