What is the American Dream?

Whatever you want it to be.

Pancakes, Beards, Plaid/Denim Clothing, Beer, Moose… Oh shit, that’s the Canadian Dream!

How about NASCAR and Walmart?

When I was very young, it was all about getting away from the family at the earliest possible age, starting a new independent life and embracing ambition in order to realize goals and create a new identity. As I’ve aged the dream has been to embrace whatever strengths the whole has to offer, provide security for as many as possible and to accept contentedness doesn’t equal stagnation.

The American dream is to be born in the gutter and have nothing. Then to raise up and have all the money in the world, and stick it in your ears and go PLBTLBTLBLTLBTLBLT!!

That’s a pretty good dream.

Click!

The American Dream is that anyone can make it big if they apply themselves and work hard.

The American Dream is actually the American Myth. We have less class mobility now than ever. If you’re born poor, you have less chance of getting out of poverty than in many other countries. But what’s that saying? About something being the stuff that dreams are made of?

American Dream (according to Dictionary.com)

1. the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American.

2. a life of personal happiness and material comfort as traditionally sought by individuals in the U.S.

I think definition #2 is the best description of what many think is probably the epitome of the American Dream. I could be totally wrong with this opinion though.

The American Dream is also that your children will do better than their parents. Sometimes that does still happen, but somewhere I read that it is actually a three-generation cycle:

1st generation – Immigrants arrive poor at the bottom of the heap but work really hard to give their children a chance

2nd generation – takes that chance and parlays it into material success

3rd generation – either wastes everything that generation 2 saved up, or choose to have an altruistic career that pays poorly but rewards the soul greatly

4th generation – back at the bottom and so work really hard to give their children a chance.

Well, that you can do anything, be anything, think of anything, go anywhere, be everywhere, be who you want, be how you want, be with whom you want, within the confines of the great Constitution. free from oppression, racism, discrimination, attack, to vote for whom you want, without intimidation, and live in harmony with your fellow man/woman. Impressive, admired throughout the world, envied, and with all of its flaws, a starting point for a free society in all of our minds whether we live there or not.

@Darwin GA

As an outsider it seemed to be greed and power under the Bush administration. Let’s hope that changes with the ultimate “American Dream” in residence

To bed me.

It is never being satisfied.
The Founding Fathers used the phrase, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”
They did not say the “attainment” of happiness but the “pursuit” of happiness. I Guess they new a thing or two about human nature

It’s to have the ability to determine your own fate, to take control of your success and make yourself out to be what you want to be, to enjoy whatever you want, to be free to express yourself without cause of retaliation.

Compare this to places where you can be taken from the street for no reason whatsoever and sentenced to spend the rest of your miserable life laboring away in a mine.

A hot three way with Norway and Sweden.

You want the American Dream? Here it is…

Inner Peace (spiritual aspect)
Divine Love (emotional aspect)
Mental & Physical Health (mind & body aspect)
Immense wealth (physical aspect)

That’s my take on things. :)

Addendum:
Doing what you love and making money with it…the dream has possibilities.
With good mental and physical health…the dream has possibilities.
With love in your life…the dream has possibilities.

But isn’t this “American Dream” just a dream of possibilities that we want no matter where we are, be it America or abroad?
Another name for it could be “The Universal Dream”.

The thing that made the American Dream different from dreams in other countries is that by immigrating to America people had a fresh start. They were not bound by limits of culture, caste, family, guild, status, religion, accent, education or history. Hence, the American Dream became success in spite of personal or family history.

It has changed some over time, but it still relates back to being able to be a success in spite of who you are or what your family is.

obey the corporations!

The American dream is living your life to the fullest every day. Seizing every opportunity that will bring good to your life. However the way you live your life and take these opportunities is entirely up to you.

@TaoSan To an outsider, it might look that way, but in reality, most Americans want to become the corporation, or at least the boss of one.

Get rich or die tryin’.