My grandma always told me that her American Dream was to go to college, get married, have a few kids, go to work, cook and have a clean home. My mother’s version of the American Dream was to get married, have a family and have a savings account. She then continues to say that she always wanted to be an airline stewardess but her mother always told her she would be too short. Moving into my generation you can see another change in my view of the dream. I want to work and make enough money to support myself, I want to travel and see places and people, eventually, I would like to get married and have a few kids, lastly being able to pay for my kids to go to college.
As you go through the generations you can see commonalities. You can see how the idea of a family has always been a part of the dream and continues to stay that way. You can see how having a husband comes first then kids second, although it’s becoming more and more common for the kids to come before the husband these days you can still see how the “dream” way of doing it is marriage first. You can also compare and contrast the many differences. Slowly but surely family becomes the second part of the American Dream. It seems to be that money, travel, and nice things become the focus and the goal. People nowadays tend to want to see the world and do all these things, have all these adventures before settling down and giving up their lives to their children. I personally want to be able to support myself in this world as opposed to my great grandma who leaned fully on grand-pop for all her wants and needs. She had little to no desire to have a job and be able to help with the family income.
When Adrienne Hines was asked her view and opinion on the American Dream she responds with “I think it really comes down to security," she said. "And for us, I think that's what the American Dream is, knowing you are eliminating the worry factor from your life."” (CBS News). Here I believe she is referring to the idea that the new American Dream revolves around money-- how much you make and what you do with it. Everyone is so caught up on having money which means having nice things. Our world has lost its sense of fullness from love, now we hunger for fancy cars, clothes, and electronics. We get divorced left and right, go out to dinner instead of cook, and pay the maid to make our house look clean. We are lazy and selfish, and our new American Dream demonstrates that for us perfectly.
As generations change and adapt so does the definition of the American Dream. To me the American Dream means to make a difference, to find success in the world and to share it with those I love. We alter the way we look at things based on the way others look at it or how the society we live in looks at it. The original American Dream has been chewed up, spit out and buried with all of our old views and values. The new American Dream has taken over and is ever changing.
