- The ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American.
- A life of personal happiness and material comfort as traditionally sought by individuals in the U.S.
- The widespread aspiration of Americans to live better than their parents did
- In the American Dream, the goals of all people (citizens and residents) to secure a livelihood, gain an education, build friendships and family, and live free of oppression and in peace, are regarded as fundamental to the philosophy, principles, and purpose for which the United States exists.
- An expression with about as many meanings as there are Americans to aspire to it, and others to comment on it
- An American ideal of a happy and successful life to which all may aspire
- A phrase connoting hope for prosperity and happiness, symbolized particularly by having a house of one’s own. Possibly applied at first to the hopes of immigrants, the phrase now applies to all except the very rich and suggests a confident hope that one’s children’s economic and social condition will be better than one’s own.
- The opportunity and freedom for all citizens to achieve their goals and become rich and famous if only they work hard enough.
- An American social ideal that stresses egalitarianism and especially material prosperity ; also : the prosperity or life that is the realization of this ideal
So was that enough for you? It was more than enough for me. The phrase was actually coined by James Truslow Adams back in 1931 in his book Epic of America. He defined it as, “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” Something tells me we’ve gone a bit off kilter from his original intention.
“What is that promise? It’s a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect. It’s a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road…. That’s the promise of America – the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother’s keeper; I am my sister’s keeper. That’s the promise we need to keep.”
So now that we’ve defined this word 🙂 let’s take a look a bit more at it. I joke a bit when I say we’ve defined it because, as you’ve probably noticed by now, no one definition captures all that the American dream is.
So what is my American dream?
Let me tell you. For one thing, you can drop the American part of it because my dream has nothing to do with this country or being a citizen of it. Don’t get me wrong here, I am proud to be born and raised here, but I don’t think being American is what it’s all about. My dream is more of a Kingdom dream…if there’s a need to label it. In short, my dream is to surrender my will in order to pursue the will of God.
Whoa! Wait, what?! You mean, my dream isn’t to live in a big house, make lots of money, and own 3 cars?! Mmm ‘fraid not my friends!! In fact, if I often joke that if I found myself in a situation where I did have “lots of money” in the future, it wouldn’t last very long because I’d give it all away to charities and such…well, that and adopting my little United Nations, but that’s for a different blog! My point here is, none of that “stuff” matters to me and really, it shouldn’t matter to you either.
I don’t care about the American dream. If it’s everything mentioned above, I DON’T WANT IT! I want God’s dream, God’s plan, God’s desire for me and for everyone in my life. I want this Kingdom dream to be the new American dream. I want THAT for everyone on this Earth!
We as Americans need to sit back and think about this. What are we striving for? What are YOU striving for? Is it the American dream? Or the Kingdom dream? The choice is yours…make the right one!
