American Dream PDF
American Dream PDF
American Dream PDF
1 History
For many immigrants, the Statue of Liberty was their rst view of
the United States, signifying new opportunities in life. The statue
is an iconic symbol of the American Dream.
The American Dream is rooted in the Declaration of Independence, which proclaims that "all men are created
equal" with the right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness.[2]
1
2 LITERATURE
ments ... Fidelity and merit are the only sources
of honor here. The rich stand on the same
footing as the poor; the scholar is not a mug
above the most humble mechanics; no German ought to be ashamed to pursue any occupation ... [In America] wealth and possession of real estate confer not the least political
right on its owner above what the poorest citizen has. Nor are there nobility, privileged orders, or standing armies to weaken the physical and moral power of the people, nor are
there swarms of public functionaries to devour
in idleness credit for. Above all, there are no
princes and corrupt courts representing the socalled divine 'right of birth.' In such a country
the talents, energy and perseverance of a person ... have far greater opportunity to display
than in monarchies.[6]
2 Literature
2.2
Literary commentary
2.2
Literary commentary
3
logical advances, availability of infrastructure and information, government regulations, state of the economy,
and with the evolving cultural values of American demographics.
In 1949 Arthur Miller wrote Death of a Salesman, in
which the American Dream is a fruitless pursuit. Similarly, in 1971 Hunter S. Thompson depicted in Fear and
Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey Into the Heart
of the American Dream a dark psychedelic reection of
the conceptsuccessfully illustrated only in wasted popculture excess.[24]
The novel "Requiem for a Dream" by Hubert Selby, Jr.,
is an exploration of the pursuit of American success as it
turns delirious and lethal, told through the ensuing tailspin
of its main characters. George Carlin famously wrote the
joke its called the American dream because you have
to be asleep to believe it.[25] Carlin pointed to the big
wealthy business interests that control things and make
all the important decisions as having a greater inuence
than an individuals choice.[25] Pulitzer Prizewinning
journalist Chris Hedges echos this sentiment in his 2012
book Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt:[26]
The American Dream, and the sometimes dark response to it, has been a long-standing theme in American lm.[27] Many counterculture lms of the 1960s and
1970s ridiculed the traditional quest for the American
Dream. For example, Easy Rider (1969), directed by
Since the 1920s, numerous authors, such as Sinclair
Dennis Hopper, shows the characters making a pilgrimLewis in his 1922 novel Babbitt, and F. Scott Fitzgerage in search of the true America in terms of the hippie
ald, in his 1925 classic, The Great Gatsby, satirized
movement, drug use, and communal lifestyles.[28]
or ridiculed materialism in the chase for the American
dream. For example, Jay Gatsbys death mirrors the
American Dreams demise, reecting the pessimism of 2.2.1 Comparative upward mobility
modern-day Americans.[23] The American Dream is a
main theme in the book by John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Research published in 2013 shows that the US proMen. The two friends George and Lennie dream of their vides, alongside the United Kingdom and Spain, the
own piece of land with a ranch, so they can live o least economic mobility of any of 13 rich, democratic
the fatta the lan'" and just enjoy a better life. The book countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
later shows that not everyone can achieve the American and Development.[29][30] Prior research suggested that
Dream, thus proving by contradiction it is not possible the United States shows roughly average levels of occufor all, although it is possible to achieve for a few. A pational upward mobility and shows lower rates of inlot of people follow the American Dream to achieve a come mobility than comparable societies.[31][32] Blanden
greater chance of becoming rich. Some posit that the ease et al. report, the idea of the US as 'the land of opof achieving the American Dream changes with techno- portunity' persists; and clearly seems misplaced.[33] Ac-
generation.[52]
Political leaders
Public opinion
A key element of the American Dream is promoting opportunity for ones children, Johnson interviewing parents
