What does the American dream mean. Race Relations and the American Dream

The American dream(American Dream) one of the most common expressions in the world. To realize this dream in America, both migrants and indigenous people. The interest in understanding the American dream was especially popular in last years the existence of the USSR, when young people, based on Hollywood films, dreamed of cool jeans, beautiful houses, several huge Cadillacs in the garage. Despite such beliefs, the expression of the American dream is much more than just some material values.

The American Dream is a widespread doctrine, according to which for any resident of the United States, legally and illegally, the opportunity to achieve fame, success and prosperity is available.

Expression the American dream is understood as a general social doctrine (ideology) for the United States, which unites residents of the United States in search of happiness and prosperity. This ideology is based on the belief that any person living in the United States of America, realizing their energy and diligence, can achieve success in life and become a wealthy member of society. Almost everyone new President The United States, in its inaugural address, notes that under him, every American will become closer to his American dream.

According to some skeptics, the ideology of the American dream can be considered a social utopia, but it remains one of the main driving forces migration to the USA.

AT this case one can cite the example of US President Barack Husseinovich Obama, who was born into a family of migrants from Africa, thanks to perseverance, received an excellent education, a well-paid job and the highest post in the United States.

The diversity of nationalities and races inhabiting the expanses of the American continent, and the relatively small historical period of their "symbiosis" caused an urgent need to formulate a single ideology that could unite people from various countries world into one nation. Such an ideology has become "the American dream", which has been cultivated for many decades and gave any person faith in the possibility of achieving success and even becoming the President of the United States.

As can be seen from the foregoing, the expression "American dream" is a concept that is difficult to define, and today there is no consensus on how to formulate it. The reason for this is that absolutely different people include completely different meanings in his understanding.

Usually american dream is perceived as the highest ideal of existence in the United States, when you own a house, a car, a happy family and a stable job that brings a decent income for the existence and implementation of ideas.

american dream expression , other than the above, is understood as the right of every person who has a job to career as well as confidence in one's own future.

Professor Yaroslav Gritsak notes that american dream concept means, in simple terms, “the belief that any person, with a sufficient degree of diligence, talent and perseverance, can reach the cream of society.

Historian and writer James Truslow Adams popularized the expression American Dream in 1931 in a book called "Epic of America", where he wrote about the American dream in the United States based on the values \u200b\u200bprescribed in the Declaration of Independence.

This book edition was published at the peak of the US Great Depression, when the US needed to build, create more in order to reduce the number of unemployed, homeless and unhappy people. The ideology of achieving success and prosperity through work became the main engine of the US economy, which ultimately made it possible to reduce the effects of the economic crisis.

Expression "the American dream"- in many cases it is used to outline the vital material and spiritual ideals of the American population. William Sefire's New Political Dictionary (Random House, New York, 1993) notes that: "The American dream is the ideal of freedom or opportunity that was defined by the Founding Fathers; the spiritual strength of the American nation. If the US system is the skeleton of American politics, the American dream is its soul."

The main elements of the American dream are:

conscientious work and self-realization (self-madeperson)
freedom of enterprise
Social responsibility
respect for fellow citizens
increasing reputation and role in society

Your reflection the American dream, received and in US law. So, the US Declaration of Independence says that: everyone's life should be better, richer and fuller, with opportunities for everyone according to their abilities or achievements - regardless of social class or circumstances of birth".

At the same time, the American dream is not only an opportunity, but also a responsibility. This is equality not only of opportunities to achieve success, but also the equality of people before the law, regardless of race, nationality, gender and social position, it is also a respect for common US achievements and symbols.

American dream and migrants

The primary personification of the American dream and the new opportunities that open up to those who seek better and more decent life migrants arriving in New York from Europe had the Statue of Liberty standing on broken chains and showing that freedom will lift you up and hard work will light the way to success.

