Answer:
The American dream is like a familiar old tune that we can all hum, but when we get to the
lyrics no one can agree on all the words. We sing this national anthem in fragments. Ask 10
people about the American dream and you get 10 variations on a theme.
2. Nonetheless, the theme is fundamental. It's the belief that in the United States, people are
free to pursue opportunity, and that through hard work, they can make a better life for
themselves and their children.
3. This dream has powered the hopes and aspirations of Americans for generations. It's a
dream that began as a plain but revolutionary notion: each person has the right to pursue
happiness - not as self-indulgence, but as fair ambition and creative drive.
4. Over time however, that deceptively simple notion has yielded something else: a powerful
set of consumer expectations. When Americans today talk about the American dream,
they're often referring to a lifestyle that includes owning a house and a car, sending kids to
college, and enjoying a comfortable retirement.
5. Centuries before the "American dream" became a standard phrase, immigrants and
observers knew what it was. The ideals that undergird the American dream were formed
early in the nation's history. Jim Cullen, author of The American Dream: A Short History of
an Idea that Shaped a Nation, writes:
6. “The Pilgrims may not have actually talked about the American dream, but they would have
understood the idea: after all, they lived it as people who imagined a destiny for themselves.
So did the Founding Fathers. So did illiterate immigrants who could not speak English but
who intuitively expressed rhythms of the Dream with their hands and their hearts. What
Alexis de Tocqueville called 'the charm of anticipated success' in his classic Democracy in
America seemed palpable to him not only in the 1830s, but in his understanding of American
history for two hundred years before that.
7. This expansive belief in possibility - "the charm of anticipated success" - is deeply
embedded in the nation's psyche. It's a compelling message political leaders call on when
the nation is in crisis, reminding Americans of their can-do spirit, that individuals have the
power to bring about change.”
8. Perhaps it's no coincidence that historian James Truslow Adams coined the phrase
"American dream" during the depths of the Great Depression. A popular writer at the time,
Adams wanted to write a history of the United States for the general reader, one that
underscored what he saw as the nation's
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