What is the "American Dream"?

[cali]

Clearly it's different things to different folks. One common descriptor is that the next generation will be better off than the one preceding it. But even that's open, somewhat, to interpretation. Better off how exactly?

For many people the American Dream is a bloated fantasy of consumerism: McMansions, gadgets galore, cruises, new cars. Education isn't valued for its own sake but as a vehicle to get the stuff.

I think this iteration of the American dream is the dominant one, and a strong factor as to why so many people in the middle class support the tea party crap and tax cuts for the wealthy: They believe that they or their progeny will achieve this American Dream. In other words, they're voting against their own self interests of today for their perceived self-interests of Tomorrow. Mix this in with the strong religious strain and you've got a stubborn belief system that is impermeable to logic and reason.

[Vinca]

1. For me the American Dream would be an existence that didn't

include constant worry about paying the bills and obtaining medical care. I'm not interested in great wealth, just a reasonably safe and happy life. And I want that for everyone.

[DBusch]

3. Los Angeles --No American Dream Anymore --Full of Homeless Hysteria

Got this email about the American Nightmare in Los Angeles....

PLEASE MAKE A CALL TO
STOP LOS ANGELES, USA'S, NEWEST POLICE ATTACKS ON THE POOR AND HOMELESS

These days, Los Angeles, USA , is seeing the worst attacks on homeless people in the city since the Skid Row/Bratton "Broken Windows" attacks in 2003. Scores of low-income people in the Venice Beach area recently have had their last affordable homes, their R.V.s, seized --making them homeless.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-homeless-parking-20101212,0,2846867.story

Hundreds more homeless people have been arrested here in recent months.

Hundreds more are fleeing in fear.

Meanwhile, "shelters" in Los Angeles are jammed, often-filthy, inhumane, and have long-been more threatening than L.A's jails. Nobody wants to go to them. "Affordable housing," in Los Angeles, is now simply non-existent: as absurd government policies continue to merely prop real-estate prices sky-high for the banks --and to facilitate their on-going plans of home robbing foreclosure waves --since the economic crash.

--L.A.'s jobs have vanished --unless you want to spend your days rummaging through dumpsters for bottles and cans.

--Or drive a battered old truck around --looking all day for cast-off cardboard.

Yet, instead of it's sold-out politicians, L.A. can always find a scapegoat in the homeless:

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/video?id=7835662


L.A's Venice Beach Boardwalk is still L.A.'s number one tourist draw. And it is known world-wide for its poor and creative artists.

"Phase One.." of LA City Councilman Bill Rosendahl's program is, so far, just to kick us all out; regardless of our status here as a historic and peaceful part of the community --and there has yet to be a single place identified for the area's 3,000 homeless and RV dwellers to go; even as arrests and towings under Rosendahl have skyrocketed since this hate-campaign he's exploiting against L.A.'s Venice Beach homeless began.

These politicians --are purposefully building their oceanside enclaves for California's exclusive rich: and walling them off to outside visitors, even as the rest of California crumbles in economic ruin.

Hippies, Beatniks, Beats and poor people living in community alongside everybody are what made Venice Beach --this special area --famous.

Now they are kicking us out --even as it is leading to more homeless deaths.

If you'd like to do something, just please make one CALL and simply say:

" Three homeless deaths in 2 months is enough, Mayor Villariagosa; These hundreds of people are not criminals --and tell Bill Rosendahl to quit saying they are. Mayor, you have the power to give the homeless and those in R.V.s in Venice a Safe Zone for the Holidays. Do it."


Los Angeles Mayor, Antonio Villariagosa (213) 978-0721
Venice Area Councilman, Bill Rosendhal (213) 473-7011
LAPD Police Chief, Charles Beck (213) 485-3202


Bill could've said something about safe zones --but not even that seems to be on his mind these days.
Some of us will march again next Saturday --and hopefully with a bunch more new folks now.

We want to establish a homeless-run community
in Venice to stop these attacks --But before we poor
can mobilize to get affordable housing --But we need a
"Safe Zone" in Venice from LAPD arrests and seizures --now!

--------------------------------------------

Thanks for your help.

---------------------------------------------

Samples of the out of control rhetoric against homeless people:
http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2010/07/photoshop_rv_parking_photo.php
http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2010/09/venice_rv_parking_dump.php

"...Venice Beach, the homeless hell-hole of the west coast...; dumping, the sex-offenders, the rapists...."

Sample of just one of several attempts on this Rush Limbaugh/hate radio station each week to paint all homeless RV dwellers as sex-offending, urinating, sewage-dumping, rapists.

Great way below --for the media in Los Angeles to give L.A.'s fear-ridden middle-class an outlet (rather than banks and politicians) for their rage. 19:44minutes

http://media.ccomrcdn.com/media/station_content/616/Conway1206107P_1291697341_14173.mp3?CPROG=PCAST&MARKET=LOSANGELES-CA&NG_FORMAT=&SITE_ID=616&STATION_ID=KFI-AM&PCAST_AUTHOR=KFI_AM_640&PCAST_CAT=Arts_and_Entertainment&PCAST_TITLE=KFI_AM_640_TIM_CONWAY_JR

[elias49]

8. Be careful. People will start calling you a Socialist

:fistbump:

[Goldstein1984]

2. The American Dream is the myth that...

in a country with equality and equal opportunity, a person with talent and ability who is willing to work hard can succeeed.

