"Breathing dreams like air..."

1. How would you describe the “American Dream?”

The dictionary definition of the American Dream is "The ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative." This is a very shallow definition of the American Dream because I think there is more to it than just achieving success. I definitely agree with the definition, but I think the American Dream is whatever someone personally wants it to be.  There is no universal "American Dream." It is basically the reason everyone doesn't just go jump off a cliff right now. It is our purpose for living that we work towards for our whole lives and truly never fully reach because they are always just out of reach. I may not have the same wishes and dreams about where I want my future to take me as my friends or peers do. Yes, I obviously want to be successful and hard work is necessary, but my values in life are different from others. I don't really know where I want to be in 5-10 years from now but what I do know is that I want to be happy, healthy, have more confidence in myself than I do now, and just shape into a better person. I hope that being fortunate enough to live in America will present me with opportunities and the ability to achieve these goals. Others may not be worried about these values as much and will hope instead that America allows them to become very wealthy, become a celebrity, create a new invention, etc. Overall, these are all successes, but I feel like you can't assign one definition to the "American Dream."  

2./3. What is your definition of wealth?/What are Americans’ attitudes toward wealth and poverty?

The dictionary definition of wealth is, "An abundance of valuable possessions or money." Once again, if you are just looking on the surface, this is a great definition, but when you really take into account society and what it values, the meaning can be taken much deeper. When you do this, wealth can be described as security, power, safety, happiness, dignity, respect, and pride. Our society in America and throughout the world, places great importance on wealth and money, maybe even the highest importance. You are in the high class in America with a lot of money and are taken more seriously/looked up upon by lower classes. People yearn to be in your position. For example celebrities have a boat load of money and everyone loves them, they are almost treated as better than human. When looking at the Great Gatsby and the 20s era, wealth was becoming a very important part of America, because it comes up a great deal in the book. Gatsby is the man everyone yearns to be, representing the unattainable "American Dream." Everyone else in the story admires him and wants his life, but in reality Gatsby is alone with all of his wealth and that is not a way to live life.

4. What is your attitude toward wealth and poverty?

I feel like wealth is definitely of great importance to me, but it is not everything like so many people think it is. It is sad how we place so much importance on wealth because there is more to life then being rich. Yes having money is important in living a happy life but love, friendship, and success are way more important. I do not understand women who marry older men just for the money and do not actually love them. I would much rather be with a person who I really love and does not have much money then be with somebody just for the money. Love trumps wealth to me. Now I think people in poverty definitely have a different take on this because they have such little amount of money that they are on the brink of dying, so to them, wealth is everything. However, once you get past having your basic needs, wealth becomes less and less important. Honestly I think the sweet spot is the middle class. You are not living pay check to pay check, but you also cannot just go around buying whatever you want. That is like my family and I am really happy with our situation. Having too much money can make a person unhappy because you can start to become materialistic just like Americans in the 20s after WW1.