What was the american dream in the 1920's?
The Twenties was all about building more and advancement. People were wealthy at that time and bought many items that would help with their convenience. Radios and carswere popular. In the Thirties, unfortunately, most people had to pick up and struggle with their lives. the Depression that came in 1929 didn't help much...
Is the American Dream dead?
That depends on how you are defining the American Dream. Today, it seems to mean more, more, more for me, me, me. But I think originally it meant freedom to make something for yourself through your own efforts with opportunity available in many forms for all (as long as you were white): the wealth of resources, availability of land, a voice in government, availability of education, etc. It used to mean your children would have better lives than you did in many ways. Today, with the greater and greater wealth gap, with more and more families sliding downhill economically, it may seem more like the American Nightmare. I am not talking about those who milk the welfare system or who willfully do not take advantage of their opportunities. I am talking about the hard-working people who have seen their jobs outsourced or who have been laid off because consumer spending has dropped. They are caught in a vicious cycle: less consumer spending means less demand; less demand means companies have to lay off workers; fewer workers mean fewer people with money for consumer spending (less demand); ad infinitum. Economists say that the younger generations of today may be the first to have less than their parents. The original American Dream relied on resources and opportunities, and those seem to diminishing.
Is this the American dream?
This is more the American nightmare: swimming for all you're worth yet still being pulled back by the current. When this country was founded, it was never supposed to be this way. Our Founding Fathers conceived of a land of opportunity where the hard work you describe would yield satisfying results. That's all but gone, now. I attribute this gross "failure of life" to three factors: deterioration of moral values, overpopulation, and the invention of the microprocessor. Earth societies have degraded to carbon copy "Sodom and Gomorrahs", each with its own brand of vice, corruption, and propaganda. The basic values which made this nation great have nearly disappeared. You'll never hear of them on tv. God has been replaced by technology and the legal tender. What's right and what's wrong has become a dizzying blur as we race for survival toward oblivion. As of October 31, 2011, the Earth's population clicked over 7 billion. This planet was never designed to support such a huge human population, despite what many may think. You can hide your head in the sand, but the facts remain. That means there are many more competing for jobs than there were fifty years ago. There is an excess of labor. This forces the price of labor down (supply and demand) making simple survival an excruciating task. I saved the best for last. I like the television series "Modern Marvels". It's educational. One thing strikes me hard. Whenever a massive factory floor is shown, there are at most, 12 people on the floor. Why? Your job is now being performed by microprocessor controlled robots. Machines have taken jobs from humans. Machines don't get sick, don't take breaks, don't eat lunch, don't ask for raises, don't strike, and don't punch out. . .the perfect employee from management's perspective. As machines get smarter and smarter, there will be fewer and fewer jobs left for humans. We're so proud of the technology that is pushing us to starvation. Isn't that sad!? Manufacturing will never be what it once was, at least not for humans. I rest my case.
How do you define the American Dream?
Perhaps 99% of people will think as you mention, but a few will think otherwise. How about "real" press-liberty not that press as we see (biased) as CNN or CBS or ABC or NBC. Example: Michael Moore. How about the fact that you can actually, in free democracy, question the existance of a bi-partisan political monopoly system called Democrats and Republicans ??? How about the fact that the American Dream is not necessarily $$$$ but Liberty, Tolerance and Respect ??? Why not to consider the American Dream the possibility that we can get free medical attention as most countries in the world do ??? The American Dream is actually Utopialand.
Why is the American dream overrated?
I am in debate class and we get to pick our topics about what to debate on. I've decided to make my debate about the authenticity of the American dream. Now I think that the American dream is overrated but I do not have any contentions that don't overlap. I want to be able to propose a strong argument but I need help in finding contentions to support my claim. Please help! It's due Monday. Thank you!
Is the American Dream still valid ?
For all the problems we have America is still the greatest place on earth, and yes the dream of owing your own home, freedom of speech, employment, enough to eat, clothes on your back and due process of law, the right to education and your beliefs., may be wounded, but still alive and well in America.
When did the 1% end the American dream and what did they hope to gain?
If you had any clue about statistics, economics and demographics, you’d know that the “1%” do not exist!There’s no such thing.Whoever happens to have enough wealth to be statistically part of a fictitious “1%” is going to change on a daily or weekly basis.Even the top 20% is going to change enormously.People who are in the bottom 20% before 25 usually are in the 20–40% or 40–60% range after 25 or 30, because they got a job or started their own business.Neither poverty nor wealth are permanent in a capitalist society.So as they do not exist, the “1%” cannot have ended anything.The American Dream is alive and well - and a lot more so now that Trump is president.Stop whining and start working!And most of all, stop being so damn envious of those who succeeded!Try to be more like those rich people you hate only for having what you would like!
Why and where has the "American dream" gone/been lost and become an American nightmare?
