Le rêve américain n’est plus qu’un mythe, en effet la société américaine est beaucoup plus inégalitaire que plusieurs pays partout dans le monde, l’écart de revenu entre les plus riches et les plus pauvres est très large. Cela veut dire que la réussite économique a essentiellement profité aux plus riches, et qu’il n’y a pas de système social efficace qui permet de réduire ces inégalités.

Il est vrai que le rêve américain semble de plus en plus être difficile d’accès. Au vu du durcissement de vos lois sur l’immigration, et de la montée en puissance de nouveaux pays. L’Amérique n’est plus le seul modèle économique viable, et d’autres pays proposent des solutions intéressante pour faire carrière. De plus, l’image du rêve américain est entachée par des choix politiques et par des inégalités qui sont de plus en plus pointés du doigt par les autres puissances.

Bonjour, personnellement je pense que le rêve américain est terminé, il était surtout présent lorsque les Etats-Unis étaient en plein essor économique au XXe siècle. Aujourd’hui travailler dur n’est plus assez suffisant pour réussir, il faut savoir se procurer des bonnes opportunités. Cependant on est dans un monde où les idéaux changent, et réussir sa vie, construire une famille ou devenir plus riche n’est plus le rêve de tout le monde.

Dans vos réponses concernant le rêve américain, il apparaît deux visions bien tranchées. D’un côté le rêve américain est associé à la liberté, au travail, à la réussite sociale,… Cependant dans la seconde moitié de vos commentaires il n’apparaît que comme quelque chose d’utopique, qui n’existe plus, auquel les personnes essaient de se rattacher en vain. Ces mêmes mots se retrouvent dans nos commentaires français. Cela peut donc signifier que d’un point de vu extérieur, le rêve américain est un mythe, une désillusion. Pensez vous réellement que le rêve américain est encore possible, ou alors dépent-il de votre classe sociale? Gardez vous en tête l’image du rêve américain merveilleux afin de conserver une certaine puissance et supériorité de votre pays comme terre d’accueil et de possibilités sans limite? Ne pensez vous pas que certaines lois et pratiques dans votre pays vont à l’encontre de cette idée? (notamment la sécurité sociale que nous avons en France)

The American Dream is not as attainable as one would assume from traditional American literature. I agree with Brieg that working hard is no longer sufficient to achieve the American Dream. There are lots of other factors like family history, socio-economic status, and education. Those with money will always find it easier to achieve the American Dream. The idea of attaining the American Dream is working your way up in a business to earn a lot of money and eventually buying a home. With our changing society, however, the definition of the American Dream should change. Instead of ideas of riches and homeowners, maybe it could be visions of family and happiness regardless of money. It could be defined by making the world a little better each day and helping those around you.

I agree with many of your points above. From what I have seen, younger generations seem less and less inclined to believe that success comes from hard work and merit alone. I think that the concept of the “American Dream” has taken on a more ironic sense in today’s United States, and is now often associated with false hope or past opportunities. It still features prominently in political and social rhetoric, however, and I think that it is an important ideal to hold onto. Even though many political and economic debates today highlight the ways in which modern American society makes it difficult to achieve the American Dream, the fact that the term persists indicates that there is still some hope for change attached to it.

I believe that with every generation, there are new challenges and difficulties that arise. With that being said, for each new generation the American dream is still a achievable dream. It may seem more difficult, but if it were dead, we would not see the successes of many immigrants, typical Americans in our country. It honestly depends on what you define as the American dream. If it is to live a satisfactory life without worrying about food, shelter, and safety, this is completely achievable. To become a millionaire and assume that’s the American dream, well it becomes more difficult to achieve.

How does the French media portray the American dream and how have you learned about it?

I agree with the point that Solrac brought up about how there are new challenges and difficulties that arise with achieving the American dream with each generation. From my family history and experience, the American dream is something that can take generations to achieve and each generation plays a different part in being able to find it. That said, is this illusion that the American dream is something that is easily available and given the moment that a person steps foot on American soil, but in all honesty, the path to the American dream is one of the most difficult challenges that anyone could face.

I find very interesting what Yann and ColineT mention: is America the only place where such a “dream” is possible? In fact, I wonder why the concept of European dream is not quite as popular, if there even is one. It might just be a historical reason, but nowadays the idea of immigrating to Europe to find a better life by working hard certainly seems possible (or at least as feasible as in America). Is this just a big marketing mistake or do people think that achieving such a “dream” in Europe would be more difficult than in America?

Responding to ColineT, I think the realization of the American dream is not as simple as it is portrayed in the media, mainly because it highly depends on chance and privilege. However, as an immigrant, I see this idea slightly differently. From my perspective, the opportunities I found here would have been utopic in my country, and so, I am living my own kind of American dream. Nonetheless, I do believe I would have found similar opportunities if I had moved to any other developed country. The difference is just the publicity given to most success stories, which suggests the false notion that only here such a dream is attainable.

