Is the American Dream a Choice?

I liked what Tom Brokaw, former news anchor of NBC, said when asked what is the American Dream. “To me, the American Dream is the freedom to choose to live how and where you want, to determine how you'll be governed and to provide your children with even more choices than you had.”

Brokaw’s statement is especially relevant on this day that Americans go to the polls to select the next president of the United States. We have the freedom to choose. We can choose not to exercise that vote if we so desire. We aren’t even required to vote for any one candidate.

In America, it’s all about choices. We can choose where to live and how. We can choose what to eat and how much. In other places around the world, people don’t get these choices. How easy it is for Americans to forget that we live in a land of plenty and a land with plenty of choices. Even homeless people are provided with assistance to get enough to eat if they choose to make use of those services. We can choose to work hard or not. We can choose how we spend our money. Even those who do not have enough money still have the choice to pay this bill or that one. Some people must make the choice to pay for food or prescription medicine.

Regardless of those difficult choices, the important thing about living in the United States is the freedom to make those decisions. We do not rely on a government that dictates what our job must be, or where we must live. As U.S. citizens, we do have the responsibility to pay taxes to our government. Some people make the choice not to pay income taxes even though they may suffer the consequences of that action.

Without choices, our democracy becomes a communist state. Choices are no longer an option. Voting for a political candidate is unnecessary because the leaders are designated by the party. Instead of opportunity created by incentive to work hard, opportunities are equal for all regardless of effort. No choice is needed since everybody is entitled to the same. No more, no less.

I talked to Diana, an ex-Bulgarian who now is a permanent resident of the United States. She said she believes strongly in the American Dream. She said that she now enjoys many more choices here than she did in Bulgaria. Even though most of these choices are a result of economic influences, she still appreciates the opportunities that she now has. And even though health care and education are more affordable in other countries such as Bulgaria, Diana emphasized that Americans have it better in many more ways.

I am glad that I live in America where my efforts are rewarded, and the amount of sweat and time worked equates to more economic resources. More pay for more work is a better way to express that thought. This gives me more choices. I like choice.


Lipton, Joshua. "What is the American Dream?" Forbes.com 03/20/2007 4 Nov 2008
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Only in America

I think that every male child from my generation was told that he could grow up to be the president someday, if he wanted it bad enough and worked really hard. The next generation of females was hopefully told the same thing. Only in America do parents give their children this dream of becoming anything they want if only they work hard enough for it. Background doesn’t matter. Socio-economic status doesn’t matter. Conceivably, gender doesn’t matter. Anyone has the potential to be the president if they really work hard enough to achieve it.

Our national presidential election is less than a week away. One of the candidates must believe in this American Dream. "Here in America, destiny is not written for us. It is written by us," declared the 47-year-old candidate. Barack Obama, with mixed race and mixed religion, is close to becoming the next president of the United States. At a recent Virginia rally, the theme was “Only in America,” where a song by Brooks and Dunn was played in the background. The words to the song echoed the crowd’s enthusiasm. "One kid dreams of fame and fortune. One kid helps pay the rent," the country music duo's lyrics say. "One could end up going to prison. One just might be president."

No matter what your politics are or who you plan to vote for, you have to admit that we live in a great country. This is a place where you don’t have to have royal blood or a family name to be the head of the country. Every citizen has the right to vote for the candidate of their choice. Elections are not fixed, and ballot boxes aren’t stuffed. People are not intimidated to cast their vote for their candidate preference based on their own platforms and policies.

I asked my husband his opinion on the upcoming election, and he gave me a political dissertation. I don’t agree with his choice of candidates, but the point is that I am free, even as a woman and wife to make my own choice when I cast my vote next week.

I don’t want to sound overly patriotic, but this really is a great place to live.


Dart, Bob. "Obama's life story echoes "Only in America" theme."The Daily Reflector
10262008 29 Oct 2008 life-story-echoes-only-in-america-theme-204083.html>.

Is Wealth the American Dream?

Having money and material wealth is the American Dream to only the foolish. But writer Mortimer Zuckerman from U.S. News and World Report states, “The majority of Americans have long shared one state of mind: that they are in some central way members of the middle class and hold a passport to the good life.” For most of us, the American Dream in terms of money and the good life, rather than ideals, floats right over our heads.

Do middle class Americans really have enough money to live the good life? Some people may have fantasies about winning the lottery or finding a get-rich-quick scheme. Some people dream of having money. Then they could afford the American Dream. If they perceive the American Dream as tangible wealth and nothing more, they will find themselves always trying to buy that dream. Like Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, using money to get hold of the American Dream will leave them feeling empty and dejected.

I loved the movie in which Robert Redford plays Gatsby in an adaptation of Fitzgerald story of the quest for an American dream. Gatsby grows up penniless, but dreams of having the wealth needed to buy beauty. “To young Gatz, resting on his oars, looking up at the railed deck, that yacht represented all the beauty and glamour in the world.” This quote from the novel illustrates how Gatsby came to value material possessions. Gatsby thinks he can buy love and happiness by using his money to impress a woman named Daisy. His ploy works until she discovers how he made his great fortune. Then the awe created by having money was lost because bootlegging was not a legitimate method to attain riches. She cares more about where the money came from than the amount he lavishes on her and others.

