Jared Turner Core I Mrs. Toadvine December 10, 2010 The Definition of the American Dream
What is the American Dream, and who are the people most likely to pursue its divine power? Indeed, the American Dream has come to represent the attainment of myriad of goals that are specific to each individual. While one person might consider a purchased home with a white picket fence her version of the American Dream, another might regard it as the financial ability to operate his or her own business. Clearly, there is no straight-‐forward definition of the American Dream. It is the opportunity for people to seek out their individual and collective desires under a political umbrella of democracy.
In the fifties, the 'age of suburbia', the American Dream was the ability to own a home, live in safety and in a community of good people. In addition, the American Dream was and always will be something that makes America great. It allows those with aspirations to make them come true. Ambition is the driving force behind the American Dream. Also it allows any one that has an aspiration, a desire, a yearning, to carry out the individual dream and it knows no bounds of race, creed, gender or religion. It stands for something great, something that every one can strive towards. A dream can be a desire for something great. In America, the American Dream allows dreams to become realities. According to Webster's New World Dictionary,
the American Dream is defined as "An American social ideal that' stresses egalitarianism and especially material prosperity". All in all, to live this dream a person has to have a goal set to succeed and too live out life to the fullest.
There is no better example than the past leaders and pioneers, of all races and genders, to show us what the American Dream is. Starting with the Presidency, in the past 25 years, we have had two farmers and an actor become President. Jimmy Carter was a peanut farmer, and the late president Bill Clinton was also a farmer. Ron al d Reagan was a decent movie actor. They all shared the same dream, to become President of the United States. And they all succeeded. What they accomplished was part of the American Dream. They all had a yearning and a desire to make their dream work. That was all they needed. Their job is to make the American Dream possible for others. They are all living proof that the American Dream is possible for anyone. Every day many reap the benefits for carrying out their dream; for not giving up when things seemed to be most bleak. Every day
