# The American Dream **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 1, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-dream/667734 "2013-09-01T16:11:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-dream/667734/1 "2013-09-01T16:11:20Z")
\*\*Resolved: \*\*The “American Dream” is entirely economic/financial in nature. Debate. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-dream/667734/2 "2013-09-01T18:01:33Z")
No. Dusty Rhodes is The American Dream. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-dream/667734/3 "2013-09-01T18:14:32Z")
Nah, it’s also sociological too, when you factor in finding the right person to have those 2.4 perfect children with to fill your house that’s surounded by a white picket fence. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-dream/667734/4 "2013-09-01T18:32:07Z")
It also includes having a fulfilling job, or at least one you don’t hate. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-dream/667734/5 "2013-09-01T18:36:52Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > It also includes having a fulfilling job, or at least one you don’t hate. I’d agree, but let me add the following constraint to the discussion: Differentiate between what you see as the most common perception of the term, and what you’d personally like it to represent. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-dream/667734/6 "2013-09-01T18:39:40Z")
The American Dream: Whatever it is your parents say you are supposed to want out of life. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-dream/667734/7 "2013-09-01T18:55:11Z")
I disagree. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-dream/667734/8 "2013-09-02T03:53:44Z")
The American Dream: _College Education, Own a Home, Retire Comfortably_; you may now pick only one item. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-dream/667734/9 "2013-09-02T16:08:52Z")
_Entirely_ economic/financial? No, definitely not. Most often that’s a component, but, say, a wealthy family in some Stalinist dictatorship that escapes to the US and is able to live without fear might be said to have achieved the American dream, even if their economic status is _reduced_. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-dream/667734/10 "2013-09-02T16:31:05Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > _Entirely_ economic/financial? No, definitely not. Most often that’s a component, but, say, a wealthy family in some Stalinist dictatorship that escapes to the US and is able to live without fear might be said to have achieved the American dream, even if their economic status is _reduced_. So refugees living in Canada are also living the American dream? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-dream/667734/11 "2013-09-02T16:38:20Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > The American Dream: _College Education, Own a Home, Retire Comfortably_; you may now pick only one item. Terminal clause aside,\* is that your definition or your perception of TAD? \*…and wrong, but that’s another topic… ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-dream/667734/12 "2013-09-02T17:01:25Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > \*\*Resolved: \*\*The “American Dream” is entirely economic/financial in nature. > > Debate. You say that like it’s a bad thing. Much of the American Dream is economic and financial in nature. It’s based on a belief that if you are smart and hardworking, you should be able to afford to raise a family in a safe neighborhood in a reasonably comfortable middle-class lifestyle. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-dream/667734/13 "2013-09-02T17:08:47Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > You say that like it’s a bad thing. Not my intention. I want some intelligent feedback and discussion about exactly what people - or Dopers, close - think TAD is. It’s used in the same vague and (intentionally or unintentionally) misleading way as many other popular economics terms and I want to know if anyone sees, personally or as a general definition, any component except financial and economic “success” and stability. > [@](#): > > Much of the American Dream is economic and financial in nature. It’s based on a belief that if you are smart and hardworking, you should be able to afford to raise a family in a safe neighborhood in a reasonably comfortable middle-class lifestyle. Extremely conventional statement of the definition. (Not a bad thing.) But if it’s only “much” this, what else is it? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-dream/667734/14 "2013-09-02T17:35:12Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Extremely conventional statement of the definition. (Not a bad thing.) But if it’s only “much” this, what else is it? I suppose the specifics are different for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-dream/667734/15 "2013-09-02T18:00:16Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > So refugees living in Canada are also living the American dream? I wouldn’t say so. They may be achieving the same thing, but it seems tautological (?) that to live the American dream you’re doing it in the US. It’s just a matter of terminology; which is not to say that immigrants can’t “make good” in many other countries as well. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-dream/667734/16 "2013-09-02T18:53:04Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > I wouldn’t say so. They may be achieving the same thing, but it seems tautological (?) that to live the American dream you’re doing it in the US. It’s just a matter of terminology; which is not to say that immigrants can’t “make good” in many other countries as well. I never hear about “the Nigerian dream” or “the Irish dream”. Maybe every country has a dream, and being an American, I’ve never been exposed to this. But it doesn’t seem likely. Seems to me that “the American dream” is much more than simply being free from oppression. ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-dream/667734/17 "2013-09-02T20:00:32Z")
I always understood “the American Dream” as a concept arose from an encouraging political statement. Roosevelt? Lincoln? All human beings have dreams of the best life they can imagine, often quite modest. A safe life, the respect of others, useful work, material comforts. There is nothing unique about a dream simply because you have the good fortune to be born in the United States. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-dream/667734/18 "2013-09-02T20:02:27Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I never hear about \ “the Irish dream”. [Irish Dream](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-OzdiaJZkw).