American Dream
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ans, 61% cite "America is the land of opportunity" as a reason why they can catch the dream. 49% of frequent church goers attribute their optimism to their religious faith. 76% of people under age 30 say their brains and hard work will bring them success.
Among those who reject the American Dream, 46% of those younger than age 30 believe that Americans aren't entitled to a better life, which fits perfectly into their overall more global outlook. Almost as many of those young adults (44%) say that the cost of living is just too high for them to achieve the dream. Conservatives who don't believe in the American Dream are about 10 points more likely than liberals of the same mindset to say that the powerful don't care about them. These liberals are more likely (37%) than conservatives who have forsaken the American Dream (24%) to believe Americans shouldn't think of themselves as special and entitled to an ideal life.
A different poll sponsored in spring 2009 by the New York Times and CBS News showed 72% of Americans believed it is possible to start out poor in the United States, work hard and become rich — a classic definition of the American dream. 44% said they had actually achieved the American dream, although another 31% said they expect to attain it within their lifetime. Only 20% have given up on ever reaching it. In 2005 19% defined the Dream in terms of financial security and a steady job, and 20% gave answers that related to freedom and opportunity. In 2009 fewer people are pegging their dream to material success and more are pegging it to abstract values. Those citing financial security dropped to 11%, and those citing freedom and opportunity expanded to 27%.[1]
Typican answers in the category of freedom and opportunity:
- “Freedom to live our own life.”
- "Created equal.”
- “Someone could start from nothing.”
- “That everybody has a fair chance to succeed.”
- “To become whatever I want to be.”
- “To be healthy and have nice family and friends.”
- “More like Huck Finn; escape to the unknown; follow your dreams.”
Those who responded in material terms gave these answers to what is the Dream:
- “Basically, have a roof over your head and put food on the table.”
- “Working at a secure job, being able to have a home and live as happily as you can not spending too much money.”
- “Just financial stability.”
- “Owning own home, having civil liberties.”
California Dream
Historian Kevin Starr in his grand seven-volume history of the state has explored in great depth the "California Dream"--the realization by ordinary Californians of the American Dream. California starting in the late 19th century promised the highest possible standard of life for the middle classes, and indeed for the skilled blue collar workers and farm owners as well. It was not so much the upper class (who preferred to live in New York and Boston). The California Dream meant an improved and more affordable family life: a small but stylish and airy house marked by a fluidity of indoor and outdoor space, such as the ubiquitous California bungalow and a lush backyard—the stage, that is, for quiet family life in a sunny climate. It meant very good jobs, excellent roads, plentiful facilities for outdoor recreation, and the schools and universities that were the best in the world by the 1940s. James M. Cain, an eastern writer who visited the Golden State, reported in 1933 that the archetypal Californian "addresses you in easy grammar, completes his sentences, shows familiarity with good manners, and in addition gives you a pleasant smile."[2]
Comparative
The American dream has always been a magnet for immigrants. Surveys show that Americans indeed have higher aspirations for themselves and their children. Thus three-quarters of Americans, compared with only one-third of Britons, West Germans, and Hungarians, and even fewer Dutch, agree that they have a good chance of improving their standard of living. Twice as many Americans as Canadians or Japanese think future generations of their nationality will live better than the present generation.[3]
Notes
- ↑ Katharine Q. Seelye, What Happens To The American Dream In A Recession?" New York Times May 8, 2009
- ↑ Kevin Starr, Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950-1963 (2009)
- ↑ Data cited by Hochschild, Facing Up to the American Dream: Race, Class, and the Soul of the Nation (1995), ch. 1
Bibliography
- Cullen, Jim. The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea That Shaped a Nation. (2003) online edition
- Hochschild, Jennifer L. Facing Up to the American Dream: Race, Class, and the Soul of the Nation (1995) excerpt