American Dream
The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States of America in which democratic ideals are perceived as a promise of prosperity for its people. In the American Dream, first expressed by James Truslow Adams in 1931, citizens of every rank feel that they can achieve a "better, richer, and happier life."[1] The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence[2] which states that "all men are created equal"[3] and that they are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights"[3] including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."[3]
The American Dream has been credited with helping to build a cohesive American experience but has also been blamed for overinflated expectations.[4] Some commentators have noted that despite deep-seated belief in the egalitarian American Dream, the modern American wealth structure still perpetuates racial and class inequalities between generations.[5] These commentators note that advantage and disadvantage are not always connected to individual successes or failures, but often to prior position in a social group.[5]
In common parlance, the term American Dream is often used as a synonym for home ownership since homes have historically been seen as status symbols separating the middle classes and the poor.[6] This usage, though, while common, is generally considered a very specific use of a more general term.
Overview
Since the early 19th century, the United States has regarded and promoted itself as a beacon of liberty and prosperity achieved through a combination of the philosophical and ethical principles propounded by its founders and implemented in their most perfect form. In tandem with this is its natural wealth and bounty within the New World.
The meaning of the "American Dream" has changed over the course of history. While historically traced to the New World mystique — the availability of land and the continuing American expansion — the ethos today simply indicates the ability, through participation in the resonant society and culture of the United States, to bring prosperity to oneself. According to the dream, this includes the opportunity for one's children to grow up and receive an American education and its consequent career opportunities. It is the opportunity to make individual choices without the restrictions of class, caste, religion, race, or ethnic group.
Origin
James Truslow Adams coined the phrase "American Dream" in his 1931 book Epic of America:
The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, 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 weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.[7]
He also wrote:
The American Dream, that has lured tens of millions of all nations to our shores in the past century has not been a dream of material plenty, though that has doubtlessly counted heavily. It has been a dream of being able to grow to fullest development as a man and woman, unhampered by the barriers which had slowly been erected in the older civilizations, unrepressed by social orders which had developed for the benefit of classes rather than for the simple human being of any and every class.
Later 20th and 21st centuries
In recent years, the concept of the American Dream as a national ideal has been studied by various organizations. The conclusions of these studies indicate that during the 1990s to the 2000s, an increasing number of people confess to having lost faith in the American Dream.[2]
See also
International:
Notes
- ^ Cullen, 2004, p. 6.
- ^ a b Kamp, David (2009). "Rethinking the American Dream". Vanity Fair. Retrieved June 20, 2009.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ a b c USHistory.org. The Declaration of Independence. Retrieved on June 20, 2009.
- ^ Greider, William. The Nation, May 6, 2009. The Future of the American Dream, Retrieved on June 20, 2009.
- ^ a b Johnson, 2006, pp. 6–10. "The crucial point is not that inequalities exist, but that they are being perpetuated in recurrent patterns—they are not always the result of individual success or failure, nor are they randomly distributed throughout the population. In the contemporary United States, the structure of wealth systematically transmits race and class inequalities through generations despite deep-rooted belief otherwise."
- ^ Fisher, Sarah Young; Shelly, Susan: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Personal Finance in Your 20s & 30s, Penguin Group, 2009, pg. 264
- ^ Library of Congress. American Memory. "What is the American Dream?". Accessed August 21, 2008.
References
- Cullen, Jim. The American dream: a short history of an idea that shaped a nation, Oxford University Press US, 2004. ISBN 0195173252
- Johnson, Heather Beth. The American dream and the power of wealth: choosing schools and inheriting inequality in the land of opportunity, CRC Press, 2006. ISBN 0415952395
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