American Dream

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The American Dream (also German American dream ) denotes a prevailing attitude in the United States . According to this concept, every person can achieve a higher standard of living in the future through hard work and regardless of their current wealth . The proverbial expression “ from dishwasher to millionaire ” illustrates this idea in a succinct picture.

The basic idea of ​​the American Dream can already be found in the Declaration of Independence . It says that the population can depose unjust rulers and give themselves their own political order. While the European monarchs of the 18th century ruled the people in an absolutist way , the American Constitution guaranteed the citizens of the United States inalienable fundamental rights , in particular the right to resist the government. Only in this way can one of the most elementary human rights be guaranteed, the pursuit of happiness .

The American dream is based on the idea that the USA is a meritocracy and a performance society . Current studies on social mobility , on the other hand, show that the achievable social status of a person in the USA depends much more on their family of origin and their class affiliation than is the case, for example, in today's Western Europe. The sharp rise in economic inequality is cited as the cause of this inadequate equal opportunity .

Definition and conceptual history

The term "American Dream" goes back to the American writer and historian James Truslow Adams . He first used it in his book The Epic of America in 1931. “American Dream” quickly became a fixed formula because the idea had long been popular. Ernest Hemingway already formed the opposite of the “American Nightmare” in his novel To Have and Have Not (1937): “… Colt or Smith and Wesson; those well-constructed implements that end insomnia, terminate remorse, cure cancer, avoid bankruptcy and blast an exit from intolerable positions by the pressure of a finger; those admirable American instruments so easily carried, so sure of effect, so well designed to end the American dream when it becomes a nightmare ... "

The values ​​of individual freedom , personal responsibility , competition , equal opportunities , hard work and success can be described as the main elements of the "American Dream".

Mythical-religious origin and secularization

In his famous Third Letter from an American Farmer (1782), the French-American writer John Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur answered the question he asked himself what an American was with the words:

“He is an American, who, leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced. […] Americans are the western pilgrims […]; they will finish the great cycle. The American is the new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions. "
“The one is an American who, by leaving all of his old prejudices and customs behind him, receives new ones from the new way of life that he has willingly adopted. […] The Americans are the western pilgrims […]; they will complete the great cycle. The American is the new person who acts according to new principles; he therefore has to forge new ideas and develop new views. "

Crèvecoeur thus formulates the main features of a mindset that represents the "still widely accepted way of life of an entire nation" up to the present day and has shaped American society in politics, literature and culture to a not inconsiderable degree.

The detachment from the old Europe, which was experienced as decadent or corrupt, meant the possibility of a complete new beginning: Detached from their European roots, the settlers of that time - left to their own initiative - were self-confident and were also considered "innocent and without any experience" . These ideas are connected with the mythical archetype of the "American Adam" ( RWB Lewis ), who can also be linked directly to the Adam before the fall of man in modern times. The arrival in the “new world” was linked to the biblical exodus of the children of Israel to the promised land in the context of the settlement of North America, which was strongly influenced by Puritans ; The new beginning in America appeared as a God-given second chance (“divinely granted second chance for the human race”), as a new beginning in a new Garden of Eden .

Since he was at the beginning of a new development and had no past or had left it completely behind, the "New Adam" became the embodiment of the mythical American who was fresh and young ("man-boy American [...] who never gave up "). Against the background of the doctrine of predestination , this orientation towards the future was seen as the path to the eternal and not to a primarily inner-worldly goal. In the opinion of the Puritans, inner-worldly successes in the divine predestination already confirmed the correctness of the path taken; a secularization of religious beliefs was obvious and led to the fact that material success could be seen as proof of the chosen person.

This secularization of the originally religious values ​​is expressed very clearly by Benjamin Franklin , who in his work Advice to a Young Tradesman (1748) as well as in his influential autobiography , published posthumously in 1818, with the specifications of “industry, frugality and prudence "(Eng." Diligence, thrift and prudence ") postulated the classic trinity of Protestant ethics . In his writings you can find all the important views, some of which still shape the image and worldview of Americans today:

The belief in equal opportunities for each individual,
The pursuit of material, economic or professional success,
The belief in progress,
· The belief in possibilities for change and the will to eliminate grievances.

The idea of ​​such a self-realization of the individual in a society understood as open was then politically secured in 1776 by the guarantee of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” in the American Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States . The sheer unmanageable abundance of success stories in the “rags-to-riches” tradition, especially in American trivial literature of the 19th century, seemed to confirm the validity of this Protestant work ethic in the years that followed.

