What IS This "Thing" they Call "The American Dream?"
I wonder, at times...
Surprisingly, it's a question I am faced with remarkably often... because I still have many relatives back in my native Denmark, and they are curious. Curious about "The American Dream," and curious about what exactly it is I am doing, living in the USA.
The Amercan Dream has changed, I think, in the course of the almost 40 years I have lived in this country.
Peach colored rhododendron
There was always an underlying idea of a "work ethic," but I think that part has become pronounced to the point where it's almost the entire definition. Or is it?
The "Lottery Effect"
One of the things I have noticed most is a subtle shift from the American Dream (and the attendant "striking it RICH" thought platform) being about hard work, to being more about "winning the lottery," at least figuratively speaking.
What a person could previously hope to gain as a result of some ingenuity and hard work is no longer considered "enough;" in order to be seen as truly successful these days requires more of a stroke of luck than hard work... hence it is like "winning the lottery."
You need to gain so much that it has to be won, rather than coming as a result of your work. Almost as if the goal posts that define success keep being moved further and further away.
It creates a sad subtext is desperation in the culture, as more and more people recognize that even if they had the desire, they ultimately can't do enough to ensure success.
I know that my own version of "the dream" is pretty tarnished by now. I think it started souring for me when I discovered that being really good at something wasn't good enough... and that many were succeeding not by being good at something and letting their work speak for itself... but instead by sabotaging the efforts of others.
Winning, not because OUR stuff is good, but by spreading the perception that other people's stuff is shitty.
Raindrops on flower petals
I Wasn't Really Going Anywhere with This...
This post didn't really have any great meaning or purpose, as I was just shedding yet another email question from my cousin Jesper. Which led me to read some articles online, most of them by US expats living elsewhere, and reflecting on their country of birth through the eyes of living elsewhere.
Ultimately, I guess it's all about different places, different priorities.
How about YOU? What do you think "The American Dream" really is? Do you think it has changed, in our lifetime? Whether you live in the US or elsewhere, do you think it is still attainable through determination and hard work... or do you need luck ("winning the lottery") as well? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 190306 00:22 PST
0923
What is it...... the american dream...? Lets ask this guy.......
Well, @denmarkguy, for me, the American Dream was and still is, the opportunity to achieve what you want. For most of us, that means providing for our families, retirements and still having disposable income to do some other things. It's about having the freedom to do so, without someone else intervening or micromanaging. Working hard may be a part of it, but being in the right place at the right time may be it, too. Unfortunately, there are those who can't do what they think it is they want to do, so they tear down others instead. That seems to be a reality to this American Dream, the unseemly underbelly to it, that I don't know how to get rid of. In a perfect world, those folks would realize they can't make it and move on, rather than spreading lies and their own mediocrity. It's been obvious to me that in a free society, to some degree, those folks are extended the freedom to do what they will, too.
I don’t much about American Dream
What I really want to see is more and more people chasing their own dreams in life
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Yes of course the American ”Dream” is still alive, but for Dreams to become reality, they need action.
I always felt like the American Dream was the ability to improve your situation through hard work. I think that is still the case, although I would argue that people get vastly different rewards for the same hard work based on conditions outside their control (mostly demographics and social networks).