Is the American Dream to get Rich/Wealthy or to be Middle Class ?

Is the American Dream to get Rich/Wealthy or to be Middle Class ?

Thom and Stephen Moore debate - Don't cut Social Security...Double it!

www.youtube.com...

The American dream was to live free and happy. Unfortunately, as the Americans slept and were dreaming, their dream was changed from living free and happy to being rich and famous and fancy. Then, as all the Americans were asleep and enjoying their wonderful dream. They came in and ripped the dream from all the Americans creating what will be known as the American nightmare.

I must say though, before they turned the American dream into the American nightmare, they should have realized that when one is sleeping and dreaming they do not wish to wake, and when the dream is over they have no other choice but to wake, So never shock them awake by giving them a nightmare.

The "American dream" ultimately is to be middle class. The problem is, the middle class is slipping into a poverty level in comparison with the wealth disparity.

social security is a good thing, but that does not fuel the middle class actually, thats just a respect paid to seniors and insurance that we don't have grandpa homeless and on the street because his life was paycheck to paycheck and was unable to save up for when he couldn't work anymore.

I would suggest doubling scholarships and grants for university if you want to bring more people into a stable middle class setting. Since we are losing our manufacturing jobs to overseas sweat shop and no politician will do whats right to sort that out, we can at the very least try and bring the high tech jobs here because of our plethora of highly skilled workforce.

The rich in society...well, its a interesting consideration. Once you are happy, then your happy....and a pool in the backyard doesn't have to be golden for it to be functional. The dinner doesn't have to be some rare species cooked for you by a master chef to taste fantastic, etc...unless your doing something productive with your money (investing in the furthering of the country in some form), then ultimately the richness you have accumulated is just wasted resources.

A individuals dream is to be emperor, a nations dream is to be relevant and a force of good. can you really call it an american dream if you focus just on yourself?

reply to post by mikejohnson2006


I would say the conditioning and training is to become middle class consumers. Schools train future taxpayers not leaders, that is for the children of the rich and wealthy, to continue on the legacy of scamming.

Having a house a car and the "freedom" to come home after 8-12 hours of hard work and put your feet up with a beer and watch the tube is what we are taught is "the life"

THIS Americans' dream is to be totally self-reliant and not have to rely on anything from the government ever.

reply to post by mikejohnson2006


Americans dream of being rich and famous but very few have the ambition or ability to be either.
Americans are lazy and more than satisfied with their banal lives of fantasy and sloth.

But at the core of most Americans is a loving, generous, compassionate, beautiful SOUL.

Carlin said it best.
It is a dream because you gotta be asleep to buy this crap.
The dream has become the nightmare.
It's gonna get interesting when people wake up from this nightmare.

I always thought the "American Dream" was an ideology of freedom, not wealth.

That's all I got.

I always thought the American dream was 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness'. How anyone can have the latter two of these things is beyond me if you still have a class system.

Rich? Wealthy? Middle class??

These words sure ARE just "dreams" any more...

...just a dream.

Middle class is quickly becoming extinct and of-course when any so-called "fat" needs to be trimmed in the USA, its always against the middle-class folks.

Slave and Master is all that will be left soon...

Our poor kids and grandkids... what a shame.

I just want to spend time with my family and enjoy life. We have a finite of time on this planet, I don't want to die and think back on my fame, I want to think back on the memories with my family and friends. Money is for providing the necessities and a little fun.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

the american dream is class mobility and the freedom to choose your path

Originally posted by beezzer
THIS Americans' dream is to be totally self-reliant and not have to rely on anything from the government ever.

I sincerely doubt you are anywhere near that goal.

Do you use roads? Fuel? Where does your food come from?

"The government' is not some undefined bogeyman. It is our elected representatives and mechanisms of government. Even if the US government disappeared entirely tomorrow, you would still have to employ mechanisms of governance to manage your region with your neighbors.

The only ones who TRULY must fear government are the corporations who benefit from less regulations.

I believe, when people refer to 'the american dream' they are referring to middle class prosperity born from post WW2 prosperity.

I thought the American dream was to be on a reality television show, preferably one with Real Housewife of... in the description =P

There was an America before the idea of the "American Dream."

There will be one after, too.

Middle class pay 12%
80,000 income = 9,600 tax

Lawyer making half million only pays 2.5%

500,000 income = 12,500 tax

A millionaire banker pays a paltry 1.2%
5,000,000 = 60,000 tax

Yep, the rich are getting off so much easier than the poorer people.

reply to post by dbates


So, are you able to relate that to the question posed in the OP, or just posting some class differences for the heck it?

reply to post by incrediblelousminds

Obviously you didn't watch the video. Those were direct quotes from the YouTube video linked in the original post. I just did the math for them since just speaking of percentages doesn't make it clear who is paying for what.

The problem with the proposed question is that wealthy, middle class, and poor are all relative terms. The American Dream is Freedom, not the collection of wealth. If someone wants to collect mass amounts of wealth then they have the freedom to do so in America. Collecting more money from those that the government has determined to have too much money isn't freedom.

In respect to doubling the Social Security I'm not in complete favor of that since that would infer more dependence on the government teat for survival. The more you depend on someone else for your necessities the less freedom you have which goes against the idea of the American dream.

Originally posted by dbates


The problem with the proposed question is that wealthy, middle class, and poor are all relative terms. The American Dream is Freedom, not the collection of wealth..

Is it? How do we define "Freedom"? Can't an accumulated amount of wealth provide for a certain amount of 'freedom'? Who has defined the American Dream as 'freedom'?

Historically? Colloquially? Let's narrow our definition a bit.