American dream or American delusion?
Posted
Dec 03 2007, 03:42 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
How did the concept of the American dream devolve into the American nightmare? The concept started out as a noble one, writes The Baglady, who traced it to "The Epic of America" by James Truslow Adams. The historian wrote: "But there has been also the American dream, that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement." How the heck did this ideal become the sales pitch for buying oversized homes with no money down? asks The Baglady, who discards the term "home buyer" in favor of "home debtor."
"When people buy things on credit and slip further and further into debt, they're not living the 'American dream,'" she says. "Instead, I think they're living what I would call an 'American delusion,' and eventually it spirals into the 'American nightmare' if they can no longer handle their debt obligations." George Carlin had a different view: "It's called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it."
