Unit 32
What Is American Dream?
What is the American Dream? Is it the same for all Americans? Is it a myth? Is it simply a search for a better life? How has the American Dream changed over time? Some see their dreams wither and die while others see their dreams fulfilled. Why? Everyone has dreams abut a personally fulfilled life... and what is your dream?
The term American Dream was first used by James Adams in his book The Epic of America which was written in 1931. He states: The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown tired and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to get to the fullest stature of which they are capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position."
In the united States' Declaration of Independence, our founding fathers state: "... all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." Might this view be considered the foundation of the American Dream?
Were homesteaders who left the big cities of the east to find happiness and their piece of land in the unknown wilderness of the west pursuing these Rights? Were the immigrants who came to the United States looking for their bit of life, liberty, happiness and their Dream? And what did the desire of the veteran of World War II -- to settle down, to have a home, a car and a family -- tell us about this Dream? Is the American Dream attainable by all Americans? Would Martin Luther King feel his Dream was attained? Did Malcolm X realize his Dream?
Some say, that the American Dream has become the pursuit of material prosperity -- that people work more hours to get bigger cars, fancier homes, the fruits of prosperity for their families -- but have less time to enjoy their prosperity. Others say that the American Dream is beyond the reach of the working poor who must work two jobs for their family's survival. Yet others look toward a new American Dream with less focus on financial gain and more emphasis on living a simple, fulfilling life. |