Croatian Dream: Whether American or Croatian, It No Longer Exists

Does success in the eyes of Croats look like acquiring material wealth, living from renting properties, opening a local pub, fast food, going abroad to earn a foreign pension, or is the ultimate life goal for locals to be an entrepreneur, engage in politics, work ‘nine to five’ in a state or private company, or perhaps something entirely different? Or maybe nothing? The answer, of course, is not and cannot be unambiguous, but the real question is in which direction the way of thinking of Croats about this issue is developing.

For comparison, almost seventeen years ago, in one of the first issues of Lider, the main topic was ‘Croatian Dream – Living from Rent’, and it touched on examples of numerous entrepreneurs and public figures who, alongside their regular jobs, engaged in renting properties and earned additional income for living. Although it seems that since then the idea of the ‘Croatian Dream’ has not changed much, the local counterpart of the ‘American Dream’, which embodies the ideals of democracy, freedom, rights, and equality of opportunity for all, experts in the fields of economics, political science, and psychology would not agree with that.

With economic and geopolitical instabilities, as well as the emergence of new generations and their entry into the labor market, significant changes in the understanding of success, the ideal way of life, sources of income, and the investment of one’s own time (actually the only non-renewable resource) into what is truly important to them are noticeable in Croatia. So what is the dream of today’s Croatian resident? What do young hopes bring to this paradigm, and what do the older generations long for?

Everyone Has Their Dream

The answer to the question of what the Croatian dream is is individual, believes economic analyst and consultant Petar Vušković, explaining that the value system in each of us defines the concept of ‘Croatian Dream’.

– If we were to summarize everything under a common denominator, I would say it is the right to choose. Choice is always a matter of freedom – emphasizes Vušković, who feels that we have taken freedom for granted, which the unfortunate wars around us should remind us of.

On the other hand, psychologist Dario Car believes that we have all tried to live the ‘American Dream’ and that the ‘Croatian Dream’ does not exist because ‘there was no role model in Croatia whose example, behavior, or success would inspire such a thing’.

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—Psychologically speaking, a person is an environmental and experiential being, and consequently, social culture, media, globalization, and digitalization influence him and his dreams… The ‘American Dream’ included access to education, the possibility of employment, ownership of one’s own home, and the mobility and freedom to achieve our goals. Stories of individuals who came from humble conditions and achieved success, as well as lifestyle and consumer habits, were often promoted equally in the media and culture. In our case, the successes of individuals and ultimately society are often viewed through a negative prism. We created that ‘American Dream’ as younger people and hoped for it until the first obstacles, and then we corrected it according to the real conditions and the environment in which we lived or live – explains Car, adding that precisely because a person is an experiential being, the changes that have occurred in recent years have also changed the way of thinking, or the ‘direction’ of our dreams.

Namely, the coronavirus pandemic, lockdown, changing life habits, earthquakes, fear, insecurity, the geopolitical crisis or war in Ukraine, energy problems, and high inflation have caused a different understanding of dreams.

– The consequence of this is the dream of people in which they want, above all, to feel safer. More independent. They do not want to lose their jobs again, be long-term closed, financially dependent, and insecure. The resulting heterogeneity of society, which was already sufficiently large, has led to the fact that today it is difficult to generalize or put anything into frameworks. Accordingly, everyone has started to dream and ultimately live their dream. Not Croatian, not American, but their own. The basic direction, and thus the dream, is to be safer, if not secure – notes Car.

It is precisely the desire for security and the reduction of uncertainty, accelerated digitalization, and remote work that have created opportunities for some people to venture into entrepreneurship, notes Car.

Take Matters into Your Own Hands

– From a psychological perspective, people saw an opportunity for gaining independence and control in this, and these are important psychological aspects that often play a key role in people’s decision to engage in entrepreneurship. Control over business processes and outcomes will reduce anxiety and fear of unpredictable situations. People who strive for control will often appreciate the ability to shape their business success themselves. On the other hand, independence will give us a sense of autonomy, freedom of choice, and a reduced sense of helplessness – explains Car.

Simply put, people have decided to take matters into their own hands to regain, at least seemingly, control over their lives and careers, and thus each achieve their version of the ‘Croatian Dream’. However, despite the impression that many people decided to venture into entrepreneurship during and after the pandemic by opening businesses, starting startups, and various businesses, Vušković still emphasizes that during that period more companies failed than new ones were established.