Popular culture may influence the definition of "success," but generally I would say that "success" means anyone can be President or a millionaire.

[Democracyinkind]

4. For me the American Dream is the one fiction that is keeping us from actually getting forward.

To me it simply stands for the notion that somehow this country - in contrast to any and all others in the world -(maybe because it supposedly is so unique??) provides enough opportunities for upward social mobility so that everyone has an incentive to keep quiet and go on with the rat race. At least in theory. Of course, the reality is that there was never enough social upward mobility in this country to actually benefit the whole of the population, but who cares? As long as the fiction that you can somehow come out on top prevails no one has an incentive to actually change anything, because everyone is led to believe that it's going to happen for them.

It's a dangerous fiction, meant to keep us in the dark ages. As Carlin said, it's called the American dream because you have to be asleep in order to believe it.....

So to sum it up the American dream is a fiction perpetuated by the upper class in order to convince the masses that it is more rewarding to participate in the rate race than to unhinge the wheel we're spinning in.

And no, I don't believe there ever was a time in this country when the "American Dream" was more than a fiction. The notion of the "dream of upward social mobility" is even a joke in the most progressive, wealthy countries where you actually have a shot at climbing the social ladder. Even in such filthy rich countries like Switzerland it is a joke to frame this "dream concept" along the lines of "upward social mobility for all". The very definition of upper class entails that there is such a thing as a lower class - so don't fall for it when they tell you that everyone can escape being a member of the lower class. It never has happened, and never will happen. That's where the American Dream comes in. As long as we hold onto that fiction we can waste our energy on competing against each other instead of competing against the upper class for political control of this system.

[Anakin Skywalker]

5. Dusty Rhodes?

[madrchsod]

9. your comment needs this...

NWA!

[LeftinOH]

6. It's a marketing term used to sell stuff. n/t

[mmonk]

7. An illusion.

[madrchsod]

10. "little pink houses for you and me"!

[uncommon]

11. Something I am unlikely to ever achieve.

And I am college educated and highly intelligent. Unless costs come way down or wages rise to meet them...

[jtown1123]

30. Ditto. I will never be able to buy a home or have any savings.

[whathehell]

12. Dead, at the present moment, but

at one time, one I was fortunate enough to grow up in, it was not a "myth" but something of a reality...

It was a belief, largely true, that if you worked hard enough (preferably in a place with a good union) poor and/or less educated people could ascend into the middle class and possibly beyond....Achievement of wealth by those starting at the bottom was unlikely, but less so for those in the middle class, if that's what the middle class person pursued.

By and large, that "dream" was brought to you by Franklin Roosevelt and The New Deal...The baby boomers were probably the last generation to benefit from it.

[KurtNYC]

13. Wasn't it coined in the 1930s as part of the whole "sucker people into 30 Yr mortgages"

thing?

The American Dream was just as cooked up as a corpulent red-suited Santa (to replace the green german guy). American Dream: to won your own home.

They were so worried about labor unrest, etc. that they started pushing home ownership and social security as a hedge against unions.

[lpbk2713]

14. Winning American Idol?

... or anything else bright and sparkly ... and elusive.


:sarcasm:

[Cal Carpenter]

15. Propaganda, plain and simple.

One of the reasons it works so good is because it can mean different things to different people.

All you have to do is belieeeeeve in the power of capitalism and 'freedom' and 'democracy' and you, too, can have whatever it is you think you need...

It's pro-capitalist propaganda bullshit.

Doesn't exist, never did, never will.

[whathehell]

24. I suspect you're either young...

and/or not American.

I only add the last because I had an Aussie here swear the same thing to me -- a difficult endeavor since my family and millions of others were part of it.

See post 12.

[NOLALady]

27. I am an American and I am not young.

The American dream did not exist for me as well as many (millions?) of non whites. We were just trying to get the right to vote, a decent education, and a job. Dreaming had to come later.

[whathehell]

28. That was why I said

that it was not perfect..I know there were racial barriers in place.

[Cal Carpenter]

32. And that's why it doesn't exist. Unleess you call it the White American Dream

There has always been an underclass - the very existence of the middle class requires it. With race, of course, being a huge factor.

Btw, I am not young and I am American. I am white and middle class. It isn't about some emotional attachment to a romanticized version of the past. People fought and died to secure the benefits and lifestyle you refer to - it isn't something that our great nation generously provided it's people out of goodwill and moral decency. And you'll note that it's been chipped away at ever since, especially in the last few decades. It is certainly not inherent in our nation's 'values', let alone our economic system.

We've watched this American Dream illusion disappear.

And until we can see through it as the propaganda that it is, we will never even begin to see what we can do to make things better.

