What is the American Dream?
...ith certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.¡±2 This sentiment might be considered the foundation of the American Dream. It was about freedom and equity; free as in free choices, equal as in equal rights and responsibilities. America was born free. American people are free to choose what they do, where they live, which god to believe in, how they do things, so on and so forth. American was born equal. American people are equal under law. They have equal rights, take equal responsibilities, and are protected and restricted by law equally regardless of their social status. A free and equal state means hope. Back in 1770s the American people thought this way. Freedom and equality were born with the American Dream and were its both core concepts and highest form. It is the desire for freedom and equality that distinguishes the American Dream from any other dreams of any form. The American Dream is about good wills and a better life. Pursuing the inalienable Rights, homesteaders left the big cities of the east to find happiness and their piece of land in the unknown wilderness. To fulfill their dreams, immigrants from all over the world came to the United States looking for their bit of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. For the veteran of World War II, the desire was simply to settle down, to have a home, a car and a family, and forget as hard as they could the cruelty of the wars. For Martin Luther King, the American Dream was that his ¡°four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character¡±3. Although it is the one world power on the planet, America is not a perfect nation. Technically, it never was and will never be. However, so long as Americans hold this attitude towards a better life, so long as Americans attain the good wills, America will become even better and better. During the past 228 years, people from all over the world went to the United States. Some came and left; others stayed. They brought their dreams and passion to the continent. Some came true; some not. All those people contributed to the making of the United States of America. For 228 years, Americans have wished for a better and stronger America. That is what makes America what it is today. The American Dream is about keeping an open mind. It is about being creative and innovative. America is an immigrant country. Different people of different races from different countries with different backgrounds all over the world come to America with different purposes. It is this diversity that makes Americans what they are. Because of that, Americans are much easier to keep their minds open. They are much easier to embraces new ideas and try new things. Adventurous is one of the words used most frequently to describe Americans. Just take a look at the western expansion and the frontier experience. The history of the United States is a history of adventures. It is this characteristics combined with advanced knowledge that makes Americans creative and innovative. Take creations and innovations in hi-tech industries as an example. No other country so far in the world is able to compete with America in that. America¡¯s success in hi-tech industries reinforces Americans¡¯ confidence toward the American Dream. Thus the American Dream in the modern era is always related to hi-tech industries, such as IT and biological science. The American Dream is about living a simple, fulfilling life. Some say, that the American Dream has become the pursuit of material prosperity ¨C that people work more hours to get bigger cars, fancier homes, the fruits of prosperity for their families ¨C but have less time to enjoy their prosperity. A well-know joke goes like: a tourist asked a fishman who was busy polishing a boat on the sea shore, ¡°Why don¡¯t you stop and enjoy the sunshine?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got work to do.¡± the fishman answered without even looking up. ¡°What do you work this hard for?¡± ¡°To get fish.¡± ¡°Why do you want to get fish?¡± ¡°To make money.¡± ¡°What are you going to use the ...