Lately, every time I hear or read the phrase "The American Dream," I feel uncomfortable. Not because I no longer believe in it, but because I am not sure what it means in 2011.
For undocumented immigrants it means a green card; for those who already have one it might be a United States passport; for those who are not homeowners, it could be buying a house; for those who had a home and lost it in the current economic disaster, getting it back; for the unemployed, finding a job.
I can also see that there are people who think the American Dream is something someone else is obliged to provide for them.
Before the current idea of the American Dream was formulated in the 1930s, there was the historical colonial concept, when Europeans came looking for land where they could build their houses and villages, which later on became towns and cities.
This early version had little of the "American Dream" since the process was a nightmare for the real Americans, the indigenous whose lands, culture and lives were stolen from them.
Since the Great Depression, the American Dream has been interpreted as an idea: the possibility of achieving a better life through an individual's own work and talents, without regard to social class, or place, or the circumstances of his or her birth. This, according to some people, contributed, on the one hand, to the creation of a cohesive national experience, but it also was the cause of inflated expectations that could end in discontent.
Perhaps to counter these illusions and disillusionments of grandeur, the American Dream diminished bit by bit until it meant the acquisition of one thing, or two: a house, a new car every year, a good job. Expectations got so low, said the comedian George Carlin, to the point that you had to be asleep in order to believe in the American Dream.
That's not far from the truth. I would say, however, that asleep or awake you have to have faith in the idea, but more than anything in our integrity and discipline.
These days, the obstacles to achieving the American Dream can seem more numerous and voluminous than in the past; perhaps because, without our realizing it, this country – always so proud of not having rigid social classes –now finds itself in the hands of a fistful of billionaire individuals and corporations that put obstacles at every step of the way to the rise of the middle and working classes.
But through all its incarnations, the American Dream has always had one constant characteristic: education. That has been the key, above all for second-generation Americans, which has opened doors to full self-realization and to reaching one's goals.
Unfortunately, many recent immigrants have lost that key chain and do not give education the importance it requires. Among Latinos, it is sad to see that we have the highest percentage of dropouts, which is becoming a real nightmare that grows more monstrous night after night as our population increases.
I believe we have to set the alarm clock, get up early with our eyes wide open and transform the dream into the reality of the 21st century.
