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The American Dream: A Cultural History
There is no better way to understand America than by understanding the cultural history of the American Dream. Rather than just a powerful philosophy or ideology, the Dream is thoroughly woven into the fabric of everyday life, playing a vital role in who we are, what we do, and why we do it. No other idea or mythology has as much influence on our individual and collective lives. Tracing the history of the phrase in popular culture, Samuel gives readers a field guide to the evolution of our national identity over the last eighty years.
Samuel tells the story chronologically, revealing that there have been six major eras of the mythology since the phrase was coined in 1931. Relying mainly on period magazines and newspapers as his primary source material, the author demonstrates that journalists serving on the front lines of the scene represent our most valuable resource to recover unfiltered stories of the Dream. The problem, Samuel reveals, is that it does not exist; the Dream is just that, a product of our imagination. That it is not real ultimately turns out to be the most significant finding and what makes the story most compelling.
Samuel tells the story chronologically, revealing that there have been six major eras of the mythology since the phrase was coined in 1931. Relying mainly on period magazines and newspapers as his primary source material, the author demonstrates that journalists serving on the front lines of the scene represent our most valuable resource to recover unfiltered stories of the Dream. The problem, Samuel reveals, is that it does not exist; the Dream is just that, a product of our imagination. That it is not real ultimately turns out to be the most significant finding and what makes the story most compelling.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2012
12 people are currently reading
157 people want to read
About the author
Lawrence R. Samuel
39 books8 followersLawrence R. Samuel is the founder of Culture Planning LLC, a Miami– and New York–based resource offering cultural insight to Fortune 500 organizations. He is the author of The End of the Innocence: The 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair, Future: A Recent History, Rich: The Rise and Fall of American Wealth Culture, Freud on Madison Avenue: Motivation Research and Subliminal Advertising in America, Supernatural America: A Cultural History, and a number of other books.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 20, 2016
This book traces the evolution of the American Dream throughout the history of the United States. This book succeeds in portraying the American Dream as an elusive concept, that many labor incessantly for, without legitimate expectation of ever achieving.
The author relates how, even if one nears achieving the dream, the dream somehow mysteriously augments itself into something even more grandiose and even more difficult to attain, always eluding the dreamer. The dream is a quest for materialism that shape-shifts; often motivating the individual to persist in labor well beyond what is necessary for subsistence.
I listened to this book on audio and finished it just before making a backpacking journey through Talladega National Forest, in rural Alabama. I continued thinking about this book as I reached the first campsite. As I stretched out against a log to admire the brilliant stars, arrayed amazingly in the perfectly clear night sky, I realized that the American Dream is as old as humanity itself and certainly isn’t the purview of only Americans. I realized that it is a dream of ascending from this very forest, of acquiring greater comforts, of striving first to just survive, and then to continue striving for other things.
I realized that, for most folks, the dream never ends. It is the very nature of humans to strive. Our nature is to always be about bettering ourselves. That is why the American Dream is so elusive. We are always moving the mark; first to find our way beyond the creatures of the forest, then to keep up with the Jones’, then with the Germans, Russians, Japanese, and now the Chinese. If we are ever visited by extraterrestrial aliens, I expect the first thing we’ll do is compare our material wealth to theirs? Or, will we compare our society to theirs?
We must come to see that our American Dream should not be fashioned upon materialism possessed. The American Dream should be more than petty jealousies over how much wealth an individual can hoard in comparison to others. Truthfully, the American Dream shouldn’t be about material wealth at all; it should instead be about the nature and characteristics of the society we have built.
There are social goals that are much more important than the extent of GDP, such as the rate of family dissolution due to divorce, the percentage of the population imprisoned, the extent of substance abuse, educational levels, health, etc. Such social goals are more worthy of pursuit than is a “contest among wolves” to see who can build up the highest stack of paper cash. The dream from the forest is most real when all the leaves on the trees feel the warmth of full sunlight, not when just a few haphazardly garner a few stray rays, at the expense of others.
