“They call it the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it.” George Carlin
Does the phrase ‘American Dream’ mean anything to you? Having changed many times since first used about 100 years ago, the American Dream now refers to an orgy of consumption, driving Americans to seek happiness in material goods, at great cost to themselves and the natural world. Why is the American Dream such a nightmare?
According to historian Sarah Churchill, “The original ‘American Dream’ was not a dream of individual wealth; it was a dream of equality, justice and democracy for the nation. The phrase was repurposed by each generation, until the Cold War, when it became an argument for a consumer capitalist version of democracy.” Churchill writes that the Dream’s evolution froze in the 1950s, when it became identified as the material good life, which Merriam Webster describes as “the suburban home, good jobs, two cars, and plenty of money.”
In the 50s postwar boom, this materialist vision seemed to work. Even lower class, prefab suburbs like Levittowns represented a big step up from urban slums. People could watch other white people in TV sitcoms living in nice houses and imagine their own lives being so comfortable and rewarding.