Is the American Dream to get Rich/Wealthy or to be Middle Class ?, page 2

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reply posted on 31-5-2011 @ 11:55 PM by dbates

reply to post by incrediblelousminds

If you just take one of the original cases, the Pilgrims, they left England because they didn't have the freedom to worship freely as they wanted to. In America they could build a church and hold whatever type of service they wanted. Others came here to find wealth and that's okay too. The final straw on the colonies was the crushing taxation that the English crown was putting on those in America. Essentially this was removing their freedom to have free unfettered commerce.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

If happiness means religion, money, owning 10 guns, or just running a shop on the corner that sells cigars, then that's what you should have. Liberty as mentioned above = Freedom.

reply posted on 1-6-2011 @ 12:38 AM by realitycheckmate

The American dream is to have a small family business that grows into a large corporation, which then gets bought out by a multi or transnational corporation. Then that money is used to start a new business, and after several attempts enough money is amassed that a large foundation can be established. Then, funds are dumped into the foundation, tax free, and eventually that foundation funds enterprising globalists. When those globalists get elected, they place measures in action to protect the interest of those contributors. When the money siphoned off the top of that foundation is large enough to fund drug running and white slavery, and children are bought and sold to pedophiles, the American dream is finally realized.

reply posted on 1-6-2011 @ 12:42 AM by ldyserenity

reply to post by mikejohnson2006

Whatever it once was is gone, I'd say everybody's American Dream is different, some dream of the simple middle class life, some dream of being great musicians (And money would not matter to a real creative musician), and some dream of being really filthy rich...unfortunately those that dream of that think their dreams supercede everybody else's hence what we have here today. Total collapse of dreams.

reply posted on 1-6-2011 @ 01:30 AM by hadriana

Are those the only choices?

I want to be happy. I want to know what I want to know.

Security does help with that, but the baseline for that is not that high up on the economic ladder.

reply posted on 1-6-2011 @ 07:29 PM by incrediblelousminds

reply to post by dbates

Yes, but none of that offers a definitive definition of 'the american dream'. Today, when people refer to the 'american dream' i think they generally are referring to a rags to riches story. That definition is referred to CONSTANTLY in popular culture, and has been for at least 100 years, if not more. Think Gatsby.

reply posted on 1-6-2011 @ 07:42 PM by Nkinga

reply to post by mikejohnson2006

I don't know about the "American" dream. But I can tell you that I am fully satisfied as I sit right now. I am an American. My husband and I married when I was 18 and he was 22. Its a long story but short part of it is, we moved from the tiny little town of Ellijay where there were no opportunities to a bigger city with big and better jobs. It was during the time when you could still get a job without a high school diploma or college degree. We ended up going from a 1972 mobile home that was falling apart (literally) to a 3 bedroom apartment that we shared with roommates. We went from me being a receptionist at a car dealership, him being a car salesman, to me being inventory manager and he becoming General Manager over internet sales. We got married, bought our first house, had 2 cars. I got pregnant with our first child a year later, he made enough for me to stay home and he got a promotion to become a floor manager at a different dealership. Fast forward 10 years. We are still in our first home (we planned well when we bought it, we moved into an area that was up and coming, on a cauldesac, decent yard) own our own used car dealership, have a 10 year old and a 3 year old. I've still stayed home this whole time and help with our business. Our fortunate circumstances in these hard times have made it possible for me to be able to devote my time to our children, their schools, and I'm split between two seperate churches for a number of charity events. We are not "rich" we can make our bills, with enough to take one short trip a year. We plan for it, and we work out all the deals first before we decide on going..kinda like coupons, lol. Our children are on an all year school system and get a week break every 7 weeks..this means we have the ability to take trips during off times when prices are cheapest..works great! We can eat out once in a while and when I really really want to I can buy something extra for myself. We still have to watch our pennies, we don't use credit cards. But we are comfortable, we have exactly what we need, with enough extra to give it to someone else. I feel to myself that is the dream for us. I'm not sure I'd care to have more.

reply posted on 31-7-2011 @ 12:24 PM by EndOfMan

Perhaps the American Dream is simply that: a dream.

It is all the hopes of an archaic thought process left over from the 1950's white anglo-saxon protestants that wanted to smoke and drink, beat their children, and raise them on bloodless gunfights in the old west. They were hypocrites and liars who sought their own self-destruction amidst a world of uncertainty and death. They created their Superman in the hopes of alleviating the fears of their children that no one was there to protect them from the Atomic Bomb if anyone sought to destroy them.

The American Dream is a white picket fence on green grass and a small home you own with your wife baking in high heels and son playing outside. It is not real, and never will be. It is a dream planted in the minds of Americans to encourage them to work the way they should, to not take handouts from the government and to pursue their own success, in-so-much as such success leads them to pay higher taxes and contribute no real lasting worth to society.

What we need is a new dream... what we need is a new Superman to save us from the Atomic Bombs of our time.

reply posted on 31-7-2011 @ 12:41 PM by whaaa

The way to live the American dream is to leave America and live in another country that respects the individual over the corporate rulers.

reply posted on 31-7-2011 @ 12:45 PM by incrediblelousminds

Originally posted by whaaa
The way to live the American dream is to leave America and live in another country that respects the individual over the corporate rulers.

Many of my friends have jokingly noted that I did not get to experience the American dream until I moved to Canada several years back. And it's true, I guess: I have a white picket fence and a big yard, good job, health insurance (both private and public), etc.

Seriously.

reply posted on 31-7-2011 @ 03:38 PM by davidgrouchy