Nearly everyone has heard about the infamous “American Dream.” The land of opportunity, Hollywood fame, a two-story house with three kids, a picket fence and a trophy wife. The American dream is defined as “the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society in which upward mobility is possible for everyone.”
That’s lengthy, and complicated, and sounds like something my US History teacher would talk about in his lectures. The American dream, as a theory, is that anyone can fulfill their dreams and be successful. Sounds great, sounds awesome, right? What’s wrong with that?
Well, what’s wrong with that is the secondary definitions within that theory. How do we define success or “living the dream” in a society where everyone is completely different from one another? The short answer is, we can’t
There is no one “American dream.” That is, in part, because we cannot operationally define success. My definition of reaching peak success will not be the same as anybody else on the newspaper staff, and nobody on the newspaper staff will have the same idea of success as you. Everyone has different dreams and goals for their life, so we can never truly define success in a scenario such as this.
Secondly, look at our country today. There are a multitude of issues being debated within the nation right now, centering around the rights of people to live and have their chance at success. While it’s not nearly as much of a problem as it was in the past, when people were first talking about the American dream, we can still see issues keeping certain people from having their shot at success. The rights of women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and people of color are constantly up in the air. That isn’t at all productive to allowing these people their chance at the American dream.
Aside from issues of basic human rights, however, is the fact that we’ve begun to look at the world through a more modern lens. We need to look at the American dream through this lens as well. As I said before, the American dream has often been pictured as a happy marriage between husband and wife, a nice house with a picket fence, and kids running around the yard. This just isn’t the norm anymore, it’s not feasible for everyone, nor is it desired by everyone.
Not everyone wants the “standard” family unit, some don’t ever plan on marrying. Fame and fortune is far less glamorous than it used to be in the eyes of the masses, and upward mobility isn’t always the goal. As an ideology, it works, and it would be great if we embodied that right now. But the reality is that we just don’t.
The idea of a country where everyone can achieve success and happiness is wonderful, but the America we know today isn’t doing a great job of that. We’re plagued with social justice issues, and most people are floundering in the society we’re currently living in. In the situations we’re seeing right now, the American dream will stay a dream.
