The American Dream

[rt052192]

I can sum up the American Dream in two words: Smallpox Blankets!

Let me explain: white settlers come to America. Native Americans already living in America. Whites want more land. Befriend the Natives. No longer need natives after whites gain strong foothold. In come the Smallpox Blankets! Natives slowly pushed and forced westward. Cue in Andrew Jackson and the Trail of Tears. Manifest Destiny comes next. Before you know it whites own everything through rape, pillage, and plunder(the Pirate's Creed YAARRGGHH). Next thing you know we apologize to the Native Americans and reward them with casinos!

Thus, because of Smallpox Blankets! the Native Americans were granted the position of blackjack dealer and now earn a modest living.

But this is just my take on what the American Dream is. Is it correct?: most likely not. Does it even make sense?: maybe not. Does it sum up US history quite nicely?: I'd like to think so.

Think on it...

 

[dodo1331]

For me, the American Dream is that your children will have a better life than you did.

 

[Dr Snakeman]

As a student of human geography who is currently studying North America, I thought I'd gather some background information. specifically on the american dream, which I don't really know anything about and studying the region made me curious. so...
What exactly IS the American Dream? I think it's got to do with being able to do whatever you want but I'm not quite sure.
Is it true/ does it work? or does it no longer apply in today's society?
has anyone here had any personal experience linked to this subject?
any other thoughts/opinions on the matter?

The American Dream is about being able to achieve your goals, no matter who you are. It's a concept that alludes to America as the "land of opportunity," suggesting that a person can freely pursue happiness and success regardless of their background or social identity.

This seems to be the most accurate answer so far.

Yeah. What would probably be considered the "official" definition of the American Dream is the ability to start from nothing, and become... whatever you want to become. Everyone who has ever called themself "American" has had predecessors who have done just that: from pilgrims who escaped religious persecution and came to the new world in poverty, to immigrants from Italy, Ireland, Russia, and the like, to present-day Latin American immigrants.
It is about striving for excellence (whatever you consider that to be) using little more than your own determination and a little elbow grease. /patriotism

 

[hopeneverdies]

Look at Carnegie. He came over from Scotland with practically nothing and went on to dominate the steel industry. He is the American Dream.

 

[Serge A. Storms]

Read "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" by Hunter S. Thompson, behind all the drugs and desert bike races it's about the search for the American dream.

Exactly what I was thinking. Great read, although it won't make you feel better about "The American Dream" after you've read it.

 

[Yureina]

To make for yourself a better life than your origins would expect you to have achieved. That's what i'd consider to be the "American Dream" anyway.

 

[Good morning blues]

The "American Dream" generally refers to the idea that class mobility is very high in the United States; basically, the American Dream is to go to America and make your fortune through your own hard work. If it was ever true, it definitively is not; class mobility in the United States is well below the world average, and close to if not the lowest in the developed world.

 

[Silva]

The "American Dream" generally refers to the idea that class mobility is very high in the United States; basically, the American Dream is to go to America and make your fortune through your own hard work. If it was ever true, it definitively is not; class mobility in the United States is well below the world average, and close to if not the lowest in the developed world.

Precisely. It is called a "Dream" because it's an ideal that the US Government and its community officially wants to fulfil, but it's something that is generally unobtainable.

Certain degrees of societal equality are possible, but not too much in a fully capitalist system like that of the US. The best that can be said about it is that there is the CHANCE that a poor man will get lucky and find a way to make quick money. I suppose part of the ideal, then, comes from the gold rushes of early US history, which probably first forged the concept of a land of opportunity through the immigration rushes it caused and the resulting dialogue back to the homelands of immigrants. The fighting off of the British gave freedom to the growing colony, which probably increased the hype to that extreme level that became the Dream.

I say that because, we had a few gold rushes here in Australia, but the resulting immigration booms did not sustain themselves for so long, thanks to our continuing technical state as subjects of the British Crown and the variety of anti-immigration attitudes we had as a result. We never gained that free and opportunistic reputation, even though we retain a relatively egalitarian culture and strong unions. Because we didn't have that kind of total freedom until more modern times.

Nevertheless, there are better countries at achieving the American Dream than America itself. That's why the Dream is no longer merely an American concept.

