Essay On How Has The American Dream Changed Over Time

The term American Dream has many different meanings. People have believed it means social equality, no racial discrimination, the economy being financially stable, and more. Over time, as presidents come and go and more technology is being manufactured, that dream has slowly shifted into something else for future generations. The rapid growth of new technology over the years has produced a world wide spread of media, the new means of communication between anybody using magazines, the internet, and television. Even though some means of media may not be completely truthful with television series and advertising, recent generations of children and teens assume that having the American Dream means owning a lamborghini, big mansion, happy family,

In James Truslow Adams book, The Epic of America, he claims that this country is, “a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement … regardless of fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” (Froger 1). The country was founded upon those principles to serve as a peaceful place. Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s (FDR’s) New Deal programs promised safe, healthy futures for every American which led to a new understanding of the American Dream: “freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.” (“How the American Dream Has Changed Over Time” 1) After World War II, veterans returned home with the American Dream viewed as a family who lived in a happy home. However, The American Dream transformed into an ideal that relied on people being able to afford all the modern accessories: cars, television sets, and college educations for one’s

In this article, Alex Mikulich describes entertainment as a function of the mass media where it is mostly used by the masses to “amuse them in present day hectic environment” (Mughal 1) but at the same time, shifting their minds away from what the American Dream originated as. Television notably helped define it as the “acquisition of material goods” (1). According to the article “How the American Dream Has Changed Over Time”, Americans dreamed of living ideal lives like those portrayed in shows such as “Leave It to Beaver” and “Father Knows Best”(“How the American Dream Has Changed Over Time”, 1). As time went on, televised lives were becoming increasingly extravagant and only influencing people 's beliefs