The American Dream

The American Dream is an integral concept that gives hope to people living within the United States that anything is possible. While the typical definition of the American Dream deals largely with materialistic objects such as a big house, nice car, etc., the true definition is based largely on perspective. Before beginning to write this post I asked my mom what her definition of the American Dream was. She replied by simply stating, "equitable freedom". Listening to her response fortified the idea that perspective plays a large role in the American Dream as I never really thought about freedom being a part of this dream considering America is supposed to be, "the land of the free". Now hearing my mom's definition, I understand why she would say this considering everyone isn't equally free. Different groups of people, whether it's based on race, gender, sexual orientation, etc, have certain limitations that push them further from equality and true freedom. 

Taking all of these points into consideration, my definition of the American dream would be happiness. To me, this combines freedom, equal opportunity, economic prosperity, family, etc. To aspire to be truly happy is what I personally think the American dream is. Happiness should be the motivator rather than solely materialistic objects like the typical definition of the American Dream. Personally, a big house and things of that nature do make me happy but it would be significantly less appealing without family and friends. 

Wealth is also an interesting concept to think about and to define. The first things that pops into my head is economic wealth considering when someone says that they are wealthy they typically mean rich. However wealth has a variety of other meanings such as self-wealth(confidence, assurance, etc.) and social wealth(friends, family etc.). So when thinking about the true definition of wealth, I would say it's a combination of all three types: Economic, self, and social. As far as the most important, I definitely think it's self, social, and then economic even though all three are important. My attitude towards wealth is that a balance should be created between the three, making self and social the most important. Loving yourself and having a strong confidence combined with being surrounded by people that make you happy and uplift you, is  truly a powerful thing as it leads you closer to the "American Dream"--Happiness. 

I definitely feel as though Americans' attitudes towards wealth deal strictly with economic wealth. Whether it's in music or advertisements, people are always influencing others to get more "stuff". The media makes it seem as though the richer you are, the more happy you are. We are constantly being bombarded by images of people in nice cars and giant homes smiling and laughing and looking as if they don't have a care in the world. These images are then ingrained in the minds of the American people as they see this and aspire to be like them. People in these high, influential positions should spread images of other types of wealth so that we Americans can become more well rounded, and self loving individuals. 

Poverty is another issue that is extremely prevalent in American society. To me, it seems as though everyone looks up to those who are wealthy, but seem to ignore those who are in poverty. We are so ready to take away programs such as food stamps, and universal healthcare without coming up with other practical solutions. Not to mention, I find it ironic how we have people in congress who have never been in low poverty situations making decisions about crucial government support programs. It's so easy for people who have never been in those types of situations to say things like "work harder" or "try harder" when they've never been in these predicaments. Also, without solving the key issue of education disparities within low income neighborhoods, poverty will continue to be an ongoing cycle that will become harder and harder to escape.