POST4 : MYTHS & HEROES: THE AMERICAN DREAM

American Dream

Definition :

The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, the set of ideals (democracy, rights, liberty, opportunity and equality) in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, as well as an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers.

The American Dream is rooted in the Declaration of Independence, which proclaims that "all men are created equal" with the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Also, the U.S. Constitution promotes similar freedom, in the Preamble: to "secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity"

Symbols of American Dreams :

For me the symbols of American Dreams are a family together around a table : man, woman and children. They all look happy with a big smile and ravisant looking. They're next to a lake with a boat, maybe theirs. The weither is beautiful as it is summer. We also see on the table and around a lot of branded product. The child has a beautiful bike, the man has a machine to cut the meat and the woman grills it on a delightful barbecue. This scene is the dream of all united families looking for happiness, or an example of American Dream.

In this second image, I see a completely different two-dimensional scale. On the left there is a large group of people all different, they all look in the same direction, some have panels with written "CHANGE". They are all united for the same idea.But they are not as heavy as the right side where there is only one man with three big bags of money or there is written the symbol "$" and a much smaller one with marked "CHANGE" that he distributed to the crowd on the left side. It seems to me that this image represents democracy with the event against power, one of the symbols of the American dream. But the idea of ​​the power of money is also present. And it is also a reality because part of the population is not as powerful as a wealthy man.

Analyze :

A large part of Americans know how to relate the American dream to the choice proposed by the study except 4% of respondents who do not know. The idea of the American dream is mostly related to the family at 36% followed by opportunities at 35% and freedom at 33%. But if we look only at the 1st choice, it is the opportunities that define the best American dream for the americans. Finally in ascending order are financial security, happiness, a good job, home ownership and wealth that qualifies the American dream.

Another study made a survey to define what should be improved to define the American dream and the increase of retirements figure in 1st choice with 47% followed by having a housing has 17%. In the same position to retire early and aid for the education of children are at 5%. Then 4% have money for care and also for scholarships. Finally have your own business and own a car are both at 3%