Is it a house with a white picket fence? Lavish wealth? A life better than your parents’? Do you think you will be able to achieve the American dream? Do you think your own dreams are different from those of your parents at your age? Your grandparents? Do you believe your family has achieved, or is on the way to achieving, the American dream? Why or why not? Do you think you will be able to achieve the American dream when you are older? What leads you to believe this? Do you think the American dream is available to all Americans or are there boundaries and obstacles for some? If yes, what are they? Is the American dream a useful concept? Is it helpful in measuring our own or our country’s health and success? Do you believe it is, or has ever been, an ideal worth striving for? Is there any drawback to continuing to use the concept even as its meaning evolves?
At first the American dream was simply to get here, escaping from something.
Then it was to own a farm.
Then it was to own a business.
Then it was to own a house.
Then it was to get a good job.
Then it was to win the lottery.
Now it is to get a good internet connection.