The American Dream....what do you think about this? The term was first used by James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America which was written in 1931. He states: "The American Dream is "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. In the United States' Declaration of Independence, our founding fathers: "held certain truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." Note....the pursuit of happiness, not the promise. Thomas Wolfe said, "to every man, regardless of his birth, his shining, golden opportunity...the right to live, to work, to be himself, and to become whatever thing his manhood and his vision can combine to make him." Were homesteaders who left the big cities of the east to find happiness and their piece of land in the wilderness pursuing their bit of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, their Dream? You bet they were. They had no promise, they worked hard to insure their family's survival. You know, the American Dream to some is not so much a focus on financial gain, but more emphasis on living a simple, fulfilling life. I suppose I was raised in a different time, by people of principle.I watched the debates tonight and heard one candidate speak of his grandparents and his mother's hard work allowing him to live the American Dream. He then began to tell how he would see that the government would take responsibility for the rest of us. No thank you Sir....we can do quite well on our own without government handouts. Let me just make that perfectly clear....
THE AMERICAN DREAM: In this land of opportunity, it means something different for everyone. But no matter what the definition, each achieved dream is the key to his or her vitality. It nurtures the excitement of the possibility, urging us to plan, to work, and ultimately to believe in ourselves.
