THE AMERICAN DREAM

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THE AMERICAN DREAM
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FREEDOM
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EQUALITY
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INDIVIDUALISM
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MOBILITY
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AMERICAN DREAM

• Land of Opportunity
• Rags to RichesAnyone can become rich, famous,
  powerful.
• Jobs and education available to all who want
  them.
• Meritocracy (rewards) skill effort.
• Through hard work, courage and determination one
  can achieve prosperity. Americans can live
  better than their parents did.

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• The American Dream is the dream of a land where
  all people can succeed through hard work. It is
  also an idea that suggests that all people have
  the potential to live happy, successful lives.

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• Originally, the focus was on hard work and
  religious freedom. Today, however, the focus
  seems to be on material prosperity and fame.
• The American Dream is deeply rooted in American
  society.
• Several critics have pointed out that this dream
  is not attainable to all because of the
  inequality rooted in class, race and ethnic
  origin.

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• The phrase the American Dream came into the
  American vocabulary starting in 1867 when writer,
  Horatio Alger came out with his book Ragged
  Dick. It was a rags-to-riches tale of a poor
  orphan boy in New York City who saves his
  pennies, works hard and eventually becomes rich.
  It became the model that through honesty, hard
  work and strong determination, the American Dream
  was available to anyone willing to make the
  journey.

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Dream Makers

• If one advances confidently in the direction of
  his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which
  he has imagined, he will meet with a success
  unexpected in common hour.
• - Henry David Thoreau

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We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal, that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty, and the
PURSUIT of Happiness
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It all begins with a Dream . . .

• You see things and say, Why? But I dream things
  that never were and I say, Why not?
• George Bernard Shaw

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Chinese Stowaways die while trying to enter the
U.S.
WHY TAKE THE RISK?
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American Dream?...
Or, a Tale of Two Cities?
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REFLECT
How accurate is the American Dream?