Youth's Corner

Dream Catcher

By Debika Seth

Every American has his own idea of the 'American Dream'. However, there is a general American dream. This consists of happiness and prosperity. It now seems that the American dream is mainly based on prosperity. This does not necessarily mean that everyone is striving to be a multi-millionaire. All, an Americans wants to be, is being successful in life.

Success is a broad term that stands for all our dreams. We Americans want to make sense out of our existence by making goals and achieving (often surpassing) them. This achievement of success is the only thing that seems to give us contentment in life. Every one of us, whether knowingly or subconsciously, wishes to be better than our neighbors. It gives us satisfaction knowing that we are better than others. For example, if our neighbor buys a new Mercedes, we try to outdo them by putting in a waterfall in our backyard. We seem to feel incomplete unless we obtain something materialistic that seems to say to the neighbor, "I'm better than you".

The American dream is also about having hope. Immigrants, both poor and rich, come here to seek opportunities and start a new life. Immigrants come here hoping that the American dream will rid them of poverty and lead them to success for the future. Since America is seen by the world as the best nation to live in, all new immigrants come here in hopes of living the American dream.

For a young American, the dream is to become more successful than their parents. If their Mom failed to graduate from high school, then their goal would be to pass high school. If their Father could make $100.000 a year, then the dream would be to make a quarter million. Often, the dreams of young Americans are molded by impossible expectations. However, if we try to reach for the stars, we will still be higher than having no dreams at all, so often, the American dream for young people actually help others to realize their dreams.

The American dream, is, to be the best. We all want to be known as being a great and successful person. Although this is selfish, it is also good for all Americans in general. To be known as a good person, we must do well for others and help them to fulfill their dreams more easily.

The idea of the American dream is part of what makes the United States a desirable country to live in. People here are so ambitious in their attempt to realize their dream that we end up being a strong and prosperous nation, even if we may fall short of our dreams.

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