says, This was one of the most salient features of the interview data: parentsregardless of backgroundrelied
heavily on the American Dream to understand the possibilities for children, especially their own children.[51]
Rank et al. argue, The hopes and optimism that Americans possess pertain not only to their own lives, but to
their childrens lives as well. A fundamental aspect of the
American Dream has always been the expectation that
the next generation should do better than the previous
7.1
5.1
Education
5.2
5
Knights & McCabe argue American management gurus
have taken the lead in exporting the ideas: By the latter half of the twentieth century they were truly global
and through them the American Dream continues to be
transmitted, repackaged and sold by an infantry of consultants and academics backed up by an artillery of books
and videos.[64]
Home ownership
The American dream regarding home ownership has little resonance before the 1980s.[67] In the 1980s, British
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher worked to create a
similar dream, by selling public-housing units to their
tenants. Her Conservative party called for more home
ownership: HOMES OF OUR OWN: To most people
ownership means rst and foremost a home of their own
... We should like in time to improve on existing legislation with a realistic grants scheme to assist rst-time
buyers of cheaper homes.[68] Guest calls this Thatchers
approach to the American Dream.[69] Knights and McCabe argue that, a reection and reinforcement of the
American Dream has been the emphasis on individualism as extolled by Margaret Thatcher and epitomized by
the 'enterprise' culture.[70]
7.3 Russia
Since the fall of Communism in the Soviet Union in
1991, the American Dream has fascinated Russians.[71]
The rst post-Communist leader Boris Yeltsin embraced
the American way and teamed up with Harvard University free market economists Jerey Sachs and Robert Allison to give Russia economic shock therapy in the 1990s.
The newly independent Russian media idealized America
and endorsed shock therapy for the economy.[72] In 2008
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev lamented the fact
that 77% of Russias 142 million people live cooped up
in apartment buildings. In 2010 his administration announced a plan for widespread home ownership: Call it
the Russian dream, said Alexander Braverman, the Director of the Federal Fund for the Promotion of Hous-
REFERENCES
7.4
China
See also
Center for a New American Dream
Empire of Liberty
Heist: Who Stole the American Dream?, 2011 documentary lm
Who Stole the American Dream?, 2012 non-ction
book
References
9.1
Notes
[26] Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco (2012). Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt. pp. 226-227. Nation Books. ISBN
1568586434
[44] Dan Dervin, The Dream-Life of Hillary Clinton, Journal of Psychohistory, Fall 2008, Vol. 36 Issue 2, pp. 157
162
[30] Corak M (2013). Inequality from Generation to Generation: The United States in Comparison. In Rycroft RS.
The Economics of Inequality, Poverty, and Discrimination
in the 21st Century. ABC-CLIO. p. 111.
REFERENCES
9
Hanson, Sandra L., and John Zogby, The Polls
Trends, Public Opinion Quarterly, Sept 2010, Vol.
74, Issue 3, pp. 570584
Hanson, Sandra L. and John Kenneth White, ed.
The American Dream in the 21st Century (Temple
University Press; 2011); 168 pages; essays by sociologists and other scholars how on the American
Dream relates to politics, religion, race, gender, and
generation.
Hopper, Kenneth, and William Hopper. The Puritan Gift: Reclaiming the American Dream Amidst
Global Financial Chaos (2009), argues the Dream
was devised by British entrepreneurs who build the
American economy
Johnson, Heather Beth. The American dream and
the power of wealth: choosing schools and inheriting inequality in the land of opportunity, CRC Press,
2006. ISBN 0-415-95239-5
Levinson, Julie. The American Success Myth on Film
(Palgrave Macmillan; 2012) 220 pages
Lieu, Nhi T. The American Dream in Vietnamese (U.
of Minnesota Press, 2011) 186 pages ISBN 978-08166-6570-9
Ownby, Ted. American Dreams in Mississippi: Consumers, Poverty, and Culture 18301998 (University
of North Carolina Press, 1999)
Samuel, Lawrence R. The American Dream: A Cultural History (Syracuse University Press; 2012) 241
pages; identies six distinct eras since the phrase was
coined in 1931.
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External links
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