The American Dream is descriptive
Sam’s post reflects on the shifting nature of the American dream, particularly a shift (of -8%) away from a conception of the American Dream defined as financial security.
Interest in the meaning of the American dream seems to be fairly constant; I want to make the argument that this new data suggests the conclusion that the “American Dream” may be defined not in terms of a political idea,l but rather as something that is obtainable by a large share of people. In this sense, the American Dream is what people have or perceive they have rather than a normative ideal or a long-project for future generations. This hypothesis, if nothing else, explains the drop in defining the American Dream in terms of financial security. It would be fascinating if this data set went back longer and could be plotted against the business cycle.
Perhaps more intriguing is the durability of language of equality of opportunity in Americans’ definition. Of course, from all we know about the nature of inequality, it is true that vast swaths of the population are extremely unlikely to “start from nothing” or “to become what I want to be.” However, I would argue that there is still a wide public perception that this ideal exists. This perception is, of course, good for a majority of the people since the successful have their achievements validated and the less successful are given some degree of hope in the future.
More than anything else, the durability of an independent American Dream is a fascinating demonstration of Americans’ continued belief in our exceptionalism.
-John
Related posts:
- Changing American Dream
- The American Dream and self-resect
- Obama on the American character
- The American public and Afghanistan
- Is American libertarianism dead?
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