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The Idea of the American Dream

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The Idea of the American Dream
The American Dream What is the American Dream? Is it even attainable for the average citizen? Everyone has their own opinions on how they view the American dream. It can be different for almost everyone when you take into consideration their gender, age, nationality, and the transition of this idea between each generation. Can we obtain this dream by having a big house, luxury items, a non dysfunctional family, and the perfect job one would never complain about? Or is it simply what our nation is told by authorities such as parent figures and the media? Most people would consider this fantasy as the "perfect life" which, most comprehend as going to college, getting a good job, making a family, and having more money than needed. This idea of the so called perfect life is thought of as the universal dream for Americans. This dream is thought of as the pursuit of happiness, but this idea is no longer a selfless goal. Instead, the pursuit of happiness has transitioned into a self-serving fantasy for most Americans. This transition of the American dream has caused most people in this nation to lose focus on what is really important in our lives and brainwashed us to believe the allusion that possessing material items will bring us happiness. Many immigrants who reside in America have the idea that the American dream is escaping poverty and simply living a better life, while other immigrants and main stream American society view America as a place of opportunity to become more successful financially.
The idea of the American dream and the pursuit of happiness may be universal for mature Americans, but completely different for other types of people according to their age, gender, nationality, and historic generation. People who were the supporters of their families over 50 years ago had only one idea of happiness, and that idea was a goal to make sure their was food on the table and a roof over their heads. That simple dream no longer exists in the majority of America.


Cited: Ciardi, John. “What is Happiness?” Wryick and Slaughter 291-293. Kim, Eun-Young. "Career Choice Among Second-Generation Korean-Americans: Reflections of a Cultural Model of Success." Anthropology & Education Quarterly 24.3 (1993): 224-248. JSTOR. CSUS Library, Sacramento. 14 Apr. 2008. Keyword: American Dream. Myers, David G. "Wealth, Well-Being, and the New American Dream." New American Dream. 2000. Yale University Press. 14 Apr. 2008 <http://www.newdream.org/live/column/2.php>. Nickerson, Carol, Norbert Schwarz, Ed Diener, and Daniel Kahneman. "Zeroing in on the Dark Side of the American Dream: a Closer Look At the Negative Consequences of the Goal for Financial Success." Psychological Science 14.6 (2003): 531-536. 13 Apr. 2008 <http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.0956-7976.2003.psci_1461.x>. Paredes, Raymund A. "Mexican American Authors and the American Dream." Melus 8.4 (1981): 71-80. JSTOR. CSUS Library, Sacramento. 14 Apr. 2008. Keyword: American Dream. Robinson, Edwin A. “Richard Cory.” Wyrick and Slaughter 385-386. Schudson, Michael. "American Dreams." American Literary History 12 (2004): 1-2. Project Muse. CSUS Library, Sacramento. 13 Apr. 2008. Keyword: American Dream. Wyrick, Jean, and Slaughter, Beverly J., 3rd ed. The Rinehart Reader. Boston: Thomson Learning, 1999
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