"The American Dream never really existed. It was a marketing scam."

[DrLeftover]

The title was used in this article



http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/12/10-reasons-why-2013-will-be-the-year-you-quit-your-job/

...that’s the new paradigm. The middle class has died. The American Dream never really existed. It was a marketing scam.



And it was. The biggest provider of mortgages for the past 50 years, Fannie Mae, had as their slogan, “We make the American Dream come true.” It was just a marketing slogan all along. How many times have I cried because of a marketing slogan. And then they ruined it.

And I thought it would be interesting to see what other Off Topixarians thought.

 

[McConnaughay]

Let's put this way, is success obtainable, yes, which is the main-reason that this thread is posted in the poll section and not the debate room, because that's not something that's up for debate that's simply me stating a fact. Success is obtainable. The question remains whether or not it's obtainable through hard-work or merely sheer luck. I choose to believe that it's a street with sidewalks on both-ends, one end has people walking by with lies and misleading statement, and the other has hard-work. I often notice that the hard-working side is moving much slower than the other, but I do believe that it's moving. Either way, you can't ever give up. There are a lot of pessimists out there that honestly believe they're realists who believe that the entire world is against them and that they'll never be able to garner a significant molecule of success on their own, and in my opinion, those are the same people that were never capable of doing anything on their own. You can't ask why something is not happening while sitting on your ass.



Is the American dream a marketing spam? The words are, but the idea of achieving everything that you want is not.



This is the world that we live in sweetness, and somebody outta sell tickets. I'd buy one.

 

[DrLeftover]

Let's put this way, is success obtainable, yes, which is the main-reason that this thread is posted in the poll section and not the debate room, because that's not something that's up for debate that's simply me stating a fact.

Excuse me.



When I want you to state my reasons for doing anything, I'll let you know.



Deal?

 

[Jazzy]

DefineThe American Dream to me. As long as I have a roof over my head, food in my stomach, clothes on my back and can pay my bills, then (to me) I'm living The American Dream. I don't buy things I don't need. I don't rack up credit card bill to keep up with the Jones. I'm happy with what I have and believe me, it might not be much, but it's better than nothing,



In closing, someone please tell me what the American Dream is.

 

[wirelessguru1]

It is a dream for some (the elites) but also a nightmare for many, especially for the sheeple...

 

[wirelessguru1]

In closing, someone please tell me what the American Dream is.

America = No mercy for the sheep!

 

[Fatal Dawn]

I don't know what to believe anymore. I think the American Dream depends on a lot of things. Race is one thing. The unemployment rate for blacks is nearly double the White employment rate.

 

[McConnaughay]

Excuse me.



When I want you to state my reasons for doing anything, I'll let you know.



Deal?

Chill, buddy, I didn't mean to call you out, don't take things so personally.

 

[seasidemike]

The American Dream has changed over time. It was originally a dream for immigrants who came from countries without any freedoms where everyone had a chance to be free and to make their own success.



Somehow it became about be able to become one of the 3% who own all the wealth and to desire what our neighbours have no matter what the cost.



The dream became corrupted by marketing and it is now a nightmare.

 

[Jazzy]

The American Dream has changed over time. It was originally a dream for immigrants who came from countries without any freedoms where everyone had a chance to be free and to make their own success.



Somehow it became about be able to become one of the 3% who own all the wealth and to desire what our neighbours have no matter what the cost.



The dream became corrupted by marketing and it is now a nightmare.

Very well said.

 

[wirelessguru1]

The dream is indeed a nightmare for most because only a few can be in the 3%, let alone in the 1%!

 

[Geoffrey]

Absolutely, it was created as a marketing scheme. But it also did exist.



It was created in the 50s to support community. Make everyone want to be the same, give them the small house in the suburbs with a white picket fence, wife and kids and a dog in the yard, etc. Look at that decade and you'll see it all over. Levitt Homes? Fits right in.



Obviously it's nice dream to have, and I wouldn't say it was a bad thing, we've just moved on from that ideology.