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What is "the American Dream"

HTColeman said:
Hmmm...

that spurs some thought, just to ponder, I'm not criticizing, ideally, I somewhat agree with you.

So, if the end is financial success, and the means are opportunity and hard work....what if they reach the end by cheating and such. They are living the American Dream, but have they actually "achieved" the dream?

Or, what if they go about the means opportunity and hard work, but don't achieve financial success, then what is that considered?


Hmmm.....
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hmm, I would say that for your first question, yes they did. Morally, their life was a failure. But financially, it was successful, and I believe the American Dream is based on materialism.

As for your second question, I would say that is a failure of the system. They did fail to live the American Dream because they never had material success.

Now, I am not saying that if you accomplish the American Dream you have led a successful life. You just achieved financial success.
 
Hornburger said:
I think the American Dream deals with financial success, and having the opportunity to achieve such a materialistic dream and make one's life better. To achieve this, people must have the opportunity to achieve the dream, so freedoms also come into play. So basically, I think the end result of the dream is financial success, while the means are opportunity and hard work.
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I think this premise is oversimplified. Money is, by nature and definition, a means to an end. This lends one to the oft-reached conclusion that the "American Dream" is eclectic (not unlike the country itself) and is subjective to anyone.
 
The American Dream does depend on the person. However, on the whole, people come to the United States to lead a more comfortable life. Why else would people want to come to the U.S.? Most likely they would be leaving behind family and friends in the countries they came from, so that generally is not the case. They generally see America as a place of freedom and economic opportunity. Receiving freedom is not the dream, or the American dream would be very common, and the American Dream frequently does not come true. Money is the thing that immigrants hope to gain in America on the whole above anything else.
 
Money gives me freedom. Freedom tastes like muffins.
 
dusty1.jpg

The American Dream, Dusty Rhodes!



But seriously, for me, the dream is all about being left alone when you want to be, Also, the freedom to come and go at will; to enjoy nature; to choose to worship or not to worship; to find a good woman and settle down, and just be happy with your lot in life. The things you can cherish as a citizen of this great nation, rights that should be available to all, but are not. The American dream is whatever makes you feel successful in life here. To each their own definition.
 
hiker said:
dusty1.jpg

The American Dream, Dusty Rhodes!



But seriously, for me, the dream is all about being left alone when you want to be, Also, the freedom to come and go at will; to enjoy nature; to choose to worship or not to worship; to find a good woman and settle down, and just be happy with your lot in life. The things you can cherish as a citizen of this great nation, rights that should be available to all, but are not. The American dream is whatever makes you feel successful in life here. To each their own definition.
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How much you wanna bet that Naughty Nurse, jallman, or sissy-boy will say somethin within the next few days?
 
HTColeman said:
I hear alot of people ranting on about fulfilling the 'American Dream', I might have even done it at one time myself. But what is the American Dream? I am not talking about a string of cliches that don't really mean anything, I'm talking about what is the AD in relation to the average person's life?
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It depends on what you consider success living in America. The posiblities are endless. It's all what is considered important to that American, and if they are willing to do anything to attain that dream.
 
Still, the only difference I can see between America and other nations is the financial opportunities available and the freedom to live in peace.
 
Hornburger said:
Still, the only difference I can see between America and other nations is the financial opportunities available and the freedom to live in peace.
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The difference I percieve is that this country actually stands for something, which in fact comes about in the universalism you express in the above post. While we maintain a doctrine of balance between base values and flexible policy, other countries will attempt to manufacture national identity through monarchies, nationalist dictators etc.. The freedom and financial prosperity the US enjoys didn't come out of nowhere.
 
Brings to mind something I heard a long time ago, when defining success and failure.
Aiming high and falling short is not failure, aiming low and hitting the mark is not success.

And another item in my list of quotable quotes,

No success elsewhere compensates for failure in the home.

There should be a satisfactory (to the individual and his/her family) balance to the dream. Certainly the CEO who has an unhappy wife and children who never see him can be recognized in the financial magazines, but will actually be a miserable failure when it comes to achieving happiness. Money cannot buy long term happiness, at best it can only rent short term joy. And no matter how much the financial success appears to be a worthy goal, getting there alone is not much fun.:(
 
UtahBill said:
Brings to mind something I heard a long time ago, when defining success and failure.
Aiming high and falling short is not failure, aiming low and hitting the mark is not success.

And another item in my list of quotable quotes,

No success elsewhere compensates for failure in the home.

There should be a satisfactory (to the individual and his/her family) balance to the dream. Certainly the CEO who has an unhappy wife and children who never see him can be recognized in the financial magazines, but will actually be a miserable failure when it comes to achieving happiness. Money cannot buy long term happiness, at best it can only rent short term joy. And no matter how much the financial success appears to be a worthy goal, getting there alone is not much fun.:(
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Aha! I really agree with those quotes. That's why I get upset when people say that poor people are lazy, even though they may not intentionally mean every poor person, it just shows that they have forgotten about those who aimed high and just fell short.

IMHO, I would switch the terms hapiness and joy, but I know exactly what you mean. I would say money can make me happy, as in buying some really nice house can put a smile on my face, but a family to put in that house gives me joy and keeps that smile on my face.
 
HTColeman said:
Aha! I really agree with those quotes. That's why I get upset when people say that poor people are lazy, even though they may not intentionally mean every poor person, it just shows that they have forgotten about those who aimed high and just fell short.

IMHO, I would switch the terms hapiness and joy, but I know exactly what you mean. I would say money can make me happy, as in buying some really nice house can put a smile on my face, but a family to put in that house gives me joy and keeps that smile on my face.
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I probably should have said short term pleasure...
I know plenty of poor who cannot achieve the dream because they are clueless, and I blame the schools for that. My wife is a teacher, and she sees some kids get left behind because when they needed some extra help, it wasn't made available to them. She gets some coming into her 8th grade class who can barely read. Parents need to be more involved, and aware of how their kids are doing compared to other kids, instead of allowing a minor handicap to grow into a big one. The easy paths of today are likely to lead to some hard roads in the future.
 
UtahBill said:
I probably should have said short term pleasure...
I know plenty of poor who cannot achieve the dream because they are clueless, and I blame the schools for that. My wife is a teacher, and she sees some kids get left behind because when they needed some extra help, it wasn't made available to them. She gets some coming into her 8th grade class who can barely read. Parents need to be more involved, and aware of how their kids are doing compared to other kids, instead of allowing a minor handicap to grow into a big one. The easy paths of today are likely to lead to some hard roads in the future.
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I know what you mean, I went to well funded school with great opportunites, public btw, but when students are diagnosed with learning disabilities, the teachers take on a 'lost cause' attitude and give up
 
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