The American Dream in Today’s Society
For many, what keeps people in America or keeps the flow of people coming into the United States is the “American Dream.”
This term has been around since 1931 when historian James Truslow Adams said, “That dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.”
But what exactly is the “American Dream” now? Despite all the years that have gone by, for many Adams’ meaning still holds truth to this day, whereas others have found flaws within this “dream”.
This curiosity for what exactly the “American Dream” means to people now was further explored by my J478 International News class at CSUN where we interviewed people in our communities to learn more about what the “American Dream” means to them and if they think it’s still relevant or attainable.
These are five interpretations of today’s “American Dream”:
- “It means getting all the things that you wanna get without fear of who you are basically. So you can have all the things that you want in life and in America that is really possible. So, I think just being able to get all the things you want for yourself out of life and no matter what you look like.” — Tia Brisco
- “A good job, a good home, a good family life, a good stability.” — Kimberly Hernandez
- “Owning a large home, making a grand salary and overall having satisfaction with monetary gain.” — @lavenderhoney67
- “A narrative that many people think immigrants hold onto or come to this country in pursuit of. An American pride thing.” — Luis Zuniga
- “Equality. Me being a woman, I am trying to prosper and be a boss of my own. I want to help an be an ally to others and hope they can be the same for me.” — Marcela
When we dove deeper into whether this “American Dream” changes as we grow, Hernandez said, “No, I think once you set a goal, once you see okay this is what I want. I want a nice house. I want a nice car. To be married. To have a couple of kids. If you see that, I don’t think it ever changes.”
On the contrary, the others said that the “American Dream” does change as we grow and realize what we truly desire, or as we age and have more experiences to reflect from, or as we become more educated.
It’s easy to dream and want to pursue such a grand idea to live life to the fullest by achieving the ultimate “American Dream.” Yet, this is not an idea that is accessible for everyone to accomplish. For some this is not an attainable goal, but sadly nothing more than just a dream.
Specifically, when asked if the “American Dream” is accessible to other cultures, for the most part everyone agreed. However, those who felt in between brought up that they felt this way because “certain cultures will have to work even harder than some, and possibly receive the most backlash,” said @lavenderhoney67.
Ultimately for most of them personally, the “American Dream” is worth it to make and leave their mark for themselves and future generations. They also have either accomplished their “American Dream” or are well on their way to attaining that goal despite any obstacles they’ve encountered.
“I have accomplish a lot of my dreams and I still have a lot more that I want to accomplish. But, I don’t know if people would consider it the American Dream, but I considered it to be a dream. So, I would say yes and no because there is still more ways to go,” said Tia Brisco.
