As 2025 draws to a close, a term originally from the gaming world, the “kill line”, has recently entered online discussions as a lens to understand U.S. social and economic vulnerability, sparking widespread debate.

When risks like medical bills or job loss pile up and push finances below a critical threshold, the result can be a rapid chain reaction, often pushing people into poverty or even homelessness, with little chance to recover.

It is a stark reality of American life that there is no reset button, stripping away the shine of the American Dream and revealing a structural gap between hope and despair.