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American Dream
American Dream
The American Dream is a phrase referring to the freedom that allows all citizens and most residents of the United States to pursue their goals in life through hard work and free choice (see Immigration to the United States).
The phrase's meaning has evolved over the course of American history. The Founding Fathers used the phrase, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The American Dream often refers to the opportunity for immigrants to achieve greater material prosperity than was possible in their countries of origin. America has been viewed as a land in which one's prospects in life are defined by one's talents and energy rather than by one's family wealth or political connections. This hope includes the opportunity for one's children to grow up and receive an education and its consequent career opportunities. It is the opportunity to make individual choices without the restrictions of class, caste, religion, race, or ethnic group.
The American Dream in the 21st Century
In recent years, the concept of the American Dream as a national ideal has been studied by various organizations. The conclusions of these studies indicate that during the 1990s and 2000s, a period of remarkable wealth for the U.S., an increasing amount of people confess having lost faith in the American Dream.
Consider these statistics:
1. In 1995, a Business Week/Harris poll found that two-thirds of those surveyed believed the American Dream had become harder to achieve in the past ten years, and three-fourths believed that achieving the Dream would be harder still in the coming decade.
2. In 2006, a CNN poll found out that more than half of those surveyed, 54 percent, considered the American Dream unachievable.
3. In 2008, JWT's American Dream in the Balance survey reported that only 52 percent believed that the American Dream was alive and well. Similarly only 48 percent said that the American Dream was an important part of their family history.
This lack of faith in the American Dream is especially seen among the younger generations. In the JWT survey, 47 percent of Millennials (born between 1978 and 1990) and 44 percent of Gen X-ers (born between 1965-1977) said they don't think their generation believes in the American Dream. This compares with 34 percent of Boomers (born between 1945-1964) and 26 percent of Matures (those born before 1945).
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