The+American+Dream

The American Dream

The American Dream A “Dream” is a series of thoughts, images, or emotions occurring during sleep or consciousness, a dream-like vision that is notable for its beauty, excellence, and enjoyable quality. When you combine the word “dream” with the word “American”, you get a phrase that has become known all across the world: A phrase that people, no matter what origin or rank, follow; Believing they can achieve the dream through dedication and hard work; resulting in a free, equal, wealthier, and enhanced life; a phrase that advertises the beauty, excellence, and amazing quality of a dream, but does not state that for some people that it is just a dream and it‘s not easily attainable as it seems. If you were to ask any individual of Modern America today what their American Dream is, they might reply, “ A big house, Nice cars, Fortune, maybe Fame, a Beautiful family, and so forth. Basically answering an unsustainable “Dream” based on materialistic ideals. Unsustainable because their needs and wants harm the environment, materialistic because it focuses on the bettering of the individual instead of the triumph of everyone. It was once mentioned that anyone can achieve their American dream through intense vocation and endurance, just as one has reached their dream. Anyone can infer the person did not think about the racial and unequal class structure that preceded this person or social group. So often, in most cases, reaching the American Dream is not always dependent on an individuals success or failure but these injustices.

The Dream itself was first represented in the second line of the Declaration of Independence. The line reads that "all men are created equal" and that they are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights" including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." The dream was inspired by those trying to escape harsh realities such as Racism, Famine, war, violence, and terrible living conditions. The dream was once all about Freedom, land, opportunity, equality, and a better life. Now it has evolved into a dream of individual, selfish desire, based on all the “finer” things in life. Our country has gone from needy to greedy, on a constant struggle for more power, strength, wealth, and resources. Many are unaware that the pursuit of their myth, that has captivated so many, has caused problems. Created the problem of not being able to achieve the dream at all due to America’s formation of social classes, forgetting equality of everyone, and quickly depleting all the resources that plays a big part in the American Dream. James Truslow Adams said, “The American Dream, that has lured tens of millions of all nations to our shores in the past century has not been a dream of material plenty, though that has doubtlessly counted heavily. It has been a dream of being able to grow to fullest development as a man and woman, unhampered by the barriers which had slowly been erected in the older civilizations, unrepressed by social orders which had developed for the benefit of classes rather than for the simple human being of any and every class.” Looking on society today this Dream no longer exists. So the question is, What makes so many people want to live in the U.S. when the American Dream has no real human moral meaning?