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By Nirmal P. Acharya

Surely many people have watched the Hollywood inspirational blockbuster “The Pursuit of Happiness” in the past. But recently, seeing the world’s mainstream media discussing the “cut-off line” phenomenon in American society, and re-watching this blockbuster, I feel that it is more like a ghost story than an inspirational one.

Let’s revisit this story: A middle-aged African American man, lured by someone, invested in a house full of bone density testing machines. For several years, he couldn’t sell them, couldn’t pay the rent, his car was towed for unpaid parking tickets, and his wife divorced him. Alone, he had to take care of his child in kindergarten, sell the machines and look for a job at the same time.

He didn’t understand taxes and because he owed taxes for too long, the $600 in his bank account was directly deducted and his account was frozen. His car was impounded for too many unpaid parking tickets and he was detained by the police, almost missing his interview the next day. He interned at a stock brokerage firm for six months without pay and had to make frantic phone calls to contact clients. To complete his business, he would eat less, not drink water and not go to the toilet every day, just to make more calls. He was evicted by his landlord and had to spend a night with his son in a public toilet. Every day, he had to fight for a bed in a homeless shelter…

Every day, he had to carry all his belongings to work. After work, he had to rush to pick up his son and fight for a bed. When he was in a desperate situation, he had to sell his blood for $24 to get through the crisis.

Where exactly is the “cut-off point” in American society? Without the need for complex economic models, a report from the Federal Reserve provides a precise figure for reference.

According to the “Report on the Economic Well-being of American Households” released by the Federal Reserve in 2023, nearly 40% of adult Americans do not have $400 available to deal with emergencies.

Please note that this is not referring to the extremely poor, but rather covers a significant portion of the working and income-earning American salaried workers.

What is $400?

In present-day America, it might just be a fraction of the cost of an ambulance ride, or the price of replacing two parts at a repair shop.

This $400 is the dividing line between life and death, and it is the “cut-off point” of American society.

Regarding this, an American wrote on the internet: “For many of us, life is like walking on a tightrope. If we don’t get sick, our car doesn’t break down, and we don’t get laid off, we seem no different from the normal middle-class. Drinking Starbucks, paying rent.”

However, if any one of these conditions – not getting sick, not having a broken car, and not being laid off — is not met, then our entire life will collapse like a domino stack.

This is the cruel aspect of the “threshold”.

It is not a gradual decline, but a sudden collapse.

I have lived in New York, USA. Although I haven’t conducted in-depth observation or research on this matter, based on what I have witnessed and heard in daily life, I believe that this “threshold line” does exist.

For the first time, I truly felt that it was fortunate for us to be born and grow up in Nepal.