Okay - before I head off to work, what does the American Dream mean to YOU?
I keep hearing on the radio that it's all about "making things that people want to buy".
I suspect the original inhabitants had a different take on the land and their vision, that people immigrated for many reasons, not just the money-making prospects. And I suspect people have many different takes on what the "dream" is - for instance, MLK had a "dream" that dealt with things other than money-making.
Have a nice day!
Posted by Maccabeus (Member # 3051) on :
Well, my version of "the dream" certainly includes money-making--but that's because I want to have my own house and a little financial security, rather than dancing on the edge of bankruptcy the rest of my life. I'd also like a wife, one day...
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
Independence. True freedom. The power to help build a better country that truly lives up to what it says
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
The ability to get good, authentic chinese food right here in hicksville.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
You know ever since I was little I wanted to own my own house. I would look religiously through the real estate catalogs for our area to the great amusment of my mother.
While it wasn't a bad house, I didn't like the house we lived in, and the fact that it never looked nice and fixed up like everyone else's houses, because my parents didn't really do repair work. (Their current carpet is 25 years old.) I also wanted to be able to have animals and no one telling me exactly what to do like my parents did. For me it represented a kind of freedom I guess. Freedom to be able to spread out and work on whatever creative project I had going on.
I knew I would have to work and I had it planned how I was going to live as frugally as possible for a couple years in order to afford a down payment. So far it has basically turned out like I planned with the addition of Steve, which isn't a bad thing. If I did have a house of my own without him, it would of course be smaller. But I think I would have become much more obsessive compulsive about making it perfect as well, and not taken as much time to sit back and relax and enjoy life like Steve does.
AJ
Posted by UofUlawguy (Member # 5492) on :
The American Dream is the chance to make a better life than you had before, or than your parents had. Too many people in this world, especially in the years before the U.S. was founded, were stuck wherever they chanced to be born. There was no way to move up the social ladder, no matter how hard they worked.
The American Dream tells those people that, although nobody's going to make it easy for you, you have the freedom and power to work your way to success and prosperity. You can educate yourself. You can open a business. You can associate with whomever you wish. You can go wherever you want. You can participate in your government.
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)