There is an American Dream- it's just not what you think it is. Years ago, when people emigrated from their homelands, they wanted to come to America, the Land of Opportunity. In America, if you work hard, you can earn a nice living, feed your family, put some by for hard times, live in a house with walls, drink water that wasn't brown...
In 2004, I experienced the polar opposite of The American Dream. I met a man who stood on one foot all the time, because he only had one shoe. To be fair, he had two shoes, but he and his brother shared them. I met families that lived in the bombed-out remains of their homes because there was nowhere else to go. Plants were grown in the hardscrabble landscape of Kirkuk to stave off hunger. Locals lined up at the gate to our FOB (forward operating base) for an opportunity to work hard all day and take home $5 in wages (which would enable their family to survive for almost a week, actually). WE WERE the American Dream to them- we got "three hots and a cot," cigarettes that didn't hurt when you inhaled, fresh chicken eggs, meat at every meal if we wanted it.
The American Dream was never about possessions. It was about the equality of opportunity that exists here; a lot of people confuse that with equality of outcome. Every American is born with the opportunity to worship as he pleases, to have opinions, to elect his representation in Congress, to bear arms, to be free of unreasonable search and seizure, and to due process of law. It's up to the individual to avail himself of those opportunities and secure his outcome. These inalienable rights-to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness- are available to every citizen, black, white, brown, red, or yellow. It's what you DO with it that matters. The American Dream is not the latest iThing and Abercrombie- it's a chicken in every pot. Hoover was a man ahead of his time; people in 1928 knew what was important, and it's not what you own.
Kate, I agree with your point of view. There is an opportunity for everyone to achieve the American Dream, however they must pursue it in order for it to be attained. People are able to decide their own destiny, however they must have a vision of what that dream is. When people emigrate to America they envision the opportunities that await them, the life that will be bestowed upon them and how much their quality of life will improve. Unfortunately, I think that once they realize that the dream needs to be pursued and that one must work endlessly in order to achieve their dream, that they become disheartened and their dream is then just a figment of their imagination. For those who choose to embrace the freedoms and opportunities that exist in America, the American Dream is alive and well.
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