I asked my sister what was more important than money. She answered immediately, “Family.” She felt that investing in those things that money can’t buy is the only way to have and hold the true American Dream. Investing your time and efforts in family, friends, and loved ones is the only way to achieve true and lasting riches. I agree that your health, your education, and your reputation are all more valuable than material riches. These intangibles mean more and have more value than anything money can buy. If more people realized this simple truth, they would be happier with less.

References


Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: McMillan, 1925.

Lorenz, Jenny. "Great Gatsby Quotes." ThinkExist.com. 21 Oct 2008
http://thinkexist.com/great_gatsby_quotes/>.

Zuckerman, Mortimer. "The American Dream Goes On." U.S. News and World Report
06132008 22 Oct 2008 .

Are lower socio-economic status Americans exempt from the American Dream?

Are lower socio-economic status Americans exempt from the American Dream?
According to Mortimer Zuckerman in his US News and World Report article, “The American Dream Goes On,” “The majority of Americans have long shared one state of mind: that they are in some central way members of the middle class and hold a passport to the good life.”

Living the good life has gotten a little tougher for most Americans lately. With higher prices on food, gas, and healthcare, scores of us are having trouble maintaining that good- life lifestyle. Our fancy cars, nice homes, and huge appetites for expensive food are harder to come by. Even borrowing is tighter, so we can’t live on credit like we once did.

Is this extravagant lifestyle really what the American dream is all about? Have our increased socio-economic standards determined what our life will be? Living the good life for lower classes has always been more of a struggle, but is it worse in these uncertain economic times? According to Zuckerman’s article, “Americans, quite simply, believe that plenty of opportunities exist to get ahead, and 82 percent of those born into poverty are much better off than their parents and more than a third of them have made it into the middle class or higher.”

I asked my co-worker what the American Dream meant to her. She was not focused on wealth in terms or material things. She answered that her “pursuit of happiness was related to her family and church.” Owning a home was not part of that dream, but she did reside in a nice house. She and her husband drove nice cars. When our needs have been met, then it is easier to dwell on more esoteric dreams. Having it all, to many Americans, means enjoying that American Dream of material possessions only. My co-worker's response of immaterial wealth was refreshing. However, an American in a low socio-economic class who is really struggling for basic needs is more likely to reply in more relevant terms to getting food and shelter. Living the good life to this American is having enough to eat.

References:
Zuckerman, Mortimer. "The American Dream Goes On." US News and World Report 13 June 2008:

Living Better than Our Parents?

The American Dream to most Baby Boomers has meant having a standard of living better than our parents. Our parents wanted us to go to college, get better jobs, live in better homes, and have more money than they did.

Our parents and grandparents survived The Great Depression of the early 1930s. They learned to make due with little money and scarce food. This was a time when the whole nation was in the same type of economic turmoil in which we find ourselves today. Are we destined to repeat the hard times of another great depression? Will our children enjoy the better standard of living that we have?

Being able to enjoy the American Dream for most of has meant owning your own home. For this generation, the dream is fading. Many Americans lost their homes in the Depression, and were forced to live as migrant workers, living in camps and tent cities. As in the Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck, hunger motivated people to find work wherever they could get it. If it meant leaving home or being homeless, they did what they had to do.

Our society seems to have expanded the concept of having the American Dream. Owning your own home means owing for your home. People have purchased expensive homes that they cannot afford. They are saddled with huge debt that they may never be able to repay.

Banks are being blamed for giving these people doomed mortgages. Congress has approved a 700 billion dollar bailout for those banks in jeopardy of failing. We watch the stock market take huge plunges, and wonder whether the economy will ever recover so that our children can live at least as well as we did. Will the next generation be able to increase their standard of living? Is the American Dream dying a slow death?

Is the American Dream Dying?

The American Dream is.... The picture that most Americans get with this notion is owning a charming home, perhaps with a white picket fence, maybe with two cars in the drive-way. Americans are obsessed with their homes and their automobiles. The dream of many Americans is having it all. This vision may be evaporating before our eyes due to the federal buyout and the economy.

The economic situation seems a little worse each day. Reading the headlines is a scary way to begin your day. The stock market this week took the largest dive in its history. Banks are failing and people are pulling their money out to hide it under their mattresses. Talk of credit crisis have many Americans questioning whether they will be able to achieve that great American dream of owing their own home. Homes were already difficult to sell in the current market, but now they will be even harder to buy.

My 23 year old daughter just purchased her first home this January. Even though she had never had a car loan, or other credit, she was approved for a home loan at that time. I have a feeling that she would have problems getting that same mortgage today, given the same set of circumstances. This American dream for many young Americans may be delayed due to the recent events in our economy.

The American dream for many people has also included the ability to live a little better than their parents lived. This has been achieved by most all Baby-Boomers whose parents lived through the Depression. Today, we enjoy a standard of living that our parents could not fathom. Is that standard of living legitimate, or has a nation that lives on credit distorted our perception?

What will happen to the Americans who bought homes on easy credit that they could not afford. The banks were all too happy to extend credit for these over inflated priced homes. Now those people can't make their mortgage payments, and the banks are in trouble. Will the federal government go ahead with the $700 billion buyout? Will those home owners get to keep their piece of the American dream? Will their loans be adjusted or forgiven? Will the value of their home and mine continue to decrease in value?

These are all questions that we can ponder, guess, discuss, or cuss, but we must wait to see how everything plays out. Is the American dream still attainable, or will we have an economic correction that will make it just a dream for many Americans?