Summary/Response from Paulo

Fantasy Politics

By CHRISTOPHER CALDWELL

Published: November 5, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/magazine/07FOB-WWLN-t.html

In the article written by Christopher Caldwell, in the New York Times (November 21, 2010), he argues that what people call “the American dream” is not the dream of all the population that lives in this country even thought the phrase is still important and influent in American’s minds. An example of it the author points was the election for senate of Marco Rubio who before the election made the deal of sacrifice his Cuban American Family so “he could live the American Dream.” He won the election and the author says that his American dream deal mattered a lot during the election. However, he also points that the American dream has always been more important for the big number of immigrants that the country has had than for the own Americans. First, when the historian James Truslow said the phrase “the American Dream” in the old America it referred to the freedom and liberty that people had here differently to other countries where they were repressed. While for Americans its dream became to be the homeownership is a consolation prize for the hard work. Also, he points that in the beginning the American dream was compound for 4 parts. However, it’s become less ambitious with the entry of more immigrants. Other example he presents is that for an immigrant from a poor country a 75 minute commute and a job in a Wal-Mart would be a dream, while for the son of an industrialized American worker it would be a day of slavery.  Finally, the author refers to the American as a social contract that all Americans are tied to but not a dream.

Response

From the article I got new ideas about what people call “American Dream”. I agree with many his points of view; for example, I think that is true that people from different social group and ethnics have different goals. Therefore, things that can mean a dream for someone can be just normal thing for other. However, if the US is the land of the “freedom” and “equality of opportunities” I think everyone should have the same aspirations. Therefore, I agree that the “American Dream” doesn’t have a same meaning for all the people that live in this country.