The postulates of the All-American Dream were based on the belief of the newcomers that the resources of the New World were unlimited and belonged to everyone and everyone in the world. equally that a person leaves any hierarchical dependence in the Old World, that the chances of achieving happiness, the right to which is recognized for everyone, are also equal for everyone and depend only on personal qualities.

Migrants from Europe left Old World in the hope of breaking out of the hierarchical, estate system that limited social mobility. Once in the USA, such people became the most ardent supporters of freedom and equality, patriots of the USA, where they received unlimited opportunities to realize their potential, they were actively involved in the development of civil society and political institutions.

People who received open opportunities in order to realize themselves, they begin to form the ideology of American patriotism, according to which you should be proud of the United States - a state that has provided a person with all available freedoms and opportunities.

American dream and religion

The Protestant religion and the Protestant work ethic played a big role in shaping the American dream. Protestantism, which is the dominant religion in the United States, promotes diligence to achieve goals and conscientious and honest work. Increasing the well-being of a person who works honestly is also considered a blessing.

Every Protestant is required to share with the church a portion of his income earned through conscientious labor. However, you can read about the peculiarities of religion in the USA and attitudes towards it.

Chernyakov A.

The American dream- this is what is considered in America as the ideal of life, including prosperity and success for every inhabitant of the United States.

Initially, the United States in the eyes of Europeans was amazing country where democracy reigns instead of a monarchy, where there is no division into estates, but civil society. In the United States, there was also freedom of conscience and religious tolerance of one denomination to another, which is an absolute plus. Thus, the American had a freedom unheard of in the rest of the world. Therefore, the United States in the 19th century received the name - "country of freedom."

This standard of the "country of freedom" is based, firstly:

On the principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence of 1776 (human beings are created equal and endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights, including the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, regardless of social class or circumstances of birth).

Secondly, on the ideas James Adams, who officially introduced the concept of the American Dream in his book in 1931.

In this book, Adams understood the American dream as a country where everyone lives well, where everyone has the opportunity to fulfill themselves, to achieve everything. own efforts, "to enjoy life" to the fullest, to extract from it maximum benefit, benefit.

The United States had everything necessary to make the American dream a reality for a simple resident of the country: these are huge Natural resources, which are still unknown, efficient economy, convenient geographical position away from European conflicts. Thus, a person could become successful overnight, thanks to his own luck - for example, by discovering a gold deposit or by implementing an original business idea. Period 1870-1900 proved it. Vivid examples became the then millionaires and owners of corporations (Carnegie, Rockefeller, Morgan, etc.), who actually started from scratch and after a few years or decades became successful people.

There is no clear definition of the "American dream", but every US citizen invests in it their own own ideas about a great future. It is generally accepted that the following concepts are inseparable from the American Dream:

1. freedom of the individual and freedom of enterprise;

2. “self-made person” (that is, a person who has achieved success in life on his own, with hard work) and a well-paid job;

3. reputation and the process of transition from one social class to another, higher, of course.

In other words, the American Dream is a certain standard of happiness in a consumer society. Although for many residents of the United States, the American dream is identified with their own house, built on their own income on their own land with a large courtyard, a car, a large friendly family and friendly neighbors. One of the main symbols of the American dream is Statue of Liberty in New York.

During cold war party leadership The USSR spread the anti-American propaganda of the American Dream, by which they understood nothing more than eating hamburgers, popcorn and coke at the cinema or other in public places.

In conclusion, we can quote the words of David Brooks: “Americans live their lives dreaming about future. Understanding America requires taking the central cliché seriously. American life - American dream. Despite the fact that we are faced with the boredom and banality of everyday life, this dream revitalizes us, energizes us, and makes us work so hard, move so often, invent so vigorously, and change so rapidly. We continue to strive for something new and different, even if it doesn't always bring us benefit and pleasure."

Sources:

Each of us has heard this expression, someone treats it with disdain, not fundamentally distinguishing it from the principle of "bread and circuses", identifying american dream only with cash allowance, TV and hamburgers. However, this is not the case.

