Today’s American Dream is as same as the proposed American Dream in the Great Depression of 1931. What is the American Dream is its collection of ideas put together for the prosperity and success of the nation or does the idea of the American Dream is vary from person to person.
The term the American Dream is long used in many books, literature, and movies but it is in 1931 it was first coined by the historian named James Truslow Adams during the Great Depression of 1929. (1929 – 1939). During the time the country faces enormous economic and financial condition which make approx. 15 million Americans go unemployed and the nation’s half of the banks are now closed.
In this time the adman wrote “The American Dream is a dream of a land in which life should be better, cultivated and richer and fulfilling for everyone. A land where everyone gets an equal opportunity according to the ability and skills”. Although the roots from where the idea originated are aimed at the equality and prosperity of the nation as a whole this idea is entangled with the idea of having wealth.
Although the generation that comes after can be blamed for the shifting of the original idea from the core but it’s indeed the contribution of all of us that contributed it to shift. For Some, the interpretation of the idea of the “American Dream” is having decent housing, a good education, health care, and a good job (President Franklin D. Roosevelt) where some push the idea of the “if you play by the rules and worked that”, the government are responsible for your finance, health, education and your home (President Harry S. Truman’s).
Some stand with the idea of equality and discourage discrimination based on race, color, religion, or custom. (President Lyndon B. Johnson). While others work and promote affordable health for the people of American (President Obama) and all these are under the concept or the idea of the American Dream.
After looking at the brief analysis of the American major political decision we observe that it is true the idea of the “American Dream” is vastly influenced by the amount of wealth whether, in terms of the house, higher education that leads to the higher paying job or government services lead to the stable life after the retirement as now the government is responsible for your well-being.
In some places we also observe that this idea is also associated with the health and comfort of the people which is different from their counterparts, maybe this is another shift, another phase that molded the idea into something different and something prosperous for the people of American.
So where did it leave us with the concept proposed 7 decades ago “The American Dream” is it something real, is it something worth dreaming, or is it just a phase that may have a notable spotlight in the past and may not contribute greatly to the present or into the future.
I believe the phrase “The American Dream” is here to stand although it might be pivoted to the pursuit of high wealth but it also leads to great things like affordable healthcare and regardless of those things today an individual citizens look at the land of opportunity as a place where everything and anything is possible which lead me to believe we are standing true to the roots of “The American Dream”
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