– There is still little entrepreneurial initiative. I would dare to say that we have developed a rent economy. We live from apartments and renting flats. According to the number of properties, we are second in Europe – emphasizes Vušković.

It is quite clear that rent will be a frequent source of income in a country that is at the top in the EU in terms of private ownership of real estate per capita, believes political scientist Karlo Jurak.

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Karlo Jurak

photo Ratko Mavar

—Similarly, the natural-geographical and climatological conditions allow summer tourism to compensate for the weaknesses of other economic activities – adds Jurak, noting that he is not inclined to use the term ‘Croatian Dream’, especially in the context of stereotypes such as rent, cafes, and merging non-working days, as it distorts the positive connotation of the original form of the ‘American Dream’.

Therefore, precisely because of economic, but also cultural trends, which are independent of the will of the isolated individual, the thinking of Croats is changing, notes Jurak.

– With the arrival of new technologies, changes in dominant paradigms, and greater openness to Western trends, some new forms of (non)economic behavior are becoming increasingly acceptable – flat-rate crafts, as they are relatively simple and with lower contributions, the same applies to limited liability companies and small businesses, as the structure of the economy is increasingly less based on large plants, and that is also a requirement of modern post-materialistic society, which is increasingly sought in various ways. All this then influences thought, of course – explains Jurak.

Mistakes of the Older Generation

Vušković, on the other hand, likes the different way of thinking of young people because ‘they have a stance and demand more’.

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Petar Vušković

photo Lider Media

—The best way to see this is in the labor market. They value their work much more, prioritizing freedom over material wealth. This freedom has been brought about by rising standards. For them, it is travel, a healthy life and diet, gym. We live better than we did ten years ago. Our integration into the European Union and the standardization of business, i.e., norms, laws, and regulations, has greatly helped us in this – explains Vušković.

What is new in economic behavior that affects society, and how quickly the domestic economy adapts to the dictates of larger players, as well as what cultural and ideological patterns shape this, can best be seen in the new generations, adds Jurak.

– Specifically, and most visibly, for young people, especially Generation Z, a permanent job, a large system in which they work, traditional social rights, security, regardless of salary, at some place is becoming less important. Flexibility, heterogeneity of work forms, non-traditional work and social rights that strive for greater expression of individuality in the workplace, salary, and improvement, regardless of the permanence and security of the job, are becoming more important. All this is connected with the change in the structure of the economy – emphasizes Jurak.

Due to all the generational, economic, social, and demographic changes in the last twenty years, younger generations, learning from the ‘mistakes’ of their parents, want to see purpose in their lives (and thus in work).

– The world known to new generations today is quite a different environment from that known to their parents’ generations, from the time of the ‘American Dream’ and somewhat later, who are currently on the same labor market. Twenty or thirty years ago, the greatest influences on the choice of job, business environment, and even the industry itself were the satisfaction of basic existential needs for job security and an acceptable amount of monthly salary. People actually focused on basic needs. But our psychological profiles have a need, and so do we, to ‘climb’ and want something more than mere satisfaction of existential needs. Today, young people are increasingly turning to satisfying so-called higher levels of needs, seeking jobs where they can make an individual contribution, where they can positively impact their environment, and find and fulfill their own purpose – adds Car.

Intergenerational Dilemmas

Vušković describes the lifestyle of young people today as carefree and believes that it is therefore good to surround oneself with young people.

– Look at the faces of Croatian retirees or students. A hundred times I wonder why there is so much tension and frustration in the faces of retirees. Is this a generation that has not achieved anything, one that survived the war? I don’t know, that’s a question for sociologists. What I do know is that it is worth surrounding yourself with young people. If you manage to penetrate through the headphones they have on their heads, you will see how much you can learn from them – concludes Vušković.

Likewise, the older generation will often wonder why their grandchildren, and even daughters and sons, frequently change jobs or take on unstable and atypical forms of work, adds Jurak.

– Young people will respond to this, and in that will be summarized the answer to other intergenerational, but also social dilemmas and conflicts: ‘O. K., boomer‘ – concludes Jurak.

In any case, the dream in some mythical form, whether Croatian or American, no longer exists, concludes Car.

– The general availability of everything has eliminated the need for dreams in the form in which they were experienced by post-war generations and when it appeared – emphasizes Car.