Is the american dream dead or just is it baised on one's perception of it?

Here is Wikipedia’s definition:

The American Dream (The Dream) is a phrase referring to the supposed freedom that allows all citizens and all residents of the United States to pursue their goals in life through hard work and free choice.

Here are my views on The American Dream:

I think it still exists but I believe it is less obtainable than it used to be due to a climate of poor economic times and a high unemployment rate throughout the country. The hard work part is admirable but if you have nothing to show for it through little or no fault of your own, it can’t help but be discouraging. As far as free choice, we still have that here in America but it is a lot different than it used to be in former years. Like before 9–11 and the Patriot Act, for example.

I think it only seems like it, because for a period of time, the American Dream was replaced by entitlement. We’ve seen how stable entitlement is, and now we’re back to hard work and free choice. It’s kind of like starting an exercise program after a decade as a couch potato: slow, disheartening at times, and the results may not be as good as you expect because of aging.

The American dream is the idea that if you work hard and honestly, you can make a good life for yourself and reach your goals. I think that for the most part this is still true.

The principal external obstacle to it is the incredible inequity in our educational system. It’s a lot easier to pursue the American dream if you go to a good high school and get a degree from Harvard or Yale—or, really, any university—than if you drop out of an inner-city high school.

The principal internal obstacle is that the American dream does not excuse you from poor choices—it doesn’t guarantee success no matter what, but says that if you work hard and honestly you’ll have a shot at getting where you want to go. Many choices mean you’ll need to work harder and longer to get there.

I dreamed the American dream the other night, and promptly forgot it when I woke up.

The American dream is a myth, and it means different things to different people. If you think it dead, it’s dead. That’s a pretty negative point of view in my mind. In fact, it’s an irresponsible view. It suggests passiveness and an inability to do much. Quite the opposite from the American dream I know.

In my American dream, if we have ideas, and take responsibility for making them happen, and we work hard at it, we’ll likely succeed. Success, of course, is not guaranteed. But I don’t think sour grapes is the answer. The answer is to identify problems, and work hard to fix them.

Sometimes that involves compromise. You might not get all of what you want. Or sometimes you might fail utterly. Just because you fail doesn’t mean the American dream doesn’t exist. It just means you didn’t have a good enough idea, or you weren’t responsible enough, or you didn’t work hard enough. Blaming the system is a cop out. We are all responsible for our own fates. Let’s get cracking!

With apologies to Mitch Leigh and by Joe Darion

To dream the American dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far

To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause

And I know if I’ll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I’m laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star

It’s very much alive. And it even spread to other countries. There’s a little American dream in all of us, everywhere. It works even better when people use a step by step approach, setting realistic goals in shorter time frames as well while keeping the vision. I like the notion of a vision being a dream with a deadline.

@mattbrowne
ditto – great answer… you talk good ;-)