Latricia Proctor 4/27/2014

Our Own American Dream

The entire concept of Americas, ' The American Dream' is different for each individual, though it is usually associated with success, wealth and family or a house, marriage and children. The concept of the American Dream seems to have transpired from generation to generation but all in all, still having the same base concepts. It has gone from success,freedom, and happiness to having the most money and fancy gadgets, possessions and cars you really don't need. It seems as if in today's society , its almost a type of propaganda to have us strive for this version of a dream. As if we all should strive for this idea in our mind and aim for that only outcome, but how many actually achieve the American Dream? Having wealth, big houses and 2.5 children are all characteristics of the American Dream. Many Americans can seek these such things and work all their lives to attain them, but it does not and will not guarantee happiness. There is no standardized description of being rich. Some people use money, no plenty of people use money as a measuring tool of their success. In realty one can have 2 million dollars in the bank and be 10 million dollars in debt, now is that really wealth? One can only have so much money. Even the 1% who are the richest in the country, strive to obtain more. Regardless of what is owned, something bigger and better is always wanted , even when there is no use for it. The constant struggle of trying to improve your job status, income and life ; sometimes leaves us with little time to really ENJOY what has been obtained so far . We use to try to keep up with the Joneses but now its come down to comparing our lifestyles in the latest celbrities with all the expensive options. America today does in fact look at celebrity lifestyles, in an never ending bid to chase something they cant afford and have no need for. It's sad but has become the status quote of so many households, media and news outlets. We measure our success based upon how much of