According to** you ** .
Explain to a non U.S doper .
A chicken in every pot and two cars in every garage. Oh, and a house you own, and a washing machine.
I think for a lot of people it is the idea that you can work hard, establish yourself and have a certain amount of continued prosperity for you and your family as well as security. For immigrant families, I have heard it expressed that you can come to America and your kids will become fully American in a way that is not true for a lot of other countries (not that you would move to another country and your kids would still become American, but you know what I mean).
Whatever you want it to be. That’s the beauty of the American dream.
Wanna lay your cards down on the table and open up your own business? Go for it. Wanna be a humanitarian by working and teaching on Indian reservations in the badlands? Get cracking. Wanna make a million on Wall Street? OK, maybe that’s a bad example.
There’s nothing stopping you. In fact, depending on what you want to do in America, there might be quite a bit to help you. I believe that America values the individual, and everything I’ve seen in life has convinced me that this is a good thing. On several occasions, I’ve taken advantage of it to step off the beaten path. My dream involves working in Bibliographic Instruction in a library someday. An interesting job, but I’ll never be rich. But that’s what the American dream is all about. Setting off on your own and doing it your way.
** two cars in every garage**
Is it because husband/wife both work and hence is a necessity ?
No, it’s because most people can’t afford two garages.
Oh, come on, I thought it was a good line! 
:D:D:p
Well, if they don’t each have a car, one of them might have to walk or take public transit, and we can’t have that, can we?
Seriously, a lot of the stereotypical “American dream” seems to be wrapped up in suburban living, where it can be very difficult to live without a car. People in the suburbs often don’t live within walking distance of anything besides other houses. So cars become a necessity.
Many years ago it implied being out of debt, owning one’s own home, having enough money saved to be able to enjoy retirement years with travel, entertainment, health care and the other creature comforts that may have been in shorter supply during the “working years.”
But along the way the “being out of debt” portion gave way to the “I want it now” thought process. Credit became the norm and paying as you go was a passe’ notion.
That’s why the USA is in the financial crisis it is today. IMHO.
The phrase is several generations old, and nowadays it may or may not still be relevant—that’s a subject for debate. But it goes along with the idea of America as the “land of opportunity,” where anyone, provided they are willing to work hard and live right, can earn their way to a comfortable, middle-class existence, or more.
ETA: Even in its heyday, this idea was part myth and part reality (though in what proportion, I’m not sure).
To my grandfather, it meant that he felt he had gone as far as he could in his native country even though he was only 25 years old.
To my father and mother it meant financial security, a chance to do more than just work every day of their lives and the opportunity to give their kids a good start in life.
To me and my sisters it means running with the good start our parents gave us and preparing our kids for the future.
I am reminded of the lines from flavours
An Indian techie to his buddy. “American dream ! it happens only in your sleep !”
