eyeAsk: Is the "American Dream" Over?

As an American, I never really stopped to think about what the American Dream meant to me. We always hear about people's ancestors immigrating to the states to live or achieve this dream, but what exactly is it? Historian and writer James Truslow Adams coined the phrase "American Dream" in his 1931 book Epic of America:

The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.

In other words, the American Dream is the hopes that everyone should have the right to happiness, and the opportunity to achieve whatever they are capable of; no matter what they were born into or what their social status is.

My question is: Can we still chase the “American Dream” if the American Dream is creating an abyss between the rich and poor? Good question right? I think that there are so many things that hinder us from fulfilling this dream. If the rich are becoming richer, are the poor becoming poorer? I'm not just speaking in the means of monetary needs, but in general. Are we happy at the expense of others? Is the American Dream accessible for everyone?

I think it is, but it won't be reached the same way for everyone. Some may fulfill their dream just by making sure their children have the best, some have to live in luxury and let their money define them, and others live with what they can and have their American Dream moments. Although there may not be a way for everyone in this world to live the life of the rich and famous, at the end of the day, the pursuit of happiness is so much more important.

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MISS elleelleeye
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