In response to Anas and Yann; I think for most people, particularly immigrants, the American dream is more than a myth. For a lot of those folks, even in light of the inequalities present in the American system, they still see much opportunity beyond those they have in their home countries. In places where over half of the population lives below a dollar, it’s hard to convince them that the American dream is a fallacy. That, in my opinion, is how the idea of it continues to get propagated. People entrenched in the American system, say for example like MIT students, are more aware of the issues concerning it. But as long as there are people in disadvantaged communities outside of America, it seems like a dream that would continue to thrive.

Following up with Ricardo’s comments, I think Europe’s history may be a contributing factor to why it seems like most people have those strong ideals of America. To a lot of the world, America is seen as ‘land of the free’ and one built by immigrants. Other countries used it as the poster child for how to overcome colonialism and fight for independence. On the other hand, it’s possible that people may still hold on to pre-colonial ideas of Europe and may not actively proclaim a ‘European dream’. I think it would be worth noting however what the actual statistics are behind the number of migrants flocking to these many regions.

In response to Brieg’s comments, I very much agree that the American dream is a thing of the past, if it ever was at that. It has only been further romanticized through novels such as The Great Gatsby and various movies. Does comparable media exist in France, romanticizing this lost artifact of the past? Is the Great Gatsby as popular a novel in your schools as it is here? What is so special about America that makes it the only place this dream can occur? It may well have arisen from the booming stock markets and economies of the time, but those are no more. Now it is essentially luck that determines one’s ability to thrive.

I have noticed many comments about how the American Dream has ended or how it is something of the past. I disagree with this idea. For many immigrants the American Dream is still an ideal they hold on to. That is why they immigrate in the first place, to achieve a comfortable life with more opportunities. That is their definition of the American Dream. I agree that this word can have different definitions for different people, but if one is just looking for more opportunities and a more comfortable life, I believe that the American Dream is still achievable.

Hello,
I find Brieg’s point of view to be very interesting. I completely agree that hard work is these days no longer enough to succeed, and that you have to know ways to get good opportunities. However, I still believe that there are a lot of people all over the world that dream of coming to the US, risking a lot and leaving behind many things. Given that, there are numerous questions that arise in my mind: Do most people try to “run away” from their countries, and come to the US to simply satisfy their basic living needs, such as having a regular job, income, a family, etc; or is it that they want to achieve even more than that? What is it in today’s culture that exemplifies the American Dream?
And as a question to the final statement of Brieg: is the American Dream altered by celebrity statuses in life? Is that what our society’s goal is as of now?

In response to Fjona’s comments, I would like to say that, although exceptions arise, my experience in an immigrant community is that most people choose to move to the US without any other aspiration than covering basic needs. However, it is normal to ambition more once this aspect is satisfied. Whenever one of these seemingly unattainable dreams is achieved, it is usually widely spread through the media, fueling the illusion of the American dream.
Is this phenomenon also seen in France? Is praise place on the individual or attributed to the opportunities the country provides?

Bonjour,
je suis d’accord avec le point de vue de tumni, l’idée du “rêve américain” est de plus en plus enracinée dans les communautés pauvres. Cependant, la raison principale pour laquelle cette idée persiste est le fait que les Etats-Unis continuent à renverser les gouvernements de plusieurs pays soit disant “pauvres”; la Syrie , l’Iran , l’Irak , l’Afghanistan , la Libye… Souvent ces pays sont riches en ressources naturelles: pétrole, gaz…, et sont donc apte de créer des sociétés où les citoyens n’auront plus besoin de penser au “rêve américain”, cependant ceci est impossible pour le moment tant que le gouvernement Américain continue à déstabiliser ces régions, et puis ironiquement limiter l’accès aux Etats-Unis pour les ressortissants de ces pays.

Bonjour,
de mon point de vue, je pense que le rêve américain existe toujours. Cependant, comme l’avait mentionné Paige, il est beaucoup plus difficile qu’il en a l’air, et je trouve que ceci est dû a la manière avec laquelle il est présenté dans la littérature et dans les médias: seuls ceux qui ont réussi à réaliser leurs rêves sont visé par les médias. Je ne suis pas entrain de dire que c’est une mauvaise chose en elle-même, c’est juste l’explication logique des choses de mon point de vue. D’autre part, un tel système permet à un nombre limité de pauvres à devenir riches, certes, mais il est beaucoup plus favorable pour les plus riches.
Je partage le point de vue de Solrac concernant le changement des difficultés qu’affrontent les jeunes d’aujourd’hui dans leur parcours de réalisation de leurs rêves, ce changement exige la présence d’autres qualifications qu’autrefois: je pense que la source vitale pour atteindre le rêve américain n’est plus seulement le travail dur mais surtout le savoir et l’innovation. Pour défendre mon point de vue, je vous donnerai l’exemple de plusieurs étudiants de MIT qui ont réussi à obtenir des brevets et par suite commencer leur propre entreprise, certains d’entre eux ont réellement réussi.