People began to give up on the American Dream almost from the time it was created. Below, a letter from a riverboat porter written in 1901 shows some of the earliest written documentation of an American saying, 'Fuck it, what's the point?' The author of the letter is said to have gone on to become a surly, overweight drunkard who spent his days beneath a tree on the banks of the Mississippi River drinking sour mash whiskey and complaining about the humidity. 