I think the American dream is a lot of different things for a lot of different people living in the United States. I think in general the American dream is very materialistic like it seemed to be in the 20's and in The Great Gatsby. Most people seem to only think of the American dream as having the ability to become rich and famous. People seem to only want to be able to rise up the ranks in order to obtain wealth, power or fame. Some people want to be able to make millions a year, to have everyone in the world know who they are and look up to them or to be be the president of the United States in order in obtain power.
For me personally the American dream is just having the freedom and opportunity to do something that makes you happy. The United States isn't a perfect country but it does give people more opportunity than many other places where people live in horrible conditions and struggle to survive.
My definition of wealth is to have a lot of money. People tend to think that wealth is associated with happiness, but in reality it isn't. The only thing that wealth does is help to relieve monetary pressures and make life easier. This in itself does not make someone happy. People need to things outside of making and having a lot of money in order to be happy. Many Americans make the mistake of thinking that they will be happy simply by being rich, they don't realize that rich people suffer from unhappiness just as much as poor people do. Being rich comes with its own problems and isn't necessarily a good thing for people. Also, Americans tend to think that just because someone is poor that they are probably unhappy and want to become rich, which is also not necessarily true. There are plenty of people that might be considered poor that are perfectly content with their situation and live happy day to day lives.
Personally, I look and wealth and poverty to be completely unrelated to happiness or the American dream. Being wealthy and working long hours at a job you hate is certainly not "living the American dream." I would rather I had a job doing something I love to do making $20,000 a year than making $100,000 a year doing something that takes up all my time and makes me miserable.
I really liked reading your blog! I just read Chris's and it's funny because both of you talked about the same thing about how to define wealth and working a job you like. In my blog I said that wealth and happiness are associated, while you said that they were not. I think it is just how you look at it and I see your perspective! Loved your blog!
ReplyDeleteHey Matt! I thought your post was very interesting to read and I really enjoyed your perspective on wealth and the correlation or shall I say non-correlation with happiness and wealth. I don't necessarily fully agree with your ideology, but I see where your coming from. I am a firm believer in the ideology that, though yes money cannot buy happiness, it definitely helps. Sure a poor person can have optimism and happiness in their lives, I've seen "Modern Times" by Charlie Chaplin, but I think that every person needs to have a little bit of money to have "happiness," because without some monetary gain, they would be dead, from lack of food, water, or other life necessities (of course they could potentially kill wildlife, but they would still be pretty unsanitary as a person). Anyway, I do agree that wealth isn't technically "necessary". That was the one of two aspects that I thought really stood out in your post, the other being how I think you gave that necessary reminder that America, though it may not seem like it at times, does have way more opportunity compared to numerous places around the world. I thought that was a very important thought to have in your mind, as it brings in perspective how lucky we are to be in this country despite any flaws the U.S. might have.
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