 

[Floppertje]

Certain degrees of societal equality are possible, but not too much in a fully capitalist system like that of the US. The best that can be said about it is that there is the CHANCE that a poor man will get lucky and find a way to make quick money. I suppose part of the ideal, then, comes from the gold rushes of early US history, which probably first forged the concept of a land of opportunity through the immigration rushes it caused and the resulting dialogue back to the homelands of immigrants. The fighting off of the British gave freedom to the growing colony, which probably increased the hype to that extreme level that became the Dream.

inequality is one of the biggest 'duh's' in any country that keeps going on about freedom. Freedom includes the freedom to get rich, and it's impossible to be rich when everyone else has as much money as you do, because then the prices would just rise and you'd be back to being average again.
It's funny how the French have both liberty AND equality in their national motto, since they pretty much cancel each other out. If you want freedom, you get inequality and if you want equality, you need so many rules that there's not a lot of freedom left.

 

[Silva]

inequality is one of the biggest 'duh's' in any country that keeps going on about freedom. Freedom includes the freedom to get rich, and it's impossible to be rich when everyone else has as much money as you do, because then the prices would just rise and you'd be back to being average again.

True enough. You are quite right. Absolute freedom and absolute equality as ideals cancel each other out.

However, inequality of a certain kind is perhaps okay. If you can build a society which has only a tiny lower class, or none whatsoever, but a large middle and upper class, then you're doing well, even though it's technically unequal. This is why I think that the capitalist system is okay, at least relative to other systems. Some developed capitalist nations have gained a good balance which essentially attains exactly that, so this it's not simply idealism that I'm speaking through here.

Mind you, I'm more pro-regulation and welfare than many people. To me, it's those methods that can keep capitalism from going so far that you get ghettos and huge groups of discontented people wanting change. Through a mild compromise of absolutes and temperance of policy, it's possible to reach a level of decency on both fronts without contradiction.

It's funny how the French have both liberty AND equality in their national motto, since they pretty much cancel each other out. If you want freedom, you get inequality and if you want equality, you need so many rules that there's not a lot of freedom left.

I'm not sure if it's fair to pick out the French system on this, as there's a great difference between a national motto and actual policy. Your point is still right, of course.

 

[Floppertje]

inequality is one of the biggest 'duh's' in any country that keeps going on about freedom. Freedom includes the freedom to get rich, and it's impossible to be rich when everyone else has as much money as you do, because then the prices would just rise and you'd be back to being average again.

True enough. You are quite right. Absolute freedom and absolute equality as ideals cancel each other out.

However, inequality of a certain kind is perhaps okay. If you can build a society which has only a tiny lower class, or none whatsoever, but a large middle and upper class, then you're doing well, even though it's technically unequal. This is why I think that the capitalist system is okay, at least relative to other systems. Some developed capitalist nations have gained a good balance which essentially attains exactly that, so this it's not simply idealism that I'm speaking through here.

capitalism works fine as an economic system, less so as a social one. that's why you need things like retirement funds and a social system that ensures the lower classes have a reasonable standard of living. the danger of THAT is that the government gets too controlling. which is annoying as hell.
I think it's possible to have a social security system without seriously compromising freedom and privacy. unfortunately, the government doesn't share that view.

Mind you, I'm more pro-regulation and welfare than many people. To me, it's those methods that can keep capitalism from going so far that you get ghettos and huge groups of discontented people wanting change. Through a mild compromise of absolutes and temperance of policy, it's possible to reach a level of decency on both fronts without contradiction.

It's funny how the French have both liberty AND equality in their national motto, since they pretty much cancel each other out. If you want freedom, you get inequality and if you want equality, you need so many rules that there's not a lot of freedom left.

I'm not sure if it's fair to pick out the French system on this, as there's a great difference between a national motto and actual policy. Your point is still right, of course.

I wasn't picking on the french system really. I shouldn't, because I don't really know anything about it. It just struck me as curious that they have such a contradictory motto. even if it was directed at anything else than the motto, it would be aimed at napoleon (or whoever invented it) and I don't think he'd mind (or that he'd be able to do anything if he did)

 

[octafish]

Could that be the old Psychiatrists Club? It was a discotheque place...

 

[rokkolpo]

To have a nice home, a good family, and lots of money.

Something everyone should strive for.

why?