The American Dream's death spiral.

• Author: Thomson, James W.
• Position: Economics - Column

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WHAT IS IT about the American Dream anyway? How can that outdated notion have any relevance today for citizens who currently are struggling through hard times that may last for years? As so many lives have unraveled during the current recession, so has our traditional national optimism--the belief that our future can be described in terms of positive outcomes and that our lives eventually will return to normal, or whatever "normal" was before the economy tanked. As recent opinion polls suggest, our faith in the American Dream has taken a big hit because many citizens believe that we ale witnessing attuning point in our history, whole the longstanding promise of the U.S. as the land of opportunity has vanished. Even Pres. Barack Obama referenced this "sapping of confidence" in his inaugural address by alluding to the "nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sight."

What exactly does the American Dream mean? In our multicultural society, it can take many different forms. In director Brian De Palma's violent remake of "Scarface," Al Pacino's murderous coke-snorting gangster swaggers on screen above the movie tag line: "He loved the American Dream. With a vengeance." For the millions of dedicated lottery players, the American Dream stands for striking it rich or making it: big with minimal effort in the least possible time. The popular television series "American Idol" promises the same rewards--riches and fame--plus the adulation of millions of celebrity-obsessed liras. In practice, the American Dream usually refers to the swift grasp of wealth and fame: Pres. Obama was said to have attained the American Dream by getting elected president: the actress Sandra Bullock. did it by winning an Academy Award; Bode Miller achieved fleeting fame in the Olympics by skiing faster down a mountainside than all of the other downhill racers.

Editor and writer David Kamp of Vanity Fair published an engaging narrative of the American Dream based, in part, upon the values of modern liberalism. Kamp's piece is fascinating and informative, although some of his conclusions arc aruguable. Kamp notes that the phrase, American Dream, did not appear until 1931 during the Greal Depression and that our Founding Fathers never mentioned it: neither Benjamin Franklin nor Thomas Jefferson nor any other historical icon ever uttered it. Actually, it was James Truslow Adams, a prominent historian, who popularized this notion in The Epic of America. which...