The American dream: history, definition, and cultural significance

Consumerism: The Fallacy of the American Dream

The American Dream is really money." Jill Robinson, an American novelist, cuts to the chase when she pinpoints the materialist nature of the American Dream. Usually cloaked with images of a leisurely retirement, the American Dream is fundamentally a struggle to keep up with the Joneses and to reassure our children that they will not have to work as hard as we did. The American Dream entails sacrificing the present for the future, saving and scrimping in order to play golf in Boca. Once upon a time, middle class Americans felt proud of pursuing the American Dream because it was the norm: everyone had ideals of suburban life with the white picket fence and a golden retriever. Now, Americans are jaded and cynical. We continue to climb corporate steps and work fifteen-hour days so that we can make the payments on the SUV. We buy 40" televisions on credit, all in the name of the American Dream. And we fight for our right to do so, because it is our birthright, our entitlement, and our purpose. In fact, some would call it our duty: to spread the word that the pursuit of liberty and happiness means the acquisition of as much wealth as possible.

But when did the American Dream deteriorate to such a banal concept? Didn't it once convey the ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King, whose dream that "this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed" was "deeply rooted in the American Dream"? During the Great Depression, the American Dream served as a beacon of hope for those who struggled, lost their livelihoods, and could not feed their families. The propagation of the American Dream enabled those struggling with such loss to cling to capitalism. Capitalism is the central ideology behind the American Dream, the true foundation of it. The American Dream does not, as Dr. King hoped, equate with social equality.

In fact, crime, violence, cultural void, and apathy can all be traced to the American Dream. People of color do not enjoy the fruits of their labors to the same extent as whites. Workers who earn minimum wage can probably never ascend to the vice presidency of a corporation, no matter what the dogma says. The American Dream remains a gift for the already gifted, and a need for the all-too needy. The American Dream should represent social justice, social programs for the poor, and a society built on racial tolerance, freedom, and goodwill. Instead, the rich cling to their possessions at the expense of morality, all in the name of the American Dream. We are told by our government that sacrifice during an economic recession is unnecessary, for it threatens our "way of life." But what is this way of life that we so dearly cling to?