Education and the "American Dream"

Education has been a prerequisite for success since the US was founded. Jennifer Hochschild writes: "[...] the American dream promises that all who live in the United States have the chance to achieve success through their own efforts and self-perceived opportunities." Many people believe that education is an important opportunity to make the American dream come true. Education largely determines a person's career opportunities and income levels. It is now widely accepted that it is impossible to achieve the goals of the American Dream without education. Education is now the foundation for realizing the American dream. Hochschild writes: "Schools are a valued way of teaching children enough so that they can set their own goals and give them the opportunity to achieve them." It is important to remember that not all public schools in the US are equal. This leads to unequal opportunities and an unequal level of income.

Examples include Jennifer Hochschild's article Public Schools and the American Dream (2001) and Heather Johnson's book The American Dream and the Power of Wealth: Choosing Schools and Inheriting Inequality in the Land of Opportunity (2006). Both Hochschild and Johnson attribute the role of public education to making up for differences. Both authors claim that segregation in public schools creates economic inequality, racial segregation, and inequalities of inherited wealth, which is in direct contrast to the American ideology of the achievement society. Thus, according to Hochschild, it is often in such public schools that working-class and ethnic minority children encounter obstacles for the first time in realizing their dreams. These schools are therefore not equalizing the possibilities, but are the place where Americans in the affected classes experience their first failures.

Hochschild believes that specific educational strategies can help children with unequal educational opportunities achieve their American Dream goals, including desegregation, school choice, school finances reform, and requirement-based changes. The benefits of these changes are great, but power over them rests with the wealthy American people, who do not see the changes necessary.

Social class and the "American Dream"

Americans like to see their society as one where personal effort and skill determine how successful you are in your life. Many Americans also believe that the individual can determine his own fate. The "American Dream" is focused on individualism, for example to achieve prosperity. Evidence shows that hard work alone is not a guarantee of success, nor does it determine a person's position in society. Johnson (2006) cites the “ Working Poor ” as an example: They work hard all their lives and still never achieve prosperity or success.

Research has shown that social class is a factor that has a huge impact on a person's career:

"The layer can shape, captivate and influence knowledge, belief, properties, motivation and character."

- Aries and Seider 2007: 138

In simple terms: The social class places people in different positions that are either advantageous or disadvantageous in their pursuit of the “American Dream”. Poverty diminishes opportunities and can be a major barrier to success. This is why the class has a huge impact on the path people perceive and how much they make the American Dream come true.

Wealth and the "American Dream"

Since the United States proudly sees itself as a society that "assures all of its members that whatever the circumstances of their birth, everyone with hard work and determination will have equal opportunities in life" (Johnson 2006: 102), this performance-based system assures all people that they compete in a fair and equal field that allows everything in order to have the same chances in the race for the "American Dream".

No person or group is placed above or below one or another. Everyone has the right to equality. A person's actions and behavior directly affect their rewards or punishments. But is this really always the case? According to Johnson (2006) and her book The American Dream and the power of money ( The American Dream and the Power of Wealth ), is a direct contradiction between the ideal of the "American Dream" and a performance-based society. Achievement has to do with prosperity, but not with income, and the path is learned, already distributed.

Ethnic origin and the "American Dream"

Immigration has made America a country that includes many different races and groups of people. Many immigrants came to America with hopes that would become part of the American Dream. The American Declaration of Independence is headed with the pursuit of freedom and happiness. This was often rejected in the emigrants' countries of origin. Often the dreams were not as easy to achieve as expected.

In the United States of America today there is a multitude of different ethnic groups, each with a different view of the "American Dream". The vision of the "American Dream" differs from person to person, but there is a general consensus on what it entails. The origin of a person shapes the view of the "American Dream" and the view of how to realize it.

According to Josh Sides, the “American Dream” for African Americans was primarily to escape the ghettos in which they were forced to live. They wanted to escape from this environment with unbridled growth in crime and move to the safe outskirts of the city. They wanted to achieve this, for example, by teaching their children to break the cycle of poverty. Jennifer Hochschild (2001) says that this is how African Americans pursue the "American Dream".

Black intellectuals and militants reported in the 20th century, the conformity of the "melting pot" (dt. Crucibles ) back. Nowadays one finds the conformity of the so-called "salad bowl" much more likely. The picture describes the rather disparate coexistence of different cultures (Hispanics, Afro-American, American, etc.), in which each retains its own individual characteristics.

