The American Dream

Simple, yet as complicated as brain surgery; what is it?

What do you believe is the american dream, and don't give a bs "2 kids, a house, a car, and a 50K income" i wanna know what you really believe is the american dream, what you think america as a whole believes is the american dream.

I am actually going to do a 6 pg term paper on this, and i was just curious what you AFers think on this topic. I'm not gonna use any ideas from here, i've already got the paper well documented; i'm using works from the late Hunter S. Thompson as my main focus (those of you who know of his work aside from popular culture from Fear and Loathing know where i'm getting at).

aright, shoot! :smokin:

edit: it'd be interesting for users outside U.S. to give input, too, what they believe we think the american dream is, or what they believe their own country's people's dream of a normal life is.

As a whole, the American dream is largely the same as it was during the cold war: Move to the suburbs, heavy emphasis on family life, economic prosperity through capitalist consumerism, a ruling middle class, all those things that go along with cultural hegemony and liberal consensus. Oh yeah, can't forget to mention American exceptionalism/superiority and the belief that we should spread our superior socioeconomic system around the world.

vinnym86, you are asking all the right questions. Keep looking for your answers. I don't think you have enough life experience to answer them yet, but if you keep looking for the answers you will find them.

Watch Fear and Loathing again in a couple of years, all the things you've experienced in the mean time will give it a nice new spin.

Have you ever been on an acid trip? Anyone who hasn't can't fully appreciate that movie.

vinnym86, you are asking all the right questions. Keep looking for your answers. I don't think you have enough life experience to answer them yet, but if you keep looking for the answers you will find them.

Watch Fear and Loathing again in a couple of years, all the things you've experienced in the mean time will give it a nice new spin.

Have you ever been on an acid trip? Anyone who hasn't can't fully appreciate that movie.

yes i have, twice, actually. its true, the movie shines light on questions and provokes new thoughts each time i watch it (over some time). I am currently reading Kingdom of Fear and find the thought process of HST and why he hinks the way he thinks, and how he thinks, are something that is yet a mystery to me, slowly unravelling as i find real life situations to apply them to. I've had a mushroom trip as well most recently and it has put a completely different view on my own life as i trudged through the intraspective phase. not quite as thought provoking about the world as acid had, but rather about who i am as a person. maybe it was my mind, maybe it was the defference b/w the two substances, w/e. i hope to enlighten myself with new meaning that i find in HST's works, he was truly a genius. "Too wierd to live, too rare to die."

on the topic o my paper, i did pretty terribly, as i used sources from only HST and John Stienbeck and contrasted views of the american dream. The thing was to be a "doumented essay" following an MLA documented format and style of writing. oh well, i got a point across. screw the grade.

To me,the american dream is to live a life based around the values important to you. Don't wan't money? Don't waste time maaking it. Don't want kids? Agein, don't waste your time. What I mean is that you prosper in your own way, in your own dream.

To me,the american dream is to live a life based around the values important to you. Don't wan't money? Don't waste time maaking it. Don't want kids? Agein, don't waste your time. What I mean is that you prosper in your own way, in your own dream.

I dont see why its even called the American Dream

Good point, I guess my version it a universal good life dream.

The "American Dream" is different for everyone, but its prolly going to have something to do w/ a life thats worry free.

author John Steinbeck depicts The American Dream as shared commonly by most of the populous because he writes about it during and after the Great Depression, about how most americans were trying to make a living just to get food, and the dream was to be employed and have a decent income. Other novelists depict dreams of grandeuer, because Americans have always dreamt the big life. It is even carried over to today, as a majority of the poplation is riveted to the lives of hollywood stars and the glamorous lives of musical artists, its easy to see how much of america dreams of having more than what they already have. Its true some individuals, myself included, have grossly contrasting views of what the american dream is, but maybe it is The American Dream because it is the dream of much of the populous, and not of an individual. Even Hunter S. Thompson described the gamblers of Las Vegas as Americans trapped in conformity still humping the american dream, still caught like flies to the bright flashing lights o the slot machines with a picture in their mind of that one big winner.

Whatever it is, it certainly isn't the Euro (http://www.timbro.com/euvsusa/)pean (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/17/weekinreview/17bawer.html?ex=1271390400&en=44ea05b3e068feb5&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss) Daydream

This isn't about Europe.

Unfortunately, the general image of the American dream seems to be consume everything to make your own lives better, and damn anyone else if they get in the way.

This isn't about Europe.

Unfortunately, the general image of the American dream seems to be consume everything to make your own lives better, and damn anyone else if they get in the way.

Being the only superpower left on the planet (for the time being, anyway), we're entitled.:grinyes:

Being the only superpower left on the planet (for the time being, anyway), we're entitled.:grinyes:

Your trolling-fu is weak. I won't bite.

