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I thought the "American" dream was to get as rich as possible so you can horde material posessions, live the easy life, have power over others and have others do your work for you. Not saying there is anything wrong with that, i mean if i could have that i wouldnt turn it down.
It is called the "Dream" because it is something to strive for and aspire to, not something to actually achieve. Happiness, if you find it, will be found on the journey, not at the destnation.
That being said, the dream and the pursuit of happiness have become more and more entwined with the pursuit of wealth. Because there is an increasing dependency on wealth. Pursuit of your dream or happiness normally works better with good health, and that costs a lot of money or a serious comittment to work.
For those who see children as a part of their life or future, to provide well for them you need health insurance, dental, college savings etc. In Europe, pursuing your dream or happiness are not so dependent on work or money.
I don't know guys, for me as a foreigner, there's just something about this whole "American dream" thing that you can just feel. It's not about the money, you can get rich quick anywhere in the world. It's definitely not about the freedom either (too many social contracts and too much "politicallycorrectness"). For me it was something they showed in the movie American Pie. The guys' biggest problem was to get laid. They didn't care about anything else in the world. I am not saying that being so ignorant is something awesome (or awful for that matter). I'm just saying that perhaps the American Dream is the possibility of being ignorant and still live your life happily.
Guess what? The new dream is not losing your job and when you do being able to find a new one while supporting your huge house, huge mortgage, two cars and 2.1 kids whilst living on UC. That's the new dream... and unfortunately every foreigner that comes here illegally is taking those dreams way one by one by working for half the cost of legal americans and taking jobs and shipping them overseas. How's that for what the new American dream is?
The "dream" is largely a tool used for selling someone on the notion that America was/is a place made up of aspiring dreamers and the salesman has just the thing you need to make that dream come true. By definition the American dream is financial prosperity and all the trappings that usually are considered proof of your "arrival" to that level of wealth. Like Vegas and Atlantic city the streets of America are no stranger to the millions of people who failed to realize their hopes and dreams, tons of todays foreigners in the US are destitute, lacking in education they strive to have their children aspire to the dream of doing better only to see them disappear into the gang life and prisons.
At one time the dream was being sold by the merchants of England, Scotland, Italy, and parts of eastern Europe to entice the weary and downtrodden to go to the unsettled land to prosper by working for the upper class system of early mercantilism, not much of a dream but it probably beat the horrendous life of a lower class of people from those very class conscious societies they were leaving. History rewards the successful by chronicling their feats, the losers are no where to be found on the pages of most US history books, even the Native population is given short mention in most school texts when compared to the immense volumes reserved for the whites accomplishments. There is no one American dream, ours is a nation founded by English malcontents, populated from it's beginnings with wide eyed hopefuls that often met with their demise still seeking that elusive dream of riches. Not much has changed in that regard.
I don't know guys, for me as a foreigner, there's just something about this whole "American dream" thing that you can just feel. It's not about the money, you can get rich quick anywhere in the world. It's definitely not about the freedom either (too many social contracts and too much "politicallycorrectness"). For me it was something they showed in the movie American Pie. The guys' biggest problem was to get laid. They didn't care about anything else in the world. I am not saying that being so ignorant is something awesome (or awful for that matter). I'm just saying that perhaps the American Dream is the possibility of being ignorant and still live your life happily.
Thoughtful post, if destined to be overlooked in this thread -- and that's a pity. Many people will stop at the term "ignorant" and snicker without reflecting on the fact that all of us are ignorant to certain degree, and that definitions of happiness are well-nigh inexhaustible.
My father used to tell me that the true value of money is that it buys you the freedom to be left the hell alone. Maybe, as you imply, the true value of the American dream is that it offers the chance to be happy without having to be theoretical.
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The American dream. What do you think?
