The American Dream: History Lesson? or Current Reality?

You've heard the stories (and subsequently the commercials) about the American dream. People coming to the country from anywhere else in the world, to start over, to dream, and to achieve. the late 19th and early 20th century is literally littered with stories of immigrants and first generation Americans, showing up to Ellis Island with literally nothing but the clothes on their backs, and making a family, a home, and livelihood. you don't often see that around anymore.

What Happened?

Did we take in too many immigrants? as the government thought? Doubtful, seeing as there are still stretches of the west that look the same way they did when Lewis and Clark first saw them, so land isn't the issue.
Did we run out of money? True that the worst economy this country, and the world, has ever seen was in the first half of the 20th Century. But the best economy this country, and the world, has ever seen, was in the 2nd half of the 20th Century.
Did we simply stop believing? In ourselves? in each other? I think the Answer to that is yes. i think somewhere in turmoil of the 60's, somebody said, so what? this country kills its own people, doesn't respect it's ancestors, and spends money on things that don't matter. while it ignores the problems that are growing both short term and long term.

and suddenly that was that. the American dream of anybody can come here and achieve anything became useless, frivolous even. what's the point of prospering in such a toxic enviroment, to end up "the smartest man on the Heap?"

to a certain extent i think that sentiment is still prevalent in some places. but in those places, they know little about the world. what i mean is, the world pays a much larger tax percentage than we do. true, they have universal health care, but the supreme court may just rule that unconstitutional, and then what do we do? people would rather say to hell with my health, at least i'll be free. Freedom. Freedom is a word that isn't spoken in the rest of the world like it is here. we say things like "i've got the 1st amendment, i'm FREE to say whatever i want," and believe me, you are. The Westboro Baptist Church shows us how true that Amendment is. but in most parts of the world, you can't do that. they'll kill you. literally, you speak out against the government, and they'll kill you. you disappear in the middle of the night, literally out of your bed, and your wife and kids never hear from you again. Freedom is what people come to this country for. and to a certain extent, that's the American Dream. Freedom. Equal Opportunity under the Law. In most of the rest of the world, everybody gets the same outcome, no matter where you're born, how old you are, or what color you are. you all get the same outcome. but not here. Here you all get the same shot. The same three strikes at the plate, the same audition. You might fail, but you might achieve something great. you could be homeless begging for money, and then all the sudden you're the voice of the Cleveland Cavaliers. You can come from literally 12 dollars to your name, to having a movie made about your life. you can show up in times square and become a mega star. this is the country of people pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. of digging down deep within, and finding the strength to build that wall, study that book, and make that deal. that's why we celebrate sports so much. because sports are the epitome of human capabilities, and they are constantly jumping higher, running faster, and swinging for the farther fence. And going over.

So is the American Dream dead? No. But it means so much more than it used to.

God Bless the United States of America.