THE AMERICAN DREAM IS DEAD!!!
In
1931 historian James Truslow Adams popularized the term “American Dream.” Adams
described the American Dream as a dream “life should be better and richer and
fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to ability or
achievement.” (1).
The
Great Depression challenged that. Unemployment reached twenty-five percent.
Lines for the soup kitchens stretched for blocks. Families were evicted and
homeless. America was plunged into a situation which didn’t allow its citizens
to grow and advance. Despite Americans not being able to achieve their true
potential, the dream endured.
Americans
were asked if there should be a limit to how much one can earn, where money
earned above the wage cap would be collected by the federal government. Despite
the economic hardship, 61% of the respondents answered “no.” (1).
Why?
I
believe it’s because of the American Dream still burning in their hearts. The
dream includes struggle and hard work. The dream includes humble beginnings.
And of course, the dream promises fortune. While they may be at the bottom of the
economic ladder, but they envision themselves scaling up it. They see themselves
sitting up at the top of that socio-economic ladder one day and don’t want to
place a cap on themselves.
Americans
dream of wealth, and to restrict the income of anyone would restrict the American
Dream. No more fantasizing of a vast estate with servants and a gold-plated yacht.
No diamond-encrusted watches and high social status.
What
we do have is a limit, a ceiling. We can have a young genius with the potential
to reshape the world, but the government would not allow him to fulfill his
dream. The American dream is no longer up to the individual’s potential, but to
the limits which the government allows. Americans would no longer look up into
the sky and reach for the stars, but they would rather stare up at the oppressive
ceiling which never allow them to gaze towards their dreams.
Has
anything changed since then? Well today we certainly have better cars, planes
which break the sound barrier, and televisions in nearly every home. We have
greater racial diversity and backgrounds. We live in a complex time with tension
and division between neighbors, friends, and family. Has the leap to the 21st
century changed our view on the American Dream?
According to the Rock Center
for Corporate Governance at Stanford University’s poll consisting of 1200
people, it has. Forty-nine percent of those polled believed the government
should take action to limit the income of CEO’s. Thirty-five believed the
government should take no action (2).
Compare
the 61% who opposed government intervention in the 30’s to the significantly smaller
35% of today. Note the increase in Americans who believe the government SHOULD intervene:
30% to 49%.
Is the
American Dream dying? Or is it simply changing? Perhaps the American Dream is
now s phenomena of the past, which only survives in textbooks. Or perhaps the
American Dream is evolving. Do people of the 21st century care more
about ease of life instead of wealth?
Now there's some food for thought
(1)
Hanson, S. L., & White, J. K. (2011). The American dream in the 21st century. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
(2)
Americans and CEO Pay:
2016 Public Perception Survey on CEO Compensation. (n.d.). Retrieved September
01, 2017, from https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/publications/americans-ceo-pay-2016-public-perception-survey-ceo-compensation
I love your take on the American Dream in the 21st century. You’re questioning and looking at it from a perspective most people don’t. You’re questioning what people want to hear, which is that it’s changing and what may actually be happening, which is that it’s a thing of the past. I think people now are so used to having things handed to them and being able to get their own way and when someone is better off than them they complain instead of working harder. Americans in the thirties and forties were more focused on helping everyone reach their goals and when you did great things you were rewarded not punished. They were taught to work hard and that’s how you would get where you wanted to be. In order to keep the American Dream alive but also change it to fit into todays standard we have to learn to focus on ourselves and work hard to earn our accomplishments.
ReplyDeleteYou raise some important questions about the role of the government. We'll revisit the discussion of the role of government in Chomsky next week. Thanks, Andrew.
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