American Dream 3

AMERICAN DREAM Government & Economy The American dream, it has been said, means different things to different people. Differences in wealth and status affect the meaning of the dream for different people. Its meaning has also changed repeatedly over time. The reason that they have changed is because the American Dream is regulated by the government and the economy. An eighteenth century, white, male plantation owners' answer to the question, "What is the American Dream?" would …

…three views combine in such a way as to mean freedom to rise to one's greatest potential. Once wealth and safety are assured, anything seems possible. The slave could become a land owner, working his own farm. The immigrant worker could one day own his own company. An unemployable welfare recipient may one day be elected President of the United States. It all begins with hope and the desperation of a hard to reach dream.