Mixing concepts american dream and consumer society in our country has developed back in the days of the USSR, when anti-American, anti-capitalist propaganda concerned everything. She did not spare american dream. The United States was in many ways the antithesis of the USSR, and American success, of course, was based on prosperity, which was unacceptable in the Soviet Union. And as american dream American vices were described to us, in particular, such as the consumption of hamburgers, popcorn and Coca-Cola in a movie theater or other public places. Ironically, the same substitution occurred in the minds of many Americans, but in a more late time, at the end of the 20th century.

The very notion of the American dream" (eng. " american dream”) is often used to describe some kind of national ideology that unites Americans. However, a clear definition american dream" does not exist. Every resident of the United States puts into it their own ideas about the beautiful capitalist future.

Usually this thesis is considered one of the foundations of the Protestant work ethic, which is probably true.

1. freedom of the individual and freedom of enterprise;

2. “self-madeperson” (that is, a person who independently, through hard work, has achieved success in life) and a highly paid job;

3. reputation and the process of transition from one social class to another, higher, of course.

Achieve success through hard work

Reference american dream based on:

Based on the principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence of 1776 (“men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights, including the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, regardless of social class or circumstances of birth”).

Based on the ideas of James Adams, who officially introduced the concept of the American Dream in his book The Epic of America in 1931.

Considering the time when the concept of the American Dream appeared, it is not difficult to guess that its appearance is associated with the Great Depression, as an incentive for the entire American people to overcome the crisis.

The American Dream is really a dream, not just a need to satisfy primitive needs. No one can reliably say now whether it developed spontaneously, or was carefully thought out and instilled in society by the authorities, but, having appeared in the minds of people, it moved them to success. Success has become not a means to achieve comfort, it has become the goal of life. All social strata began to be included in the process of achieving success, which could not but affect economic indicators countries (at that time the dollar was still pegged to the gold reserve, so economic growth was real). With the growth of the well-being of citizens, their needs also increased, which led to an increase in production, and again to an increase in well-being. So it doesn't matter how the American dream came about, but it did its job perfectly.

It is worth noting that the model of the US state is based on the Protestant work ethic, which preaches diligent and conscientious work. The accumulation of capital is only a consequence of honest labor, which is pleasing to God, which means that capital itself is also good. More than 50% of Americans profess Protestantism, which has had a very beneficial effect on society's acceptance of the values of the American dream.

The American dream has become a kind of standard of happiness in a consumer society. Although for many residents of the United States, the American dream is identified with their own house, built on their own income on their own land with a large courtyard, a car, a large friendly family and friendly neighbors. One of the main characters american dream is the Statue of Liberty in New York.

In conclusion, we can quote David Brooks about American Dream:“Americans live their lives dreaming of the future. Understanding America requires taking the central cliché seriously. American life- the American Dream. Even though we face the boredom and banality of everyday life, this dream revitalizes us, empowers us, and forces us to work so hard, move so often, invent so vigorously, and change so rapidly. We continue to strive for something new and different, even if it doesn't always bring us benefit and pleasure."

1792 days ago

Foreword

In connection with recent political events in the world, people have increased negative attitude to the United States and its citizens. Obama's ratings fell, Putin's ratings soared. It feels like your memory is like a floppy disk! Yesterday you were against it, and already today you are saying: "Handsome, Vladimir Vladimirovich!" Once again, I am convinced how many cattle live in this world, whose opinion can be so easily influenced by juggling everything in the right way. I will not discuss politics - a swamp to sort out a common person just not able to. I can only emphasize one thing with confidence: there is no such policy that is not beneficial to someone. Naturally, neither you with me.

