I wasn't sure what this question meant, so I went to Wikipedia and read the "American Dream" entry. There you will find this quote:
"The American Dream, that has lured tens of millions of all nations to our shores in the past century has not been a dream of material plenty, though that has doubtlessly counted heavily. It has been a dream of being able to grow to fullest development as a man and woman, unhampered by the barriers which had slowly been erected in the older civilizations, unrepressed by social orders which had developed for the benefit of classes rather than for the simple human being of any and every class."
-James Truslow Adams
I think that's a nice idea. Clearly, we have yet to achieve it. Race, gender and intergenerational wealth have played pivotal roles in restricting or enabling the opportunities of individuals throughout American history. Some of those restrictions have abated in contemporary society, but increasingly the interests of the individual is superseded by the interests of multi-national corporations. In short, there's a lot of work to do.
12 years ago
