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Robbie's Rhetoric-2-5-11-The American Dream Is Not About Stuff PDF  | Print |  E-mail

The American Dream Is Not About Stuff

 

Like many 23-year-olds, I grew up hearing about the "American Dream." What is it, exactly?

 If you listen to today’s media, you would think that the dream is all about accumulating material things. It’s about landing a high-paying job so you can go into debt to buy a brand new home, a brand new car, the latest high-tech gadgets, and the list goes on. While it’s fine to have or to want these things, let me share with my fellow Americans why I believe that this is not the true meaning of the American Dream.

I believe the true meaning has more to do with our freedom and opportunities, and is rooted in the Declaration of Independence. "All men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

These words, given to us by our Founding Fathers and God, are words of liberty and opportunity. They tell us that life can be better, richer and fuller for everyone regardless of social class, but each individual gets to define what "better, richer and fuller" means. In today’s materialistic society, it is all too easy to become consumed in pursuit of "more and more" and "bigger and better." But when we embrace the true American Dream, all the other "stuff" seems less important.

 

ROBERT BECK