In the southern states there are enough examples of the poverty that can be traced back to the "American Dream" through the hope that died. Especially the Mexican migrant part of the population is affected.

The "American Dream" for Martin Luther King

As mentioned above, the term “American Dream” does not necessarily refer to material values . It is thanks to the widespread individualism of the "American Dream" that on the one hand it is about an attitude towards life, on the other hand it is about the realization of idealism , which is reflected in ideas such as equality, justice and brotherhood: values ​​that Martin Luther King 1963 as the greatest good in his speech " I Have a Dream " in Washington .

The "American Dream" in literature and film

The "American Dream" is a recurring theme in modern American art, for example in the novels The Great Gatsby (1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald , Von Mäusen und Menschen (1937) by John Steinbeck , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971) by Hunter S. Thompson and América (1995) by TC Boyle and the plays Death of a Salesman (1949) by Arthur Miller and The American Dream (1961) by Edward Albee . Directors such as Dennis Hopper , David Lynch , Jim Jarmusch or Ang Lee also deal critically with the "American Dream" in their films, so that numerous films deal with the topic, including:

See also

Web links

Wiktionary: American dream  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jason de Parle: Harder for Americans to Rise From Lower Rungs . In: The New York Times , January 4, 2012. Paul Krugman : America's Unlevel Field . In: The New York Times , January 8, 2012.
  2. ^ Alan B. Krueger : The Rise and Consequences of Inequality in the United States (PDF; 71 kB).
  3. ↑ See the chapter The American Dream. In: Alexander Emmerich: History of the USA. Stuttgart 2008.
  4. ^ Ernest Hemingway: To Have and Have Not. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth 1973, p. 187. ISBN 0-14-001065-3 .
  5. ↑ Quoted from Georg Engel and others (eds.): Britain and America. Tradition and Change. Cornelsen Verlag, Berlin 1992, p. 115. ISBN 3-464-05487-X .
  6. ↑ Berthold Schik: The American Dream: Dream and Nightmare in Modern American Drama. In: Horst Groene and Berthold Schik (eds.): The modern drama in English lessons in upper secondary level. Fundamentals, interpretations, course projects . Scriptor Verlag, Königstein / Ts. 1980, pp. 33-54, here p. 33. ISBN 3-589-20743-4 .
  7. ^ RWB Lewis: The American Adam . University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1955, p. 5.
  8. ↑ See Berthold Schik. The American Dream: dream and nightmare in modern American drama. In: Horst Groene and Berthold Schik (eds.): The modern drama in English lessons in upper secondary level. Fundamentals, interpretations, course projects . Scriptor Verlag, Königstein / Ts. 1980, pp. 33-54, here p. 33 f. ISBN 3-589-20743-4 . - Schik here refers to Max Weber : Protestant ethics and the spirit of capitalism .
  9. ↑ See Berthold Schik. The American Dream: dream and nightmare in modern American drama. In: Horst Groene and Berthold Schik (eds.): The modern drama in English lessons in upper secondary level. Fundamentals, interpretations, course projects . Scriptor Verlag, Königstein / Ts. 1980, pp. 33-54, here p. 34. ISBN 3-589-20743-4 .
  10. ↑ See Berthold Schik. The American Dream: dream and nightmare in modern American drama. In: Horst Groene / Berthold Schik (eds.): The modern drama in English lessons in upper secondary level. Basics, interpretations, course projects . Scriptor Verlag, Königstein / Ts. 1980, pp. 33-54, here p. 34. ISBN 3-589-20743-4 .
  11. ↑ Jennifer Hochschild: Public Schools and the American Dream. 2001, p. 35.
  12. ↑ Jennifer Hochschild: Public Schools and the American Dream. 2001, p. 36.
  13. ^ Heather Beth Johnson, The American Dream and the Power of Wealth: Choosing Schools and Inheriting Inequality in the Land of Opportunity. Routledge, New York 2006, p. 46.
  14. ↑ Johnson 2006, p. 150; Domhoff 2006, p. 200; Hochschild 1997, p. 18.
  15. ↑ Joanna Schneider Zangrando, Robert L. Zangrando: Black Protest: A Rejection of the American Dream. In: Journal of Black Studies. 1 (2) (Dec., 1970), pp. 141-159.