American dream = Bigger is better.

the basic american dream from the 50's was live in a house in the suburbs with a white picket fence, a golden retriever, 2 happy kids, a cadillac and a wife that would spread her legs when you snap your fingers. but now things are different.....some people just wanna be rich, some wanna be famous, some wanna just have the ladies (or men), some wanted to just be happy, be succesful..........basically there is no american dream, america is a land of opportunities, so if there is just one thing everybdy wants then what are all the choices for?

I think my vision of the American Dream is similar to element's. Back in the day, America was seen as a place where people could come to be free and live their lives in whatever way pleased them. Nothing was thrown on you, you were free to have your own beliefs and go to school and get whatever jobs you wanted.

Now, I still kind of think it's that, although some foreigners don't see that anymore. In my mind, America allows you to live whatever dream you want to.

No, America lets you live whatever dream fits in with the "collective morals". What if I want to come to America to get pregnant, have abortions and smoke dope? It's just not gonna happen, because it isn't a free society. Not even close.

i think the american dream differs depending on whether or not you a citizen or a illegal immigrant

Meh...whatever.

Good thing my dream isn't to be a pregnant crackhead...

I agree with sv650. I think the American Dream generally refers to the ability to accomplish whatever you want to accomplish. And I think the reason it's called the "American" dream is because back in the day, the only place in the world you could live freely and have no limits to your dreams was America. It's not that all Americans generally have the same dream. Rather, all immigrants dreamt of getting to America and having no limit to their success.
The American Dream.

Wikipedia has a nice article here...

American Dream

The American Dream is the faith held by many in the United States of America that through hard work, courage, and determination one can achieve a better life for oneself, usually through financial prosperity. These were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed on to subsequent generations. What the American Dream has become is a question under constant discussion, and some believe that it has led to an emphasis on material wealth as a measure of success and/or happiness.

The American Dream today

In the 20th century, the American Dream had its challenges. The Great Depression caused widespread hardship during the 1930s, and was almost a reverse of the dream for those directly affected. Racial instability did not disappear, and in some parts of the country racial violence was almost commonplace. There was concern about the undemocratic campaign known as McCarthyism carried on against suspected Communists.

Since the end of World War II, young American families have sought to live the suburbs that were built up around major cities. This led to the rise of the relatively conservative 1950s, when many pursued the "perfect family" as a part or consequence of the American Dream. This period was shattered by a new generation of young people who embraced the hippie values of the 1960s, denying traditional values such as the American Dream. In modern times, the American Dream is seen as a possible accomplishment, as all children can go to school and get an education. Though the drive to it waned during those years, the dream itself has never died out.

In the 1990s, the pursuit of the American Dream could be seen in the Dot-com boom. People in U.S., as well as the world poured their energy into the new Gold Rush - the Internet. It was again driven by the same faith that by one's ingenuity and hardwork, anyone can become successful in America. Ordinary people started new companies from their garages and became millionaires. This new chapter of the American Dream again became the beacon to the world and attracted many entrepreneurial people from China and India to Silicon Valley to form startups, and seek fortune in America.

Example of the American Dream

A recent example of the American Dream being realized is the case of Tamir Sapir. An immigrant from the former Soviet republic of Georgia, Sapir arrived in America in 1973 and started as a taxicab driver in New York City. Saving up to buy an electronics store, he catered primarily to Russian clientele. Eventually he made contacts with the Soviet contingent to the United Nations in New York, and traded electronics for oil contracts, which he then sold to American companies. Investing the profits in Manhattan real estate, he became a billionaire by 2002, less than thirty years after arriving penniless in America. Like many rags to riches stories, his is a unique one that would be hard to replicate. Yet today Sapir is becoming known as America's "billionaire cabbie."

Criticism

The main criticism is that the American Dream is misleading. These critics say that, for various reasons, it simply is not possible for everyone to become prosperous through determination and hard work alone. The consequences of this belief can include the poor feeling that it is their fault that they are not successful. It can also result in less effort towards helping the poor since their poverty is seen as "proof" of their laziness. The concept of the American Dream also ignores other factors of success such as luck, family, language, and wealth one is born into (although proponents of the dream would claim that starting wealth is irrelevant because of the belief that there is no level of poverty one cannot rise from with hard work). It also fails to take inheritable traits such as intelligence and physical attributes into account.

The American Dream is seen by critics as being somewhat superficial or meaningless.


Particular Criticism

Unequal access to higher education
Wealth retention
Economies of scale
Genetic lottery
Ethical differences

SOURCE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dream)


All that aside though what is the American Dream? You must ask yourself though, what is the American Dream TO YOU?

For me, the American Dream is to find a nice paying job that I like, settle down with a nice wife, maybe some kids, and probably most importantly is before I die I know I really accomplished something in my life. Whether it's finacial security, continueing my genes, writing a life changing best selling book, doing some of the things I always wanted to do that most people don't or feel they can't do, or just knowing that I did a good job in life and I'm at peace when I go.

That's me though, your American Dream could be to get drunk and streak every single Super Bowl until you die.