[whathehell]

33. Umm...No.

It didn't exist for ALL to the same extent...and yes, there has always been an underclass...I would defy you to find a country now or then that doesn't have one...Does that make it right...No..It just makes it "not perfect"...and as I admitted, it didn't exist for ALL the people to the same extent...That's not the same as "not existing" at all...But if you really believe that Black people were completely untouched by Roosevelt's ending the Depression and his starting the New Deal, you might want to look at an old newsreel which shows SCORES of African-Americans crying while waiting for Roosevelt's funeral train to pass.

You don't need to tell me about how people "fought and died" to secure benefits...My own family did it...fought AND died...My Dad, with one other, led a fight for a union at his factory in the early 1940's. He remained a union member and steward all of his working life....Black people were part of my father's union and he was the most racially NON-prejudiced man I knew.

I never questioned the fact that the "American Dream" is disappearing...In fact, that statement was contained in my first sentence...so I fail to see where we have an argument.

[SoCalDem]

16. In theory it's what it's always been

ever since the immigrants who came here, created the "moving picture business" and showed us what it was.

Until after the Depression, people in the US had NO expectation of each succeeding generation "doing better" than the last. There were a few fluky ones here and there, but we had a very stratified, class-ist system (as we do again)..

The poorest of the poor stayed that way...broke & in debt (although back then they "owed" their employers & landlords)

Post-Depression, many people started to see a light at the end of the tunnel that was not a train. After WWII, the GI Bill made the "American Dream" into what we now know it to be:

Home ownership and a good job are the cornerstones.

With those two things in place, a person with quite ordinary standing in almost any community could propel his/her offspring into a more prosperous life, and maintain a decent standard of living for themselves in their old age.

The American Dream prior to WWII was about striking out on one's own..marketing their idea, homesteading their own patch of dirt somewhere, and "making it" against all odds.

For every one who succeeded, there were probably thousands and thousands who failed miserable.

Post WWII, it was more about success in a communal sense.

We've come full circle.. now we are back to Darwinian survival mode..

I don't know what will become of us..

[msongs]

17. please refer to george carlin american dream on youtube nt

[whathehell]

37. Is George Carlin the "last word" on all things?

No, at least not in my book, although I think the timing of his statement on the american dream did coincide with the beginning of its downturn.

[TBF]

18. More like a nightmare. nt

[raccoon]

19. Some good responses here. OP has some good points too. nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. Property. Somewhere along the line, it turned into property and affluence.

[Donnachaidh]

21. It used to mean knowing that your children would be better off than you are.

Now it's just corporate lingo to con people into lifelong debt to big banks for useless plastic junk and electronic toys.

I cannot begin to describe how repulsed I was when I first saw an advertisement showing a woman watching movies on a subway as if it was some sort of HUGE new experience. Of course, the phone costs several hundred dollars, and the access to download adds another thousand a year -- but it's NEW!

:puke:

[Froward69]

22. American Dream = Opportunity to succeed

Whilst republicans work to insure the wealthy stay that way and the rest of us get roadblocks in the way of a fair opportunity to succeed.

true republicans really hate fair competition. as well as being treated like they treat others.

[whathehell]

25. Yes, and it was best embodied by Roosevelt's "New Deal" program.

Was it perfect?...No.

Was it very good?..Yes.

[AngryAmish]

23. To crush your enemies See them driven before you and to hear the lamentation of their women

[Romulox]

31. Quick question: what do "barbarians" use as a depilatory/moisturizor?

That dude looks like he emerged from a Salon Day to chop your head off! :scared:

[AngryAmish]

35. Bear fat

Keihl's has a very nice store-brand one.

[rucky]

26. You work a job for 40 hours per week.

Stay with the company and move up (or grow your own business). Earn enough to support your family, go on vacation once a year and put a little away for retirement. Do this until you're 60-something. Retire. Pass some wealth to your children after you kick the bucket.

I really don't think it's asking for much, in return for honest work.

[Kablooie]

29. The American Dream is ...

the one where the train is barreling down the track right towards you and you can only move v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y.

[steelmania75]

34. It's just an allusion rich people like to give the foolish working people and convince them to

support policies benefiting the rich while screwing over the middle class.

[whathehell]

36. I think you mean "illusion"

and no, it's not just a typo...Allusion and illusion have different meanings

Since you seem to hold yourself so far above those "foolish working people"..I thought you might want to educate yourself to the fact. duh.

I don't know how old you are, but in fact the "foolish working" people you so blithely disdain not only understood their own interests a lot better than most now, they were actually able to attain something called the "American Dream" and pass it on to their kids....It lasted for about forty years and it's called "The New Deal" era even "The Golden Age of America".. Translation: "When everyone did well".

Having grown up in and benefited from New Deal policies, I was shocked to read the last as I thought it not an "Age"..but the definition of
American Life...Opportunity for all.

The American Dream IS largely a myth, now...But please study history...it was not always.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

38. The undying belief that participating in the rat-race is moral and beneficial.

And, that those who don't or don't race fast enough are lazy, immoral, of lesser breeds, and unpatriotic.