When I completed the backpacking I drove home along rural highway 49, from Talladega down through Lineville, Alabama. It always amazes me how rural this State truly is. I noticed a dilapidated trailer with an expensive shiny new Corvette parked in the driveway. I saw an old deteriorated shack, proudly brandishing a large Confederate flag, fluttering blatantly in the brisk wind. I marveled at why so many folks in these parts keep their front yards littered with useless, old rusted things, parts and pieces, as if clinging to them in memory of the former materialism they once provided.
But I realized these people are living their version of the American Dream, albeit in their own concept of existence, in their own paradigm. In fact, we’re all living in the dream. It is a dream that we, in many ways, fashion for ourselves. Just as during my hike, I’d converted a slender tree limb into a walking stick, or tossed large stones into the creek for a makeshift bridge, or made my bed temporarily beneath the Alabama sky, so others are doing things that make their reality into what it is for them.
The cool thing is that our present paradigm is not necessarily permanent. We can alter it, move in and out of it, and move into the paradigms of others. However, this can be difficult. It can be very difficult to break out of the societal mold to which you’ve adapted. Indoctrination with certain views, particularly those that are political and religious, can be very strong.
It’s easier to see the possibilities of breaking out of your paradigm when you observe the trailer dweller captivated by the luster of a rapidly depreciating new car; or the poverty stricken redneck who blames his condition on a war lost well over a hundred years ago. But it’s much more difficult to find an escape route from our own unique paradigm. This is because it requires us to step outside our comfort zone and become, at least temporarily, enmeshed in another’s paradigm, enmeshed in the strivings of another person. This is hard for us because it challenges our self-identity, particularly those walls of pride upon which we have built our culture, our social group, and our way of viewing ourselves.
But when we do move out and experience first hand the strivings of another, attempting to fully understand and relate to their paradigm of existence, it is then easier for us to look back at our own paradigm and see how our own pettiness is suddenly accentuated and more visible. Things we previously treasured may suddenly seem as vulgar, as excessive, and as out of place as the expensive Corvette or the Rebel flag that I observed in rural Alabama.
Once we enter and fully understand the plight of another, our view of the world is expanded, as we are able to suddenly discern the multitude of interactions of countess paradigms all about us. And we see the way these paradigms govern the actions of those so firmly encased within them. Instead of criticizing as “narrow-minded” those that we see incarcerated within their restrictive paradigm, we now just want to illuminate and free them, just as we ourselves have been freed.
Once the membrane of your paradigm is breached, a flood of new and exciting experiences invade your life, rendering it evermore exciting, meaningful, and engaged with the world. A thirst for understanding every new paradigm that you encounter occurs, much akin to how one might look at the landscape of an alien world for the first time. And each foreign encounter grows you exponentially, toward an enhanced understanding of life. Ultimately, stripped of the ostentatious displays of your own paradigm, your true self emerges in what is not less than a truly marvelous experience.
So, to become unshackled from the confines of the American Dream is not to reject America, but only to understand the real diversity of the dream.
This is a great little book, for anyone who would endeavor to better understand their country and themselves.
The author relates how, even if one nears achieving the dream, the dream somehow mysteriously augments itself into something even more grandiose and even more difficult to attain, always eluding the dreamer. The dream is a quest for materialism that shape-shifts; often motivating the individual to persist in labor well beyond what is necessary for subsistence.
I listened to this book on audio and finished it just before making a backpacking journey through Talladega National Forest, in rural Alabama. I continued thinking about this book as I reached the first campsite. As I stretched out against a log to admire the brilliant stars, arrayed amazingly in the perfectly clear night sky, I realized that the American Dream is as old as humanity itself and certainly isn’t the purview of only Americans. I realized that it is a dream of ascending from this very forest, of acquiring greater comforts, of striving first to just survive, and then to continue striving for other things.
I realized that, for most folks, the dream never ends. It is the very nature of humans to strive. Our nature is to always be about bettering ourselves. That is why the American Dream is so elusive. We are always moving the mark; first to find our way beyond the creatures of the forest, then to keep up with the Jones’, then with the Germans, Russians, Japanese, and now the Chinese. If we are ever visited by extraterrestrial aliens, I expect the first thing we’ll do is compare our material wealth to theirs? Or, will we compare our society to theirs?
