The American Dream

The American Dream, as I've always thought of it, is the idea that opportunity is there for the taking in America. That, regardless of individual circumstance, one can somehow turn their rags to riches, their shack to a mansion. But unfortunately, it seems that the American Dream is dead-- or at least very, very ill. Not only is it extremely difficult to be successful (depending, of course, on how you define success), but success is becoming less and less available to the common person. For example, in modern America, four years of college just isn't what it used to be. So now that more and more people have a college degree, fewer of these people stand out, and they are all essentially competing for the same resources with which to live their "American Dream." And here's something weird to think about...Maybe the new American Dream is to be famous. In the "old days," people wanted to get a good enough job to make enough money to support their family and live comfortably, preferably with a vacation home in Hawaii, or fancy cars, etc. Now that the good job/enough money/vacation home is no longer unique, people are striving to become something more...Just a thought.

My mom's parents and my dad's parents attempted to live the American Dream. My maternal grandparents, for example, came to New York from Lithuania to escape the Holocaust, and started a jewelry business. They had both been through so much that my grandfather ended up killing himself and my grandmother was kind of disturbed for the rest of her life--but they managed to make enough money to send my mom through school. My mom got a degree in counseling and my dad was a dentist. They were both successful, especially my dad, but I would never go as far to say that they lived the American Dream.