Blog #8: 1972 American Dreams

Walter Fisher, along with the other people we have read texts from, explains the idea of how each person, group, community, or even social class think about the American Dream differently. Some see it as a concrete thing and some see it as a mindset. A big idea Fisher discusses in this text from 1972 is that there are actually two American Dreams. He also calls the American Dream a myth, or rather a "public dream." 

One of the American Dreams is materialistic in the sense that it is the "rags to riches" success story that has cars, big houses, and fancy clothing to show for it. This dream, Fisher says, is related to "work ethic" and the competition within the system we live in for personal success. He claims that this dream is "compassionless and self-centered." This reminds me of the American Values text we read about. When I read about the part about individualism, the ideas on paper sounded very selfish. Day-to-day, thinking about it doesn't seem that way, but when you think about it the way people work and carry on their lives everyday is pretty self-centered. It's not necessarily in a bad way though, just more like people are worried about figuring out their own stuff. And it's not like we can pretend we're better than that. Something I always think about that makes this idea make more sense is how in high school everyone is so worried about how they look to others, and then you realize other people are so busy thinking the EXACT SAME thing so really no one is actually paying attention to those shorts you wore to school and regretted wearing. Whether its in a negative context or not, I think a part of the human instinct is to fend for yourself a bit. Where people go wrong is when they let that instinct take over. 

The second American Dream is more about morals and a mindset about America. Fisher relates this to the ideas found in the Declaration of Independence, such as "all men are created equal", or citizens' "unalienable rights." So this American Dream revolves around values held amongst most Americans. And of course, it has to do with freedom. Americans like holding the idea that they are free in this country to live the way they want to live. They want to believe that their life is not laid out for them, but rather they can pave it themselves. Also, people like to believe that equality and freedom are truly present in the United States (whether it is or not). 

An important thing to note is that this text was written in 1972, and we are analyzing it in 2017, so as you can imagine a lot has changed. Yet, the theories he discusses 45 years ago still apply today. I do believe that both American Dreams are still very relevant. Some people believe in the American Dream because they believe if they work really hard for a really long time, they'll get to live in a nice house in a nice neighborhood with nice furniture. Some people believe in the American Dream because they believe in living in a society that reaps the benefits of democracy like freedom and equality. 

Whichever American Dream Americans believe in, if not both, play a huge role still in our society. The American Dream has yet to become and outdated concept.