We must come to see that our American Dream should not be fashioned upon materialism possessed. The American Dream should be more than petty jealousies over how much wealth an individual can hoard in comparison to others. Truthfully, the American Dream shouldn’t be about material wealth at all; it should instead be about the nature and characteristics of the society we have built.
There are social goals that are much more important than the extent of GDP, such as the rate of family dissolution due to divorce, the percentage of the population imprisoned, the extent of substance abuse, educational levels, health, etc. Such social goals are more worthy of pursuit than is a “contest among wolves” to see who can build up the highest stack of paper cash. The dream from the forest is most real when all the leaves on the trees feel the warmth of full sunlight, not when just a few haphazardly garner a few stray rays, at the expense of others.
When I completed the backpacking I drove home along rural highway 49, from Talladega down through Lineville, Alabama. It always amazes me how rural this State truly is. I noticed a dilapidated trailer with an expensive shiny new Corvette parked in the driveway. I saw an old deteriorated shack, proudly brandishing a large Confederate flag, fluttering blatantly in the brisk wind. I marveled at why so many folks in these parts keep their front yards littered with useless, old rusted things, parts and pieces, as if clinging to them in memory of the former materialism they once provided.
But I realized these people are living their version of the American Dream, albeit in their own concept of existence, in their own paradigm. In fact, we’re all living in the dream. It is a dream that we, in many ways, fashion for ourselves. Just as during my hike, I’d converted a slender tree limb into a walking stick, or tossed large stones into the creek for a makeshift bridge, or made my bed temporarily beneath the Alabama sky, so others are doing things that make their reality into what it is for them.
The cool thing is that our present paradigm is not necessarily permanent. We can alter it, move in and out of it, and move into the paradigms of others. However, this can be difficult. It can be very difficult to break out of the societal mold to which you’ve adapted. Indoctrination with certain views, particularly those that are political and religious, can be very strong.
It’s easier to see the possibilities of breaking out of your paradigm when you observe the trailer dweller captivated by the luster of a rapidly depreciating new car; or the poverty stricken redneck who blames his condition on a war lost well over a hundred years ago. But it’s much more difficult to find an escape route from our own unique paradigm. This is because it requires us to step outside our comfort zone and become, at least temporarily, enmeshed in another’s paradigm, enmeshed in the strivings of another person. This is hard for us because it challenges our self-identity, particularly those walls of pride upon which we have built our culture, our social group, and our way of viewing ourselves.
But when we do move out and experience first hand the strivings of another, attempting to fully understand and relate to their paradigm of existence, it is then easier for us to look back at our own paradigm and see how our own pettiness is suddenly accentuated and more visible. Things we previously treasured may suddenly seem as vulgar, as excessive, and as out of place as the expensive Corvette or the Rebel flag that I observed in rural Alabama.
Once we enter and fully understand the plight of another, our view of the world is expanded, as we are able to suddenly discern the multitude of interactions of countess paradigms all about us. And we see the way these paradigms govern the actions of those so firmly encased within them. Instead of criticizing as “narrow-minded” those that we see incarcerated within their restrictive paradigm, we now just want to illuminate and free them, just as we ourselves have been freed.
Once the membrane of your paradigm is breached, a flood of new and exciting experiences invade your life, rendering it evermore exciting, meaningful, and engaged with the world. A thirst for understanding every new paradigm that you encounter occurs, much akin to how one might look at the landscape of an alien world for the first time. And each foreign encounter grows you exponentially, toward an enhanced understanding of life. Ultimately, stripped of the ostentatious displays of your own paradigm, your true self emerges in what is not less than a truly marvelous experience.
So, to become unshackled from the confines of the American Dream is not to reject America, but only to understand the real diversity of the dream.
This is a great little book, for anyone who would endeavor to better understand their country and themselves.
