Thanks for coming to the party.

The term used to refer to a broad range of freedoms other countries did not allow their citizens. Even then the term had individual significance according to the specific freedoms that were important to each citizen. For my own family, who came here to escape religious persecution, the American Dream, to them, meant the freedom to practice their religion without fear of imprisonment or worse.

Over the generations, who were born into those basic freedoms and have never known anything else, the term has morphed into very different meanings over time.

Not to say that it lost its original significance to most, but it also took on other meanings too. For instance in the 50’s, the term American Dream was synonymous with the "Keeping up with the Joneses" mentality. It became a term used for an ideal lifestyle that was fairly easy to come by at that time. This generation was comprised of children who had witnessed the economically hard times of the depression and now had the luxury of a post wartime economic boom....and peace time. The American Dream was commonly thought of as a home with a white picket fence in a tree lined neighborhood, a car in every garage, a kitchen filled with modern appliances, 2.5 children, and a dog playing in the yard.

Today more than ever, I believe the American Dream has become even more individualized as people have so much more varied interests, goals and lifestyle preferences.

I like the Maldives dream. What a beautiful place to dream of.

The American Dream to me isn't complete without a woman...I've lived it sort of but not quite fully. Nice house, material things, family. But the past is past.

Nice Penny!

Penny has just raised the bar on us all. She has an individual dream as well as a collective one. Thank you Penny!

Naturally, there should be a profound side to every dream.

Dreams...they giveth and they taketh away.

Despair not my friend, the absence of one dream only clears space for better dreams to grow.

Of course, American Dreams Gone Wild?

I really need to be hitting the showers about now, but this is such an interesting topic that I wanted to reply .....

The American Dream to me means equality, nondiscrimination, being rewarded and taxed fairly. Those are my values based on what I know of American History.

No I do not think I am living the American Dream because of the way I have been treated by the local gov't in the town where I live. It's a long story and it's pretty bad. But I have worked hard all my life and have very little to show for it...except my education....and that does not seem to matter in today's market place.

I did manage to purchase my first new car last year tho, so I guess that is some progress.

I think I have also seen the face of age discrimination in some instances.

And I do not think any of us are taxed fairly...not even close.

It means living your life they way you choose to.

I am working towards it but it is not easy.

http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/america.html

Read and take Heed!

Sorry to hear your dreams are troubled. I think dreaming it is free, but sometimes living it can cost everything.

Will you take me with you Ragnar Danneskjold?

Seriously though...BIG fan!

Yep....I am living it.

I am free to do what I want and go where I please.

So...after meeting lots of cool mingletards in real life ....I packed up and moved to live in a cottage on the beach with the love of my life. Lucked into a great job at a high end casino and have loved every damned day of it.

Not sure if it is actually the American dream....but it's my reality....I love it.

There we go...Krupa, is an American Dream success story!

iiiiiiiiiiiiii,1C,
you also take on my dream?? Oh well,its big enough.....better pack lots of bikinis and sarongs! Maldives,here we come..........
Dream on,sister!!

Now its official; AM JEALOUS!!

I have a retirement dream of sailing there on vacation. I have an Aunt who has been there and sent me postcards that looked like paradise. Just let me grab my sunglasses.

Some people are happy living in a big house with maids, others are happy with a small home. There are even some people that are happy living on the streets; I know that is weird for some people to believe. Freedom of choice is part of the American dream in my view. As long as you are harming someone or stealing, you have the chance to freely choose what life you want to live. Some may take longer to achieve then others.

Leave it to MetalShadow to paint a bigger picture. Nicely put.

I saw I left a word out. Spell check on Microsoft Word can’t read my mind. I meant to place the world “not” in front of harming. I corrected it in the quote.

As for painting a big picture, I can’t decide to paint the grass purple or orange.