I think that my interpretation of the American dream is very close to this:

“To me, the American Dream encompasses the freedom to wake up in the morning—regardless of your personal circumstance—and make the decisions necessary to change your life. Good decisions reap positive results. Bad decisions, well, don’t.”

But tempered with the knowledge that for some people the road to realizing that one does have choices and one really does make decisions is a harder one than for others.

To elaborate a bit. I definitely believe in individual responsibility, initiative, and working hard, etc. I also believe that hard work, personal responsibility and the like are not in opposition with effective government that provides for the common good. I read too many “conservatives” who seem to believe they *are* in opposition. That any attempt to help folks start from the same part of the football field means “dependence on gubmint”. It doesn’t mean that in any way, shape or form, as far as I’m concerned . . .

To mix a couple of metaphors. Life is a football field and a race. Some people start pretty close to the goal line already. They’re born with a “first and goal” situation. Other kids start all the way on the other part of the field and have a whole lot longer road to hoe. I think it’s the government’s job to help even the playing field as much as possible. Get children to roughly the same part of the playing field, equip them with the best tools possible to help them do their best, and them let them play.

I don’t mean penalize kids that start at “first and goal”. But government resources should be targeted to help kids shorten the field so they can compete with the first and goal kids. No government funds should go to help those kids with a short field increase their lead.

We should fund this with extra taxation on the rich. They should fund the shortening of the field for the less fortunate. They can afford it, by definition.

Beyond all of that, once the kids are all equipped with the best of the best, it’s still ultimately up to them, as far as creating, mapping and achieving their goals. That would be my American dream.

Along with a New Atlantis for the arts, philosophy, science, and overall enlightenment, etc. :>)

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@ Doug – I had a sneaking suspicion that would be your take. I kinda agree with what you say, but I also think Adam’s take and especially his belief in the individual has some validity. Maybe we’re just old and cynical ;-) Having said that I do think a lot of Americans are very ignorant of other countries and what they have to offer.

@ Laurie – That was Adam’s take, not mine. I’m unsure of what the American Dream is or ever was for that matter. I love his book, but I don’t know if I came away thinking “Ok now I realize, this is how it is, or that is how it is.”

I think that is it. The American dream is the choice to have the life you want. Like in your “smarter goals” video they have to be in line with your reality (I will never be a great hockey player. I don’t skate that well) but you can make so many choices to have the kind of life you want that the only thing that really is stopping someone is themselves. Many people just cannot take risks. Being able to take risks is the difference IMHO between someone who is taking on the American dream and a by stander.

1. The belief by some that it’s a uniquely American thing.

2. The belief by some that there is some kind of hard and fast choice between wealth and social safety net.

3. The belief by some that “freedom” means free to be rich (and that taxation should be based upon that).

4. The belief by some that America has it right, when it comes to our structure which privileges the privileged to a degree unseen in any other Western nation.

. . .

IMO, Scandinavia balances the social safety net with freedom to achieve personal goals the best. I’d say the rest of Europe is close. We fall waaay down the list and weight personal, selfish, self-centered goals in excess.

I also think we give short shrift to cultural attainments, knowledge, science, the arts, etc. I wish the American dream meant the degree of knowledge we gain about the world, ourselves and each other, rather than personal riches. I wish overall “enlightenment” was the dream of this nation.

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I didn’t say the American Dream was the only thing killing the planet. I said that it was. As is Australia (where I’m from) and many other places as well.

Hi Adam,

No the issues are directly related. “The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment”. Give me the source of your facts on social mobility. It may look to you (young, white, educated) that there is great social mobility but it may not look that way to others.

I do think the attitude of ‘gotta have it now’ is a problem – for all sorts of reasons: physical and ecological and many others.