Read
November 3, 2024to fully ignore and exclude Natives from an entire book about the American Dream, which discusses and relates the myth of the US and the American “frontier,” is a disservice and extremely disappointing
September 2, 2012
How would you define The American Dream? Limitless possibilities? The good life? Pursuit of happiness? In The American Dream Lawrence R. Samuel explores this constant presence in the minds of the American people as the one thing defining their culture.
From the beginnings of the Dream during the Great Depression to the times of counterculture in the 1960s straight to the present the author highlights the origins of the Dream, how it evolved over the years, and its relevance today. Of course I've heard about The American Dream before though I admittedly didn't know all that much about this integral part of what shaped the American identity. Mostly compiled through journalistic records the book offers a fascinating, in-depth read for anyone interested in the topic. What I personally enjoyed the most were the excursions into pop culture, showing how The American Dream reflects in both literature and on the big screen. I also like how the author ponders whether there is such a thing as an European or even a Global Dream. Overall I found this book to be a great illumination of the topic, yet I must admit that I found it to be a bit on the dry side too.
Will The American Dream be still there tomorrow? Is it really, as the author suggests, only a myth, existent in our imagination? A doubtlessly thought-provoking conclusion which everyone should answer for themselves.
In short: Concise if somewhat prosaic study on The American Dream!
From the beginnings of the Dream during the Great Depression to the times of counterculture in the 1960s straight to the present the author highlights the origins of the Dream, how it evolved over the years, and its relevance today. Of course I've heard about The American Dream before though I admittedly didn't know all that much about this integral part of what shaped the American identity. Mostly compiled through journalistic records the book offers a fascinating, in-depth read for anyone interested in the topic. What I personally enjoyed the most were the excursions into pop culture, showing how The American Dream reflects in both literature and on the big screen. I also like how the author ponders whether there is such a thing as an European or even a Global Dream. Overall I found this book to be a great illumination of the topic, yet I must admit that I found it to be a bit on the dry side too.
Will The American Dream be still there tomorrow? Is it really, as the author suggests, only a myth, existent in our imagination? A doubtlessly thought-provoking conclusion which everyone should answer for themselves.
In short: Concise if somewhat prosaic study on The American Dream!
Want to read
August 9, 2017Have skimmed the book.
A bit too much of a simple collection of various views on the Dream.
Biggest takeaway: Homeownership is a big part of the dream and still seems to hold us, even after homes have become too expensive for most people.
Funny how the American Dream has been popping up a lot around me lately. For example in the Caitlyn Jenner book I am reading she talks about how her success as Bruce Jenner appeared to many as a living of the American Dream. Then in Amazon's The Last Tycoon which I am watching now, the movie Monroe Stahr wants to make is called The American Dream about his wife who came to the country as a poor Irish immigrant and then became a famous movie star.
It thus appears to me that the Dream is a concept--not a real thing but still a powerful thing. It holds us the same way the people who hold the idea that Richard III was a murderer of his nephews in Daughter of Time. If you try to change the hold on people they don't change and just get mad at you.
So we live and operate with the feeling that unless we have monetary success and fame, which of course we will use to buy a house, we have failed to achieve the American Dream.
A bit too much of a simple collection of various views on the Dream.
Biggest takeaway: Homeownership is a big part of the dream and still seems to hold us, even after homes have become too expensive for most people.
Funny how the American Dream has been popping up a lot around me lately. For example in the Caitlyn Jenner book I am reading she talks about how her success as Bruce Jenner appeared to many as a living of the American Dream. Then in Amazon's The Last Tycoon which I am watching now, the movie Monroe Stahr wants to make is called The American Dream about his wife who came to the country as a poor Irish immigrant and then became a famous movie star.
It thus appears to me that the Dream is a concept--not a real thing but still a powerful thing. It holds us the same way the people who hold the idea that Richard III was a murderer of his nephews in Daughter of Time. If you try to change the hold on people they don't change and just get mad at you.
So we live and operate with the feeling that unless we have monetary success and fame, which of course we will use to buy a house, we have failed to achieve the American Dream.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews