The American Dream The American Dream is rooted in the Declaration of Independence which considered the self-evident truths that all men are created equal and have the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is the belief that our ideals and freedom will allow success with hard work, regardless of the circumstances of ones birth. With the post-WWII boom, some feel that the American Dream is now the pursuit of material prosperity.
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The American Dream relies on upward mobility, that is, the concept that people can move up in the world with some effort. Even though studies have shown that upward mobility has remained relatively consistent over the last half of the 20th century, mobility itself has never been very strong; in fact, we have a lower rate of upward mobility than many European countries. Most people stay in the social and economic class they were born into. Why, then, is this idea still so ingrained in our society? In the late nineteenth century, during the Industrial boom, the US was way more mobile than in Britain and the feeling of possibility has persisted.
However, there are other factors (such as race and gender) that make it even harder for people to climb the social ladder. For example, the net worth of the highest fifth of white people is $133,000 and for African-Americans it is $44,000 – a huge difference (“Class Mobility”). Regarding gender, less than 7% of all working women earn more than $75,000 a year, but 37% earned less than $25,000 a year. Furthermore, studies have also shown that when a dominant group (in America, the white, male, middle-class) is faced with success in minority individuals, they are more likely to believe all other individuals in that group are failures, versus considering systematic obstacles that they themselves have never met. So, it appears not all men (and women) are created equal in the current American reality. |
Americana |
Americana can be used to refer to artifacts related to the history or heritage of the United States or describe studies of American culture. Patriotism and nostalgia, a desire for the idealized small towns with small town businesses, good old days, and confidence in what American life was and what it would become from 1880 to World War I, play into its popularity. A striking example of this spirit is found at Disneyland’s Main Street USA and in plays like The Music Man.
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American Music |
American music includes genres that are either native to the United States or developed out of something in such a different way that it became something new. Examples include bluegrass, gospel, jug bands, delta blues, swamp funk, and Native American music. It is often called “roots music” because it served as the base for a later style, such as rock and roll, jazz, and country. During the Dust Bowl, the dissemination of individuals to cultural hubs like Chicago and Los Angeles coincided with the growing recording industry and therefore allowed these types of music to spread.
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A historic term, "poor whites" are typically native-born Americans (historically from the South and Appalachia) who are white and yet evidently different from their middle and upper-class counterparts due to their low economic prosperity. Terms often refer to them in othering ways, such as where they live (trailer trash) and what features distinguish them from more wealthy whites (redneck). There is evidence, such as in William Byrd’s 1728 survey of the boundary of North Carolina and Virginia, that lower-income whites have been differed from “better” whites since the early days of our country. In fact, the lower-income white condition is rooted in slavery, since it hindered those who did not own slaves by eliminating work they were qualified for (Hubbs).
Further examples of perceived inferiority come from lower-income whites also having to pay the poll tax which prevented African Americans from voting as well as being targeted for sterilization in the eugenics movement. When the Great Depression hit, white poverty became a norm, which led to a more sympathetic treatment of these people, such as in Dorothea Lange’s pictures and Steinbeck’s literature. Alas, post-war pop culture portrayed poor whites as trash (To Kill A Mockingbird) or as evil (Deliverance), among other things. They have often been reduced to untrue stereotypes in which the hegemonic society is allowed to laugh at these people who they do not relate to (Idiocracy). Historically, they lived simple lives involving a lot of handmade goods, agriculture, and other land-based activities such as fishing and hunting due to their rural surroundings and lack of money. Due to a lack of education, leisure time was spent with the arts, notably regarding music such as bluegrass, country, and rock and roll. There are similarities among lower-income Americans today, notably in outdoor leisure. |