I’m not sure what most believe the “American Dream” is. To me it simply meant that if I worked hard and did a good job that I’d be able to have a reasonably sized house, drive a reasonable car, and be able to buy groceries without too much stress.The American Dream has never been about getting rich, it’s always been about the middle class, about everyone having an opportunity to have a life free of starvation. Work hard, do a good job, stay at the same company for 40 years, then retire. That’s not the way of things anymore. I’ve been laid off six times in my working life. In each instance it was a whim of some executive and not targeted at me specifically. Unfortunately only one of those companies has had to face the consequences of treating employees so poorly, the company no longer exists. They went from something like 100,000 employees and a presence in numerous countries to none.As workers have lost bargaining power to the Republican attacks on Unions and “Right to Work” laws wages have stagnated to the point that what used to be accomplished by a single person working full time cannot now be accomplished by two people working full time.As CEO’s salaries and bonuses have increased, as the “profit at all cost and damn the casualties” strategy has spread, American workers are now just like so much toilet paper to be used and flushed away.I lived in a county that had a total population of 54,000. Even good paying job in the county didn’t compare well to even neighboring counties. The largest employer employed about 2200 people. They announced one day they were closing their facility and moving production to other facilities as a cost saving measure. What they did was move the manufacturing to Mexico. That was 20 years ago, that county still has not recovered.Were they in danger of losing money? Nope. They were showing a handsome profit and paying excellent dividends.Were the workers in the new location(s) better qualified? Nope, in fact they were paid about 10% of the previous workers.Did the price of their products come down? Nope, in fact their prices increased, their profits increased and their dividends increased.All of this is not to say that no one becomes rich. There are still instances were people “make it”.The most important component of the “American Dream” was hope.
Did you get the chance to live the American dream? What did you do with that chance?
If by the American dream do you mean grow up, marry someone, buy a home, buy one or more cars and raise children to adulthood?If your answer is yes to all of the above, then indeed my wife and I lived the American dream. It wasn’t easy at times. There were certainly times when life was extremely difficult, but we made it. We recently retired.In fact, the American dream existed for my parents, grandparents and great grandparents. The American dream exists for our two children. However, this dream has been different for each generation. Sometimes the differences between the generations is striking.For example, my great grandparents and grandparents lived through the Great Depression. My parents were children in the aftermath of the Great Depression. The 1930’s and 1940’s, until after WWII. Some would say that the Great Depression ended with the beginning of WWII, but there was rationing so things didn’t improve very much until the war ended. So one could say that my parents perhaps enjoyed the American dream to a somewhat greater degree than my grandparents because they didn’t raise a family during the Great Depression and they retired with a home that was a little larger.In my opinion expectations and what people view as reasonable and acceptable plays a large role in the definition of the American dream. For example, both my maternal and paternal grandparents lived in small homes. Neither lived in a home larger than 1,000 square feet and they raised large families. Many homes being built today are considered small at 2,000 square feet. Neither of my grandparents ever owned a new vehicle and only later in life had a second car. Today it is common for people to own at least two cars/trucks, which are typically purchased new. Some may also own a motorcycle, snowmobile or jet ski. Entertainment for my grandparents was a radio and later one black and white TV. Today people have many sources of entertainment. My grandparents never ate out in a restaurant until their children were grown and even then it was rare. For years they did not even have a telephone. Many of the things that are taken for granted today did not exist for them. Thus, the economics of their lives was dramatically different from today.Thus, when we talk about the American dream, we have to recognize that it means very different things for different generations. It can even mean different things for people within a generation.
What is the old and the new American dream? How did it change over the years?
I can only experss my ideas of this.1800s - many travelled west to the USA to seek a better life than various parts of Europe - Germans, Scandinavians, Scots, Irish etc., some going to a future, some seeking to leave their past or economic issues.Pre WW2 - world depression - especially in the USA - not much of an American dream.During WW2. When US military finally arrived in Europe, they looked big, healthy and had spending money. They wore stylish uniforms danced to American Swing music and looked - well as they used to say, “Over paid, over sexed and over here!”Post WW2 times: Europe was a mess, countries were economically crippled and many refugees didn’t want to return to the “old country” so the USA, undamaged, industry in full swing, in fact economically advanced by WW2 - images of Hollywood and the “American conservative dream” - affluent happy blond haired families - 2.4 children, rag top Cadillacs, New looking houses, with large back yards, and luxurious kitchens with things like washing machines, and refrigerators, and swing music and even rock and roll! and sunshine!Everything looked great (in the media) to a cold, damp ruined Europe.For me - a baby boomer, it was initially the Hollywood cowboys - big hats, horses, boots and jeans and endless gunfights with baddies shot by the goodies with six guns that could fire a hundred shots without running out, and never any blood or guts.I remember the fist Hamburger cafe in London - a Wimpy! We thought it was great! (It wasn’t -same crap it is now) but food in the UK was pretty miserable.Then it was the music. Latin American music - men in frilly shirts, ladies with fruit salads on their heads (we couldn’t get that stuff as food!) and endless great percussionists … then Rock and Roll! That did it.I had to travel to Texas in 2004 and 2005 to get that cowboy thing out of my brain.I’ve now seen life in the north East, the south west, and the west coast of the USA. some of the USA is beautiful and I have to say that Americans were most welcoming to us, but I’ve little urge to go back. My American dream has ended …but I still play my American guitars and sing American songs!