But back to the defense of the United States. Like the old colonel said N" from the city " H": "America main enemy Russia, it has always been and will be, no matter how they smile at us and say otherwise. "And he is right. But it's all to blame conscription, and I don’t even want to remember her bloodiest and most terrible victims ... So you could dump without hesitation atomic bomb to a city of a million? Answer yourself. Imagine what it should be psychological preparation from a soldier in order to kill hundreds of thousands of their own kind, knowing in advance in what torment they would die ... In the Third Reich, German shepherd puppies were given to soldiers and the goal was to raise the best dog. Soldiers dedicated huge time dogs, took care of them, played with them, raised and protected them, became very attached. A year later, the soldiers were ordered to kill their dogs. This is how the most prepared brutal soldiers. And I think it was not easy during the Second World War that great amount cases when, due to the murder of a German shepherd (for example, undermining it by partisans), entire settlements were killed.

History lesson

But closer to the topic. "American Dream" increasingly throw mud, and Stars and Stripes want to tear and burn. But is it really that bad? "the American dream"? The concept goes back to the very origins of the formation of the United States as an independent and integral state. And to me personally, it is extremely clear the desire of people to get out from under the colonial heel of England. Then people really believed in a good goal, and those who led them also believed. Create an independent strong state with a developed economy, where everyone will be equal and everyone will have the opportunity to get what he deserves. You can remember the unfortunate Indians, but is it really the only example genocide in human history? People believed in the idea, that's the point!

Safire's New Political Dictionary, Random House, New York, 1993, says:

The American Dream is the ideal of freedom or opportunity that was articulated by the "Founding Fathers"; spiritual power of the nation. If a American system is the skeleton of American politics, the American dream is its soul.

The source of the phrase "the American dream" considered to be written during the Great Depression, a historical treatise by James Adams, entitled "The Epic of America" (eng. The Epic of America, 1931):

… the American dream of a country where everyone's life should be better, richer and fuller, with opportunities for everyone according to their abilities or achievements - regardless of social class or circumstances of birth.

Really, "the American dream" justified itself, and the United States became pioneers and innovators in many areas human activity. They managed to subjugate the whole world to their economy, trends mass culture ; they have good weapons, huge scientific potential; the whole world looks them cinema, listening them music, enjoys them gadgets, takes over"their" way of life, which is served from the "box".

Their policy is being successfully introduced into states, they are excellent at pushing peoples head-on, they won the Cold War!

Summarizing

And now the most interesting, in my opinion. AT "American dream" There is nothing bad. Freedom, equality, all according to their abilities. Is it bad to have a spacious house, a good car and confidence in tomorrow? The idea is wonderful, but it is a pity that no matter how noble it is, sooner or later it turns into something opposite. The same thing happened with "American Dream". The endless pursuit of money, the desire to be only the very first and the best! Stay up to date with the latest trends! Don't have an iPhone yet? You are fool!!! Everything was distorted, and then mentioned "American Dream". Everyone hid, everyone is dissatisfied. Americans are diabolical tempters, sowers of debauchery and sins. But only you and I are to blame! We were only shown how it is possible, but the choice was only ours! We were offered "freedom", money, a luxurious easy life, parties and fun, sex without obligations and permissiveness. America has proven that man is not much different from an animal that satisfies basic instincts. The world is our reflection in the mirror!

The typical modern American is in many ways similar to us, but in many ways completely opposite. They are very simply dressed, and as someone can say - tasteless. Their problem with obesity is much more acute. Mental disorders and more quirks too. You shouldn't call them stupid - not dumber than our smart ones! They also drink less than ours, and in general, the laws are stricter with alcohol and tobacco there.

Americans are not indifferent people - they readily come to the aid of even strangers, help the poor, donate to charity and volunteer. And this is the norm of life. They never push, do not climb out of turn, polite and attentive to others. By the way, the guys there handle the instrument better than we do!

They are the same as we are people! Many of them treat Russians as badly as we treat them. But I'm sure there are those who look at what is happening like me.

Anyway globalization goes on and on and on show it's just for distraction. But everyone should have their own opinion about what is happening. The only question is Is this your opinion?