What is the American dream? The American dream is having a good steady job, two cars, three kids, and that house out in suburbia. No matter whom you talk to; kids, parents or grandparents, they all believe the same thing. Now whether they believe it is all possible to attain is a different story. Many believe that the only way to get these things is to get into debt so bad that you can never pay it off. I believe that with great discipline and proper planning anything is possible.

My mother is not from America so she was a good person to ask about the American dream. She is from Northern Ireland. She grew up with ten other siblings, her mother, father and uncle Freddy. My mother’s concept of the American dream was to get married, have kids and settled down with family. My mother has four kids. My older brother and sister were to their father James Mason the second. They met in Ireland at a Navy base and it ended up that he asked her to marry him, took her to America and left her with two kids and no one around to help. Then she met my father, who in turn, did the same with me. Next, she met my younger brother’s father who now helps take care of all of us. He alone makes enough money to support everyone, but because of the American dream, they are in so much debt that they take out loans to pay off other credit cards. Such borrowing causes finance charges that are so high that no matter what they do, they are in debt. She got her American dream but at the price of endless debt.

Now my step-father’s perception of the American dream is a little different. He believes that the American dream is to find a job that you keep for life, to provide for your family, and that your are happy doing. He believes that we are not running out of oil, that it’s all a hoax as before in the 1950’s. My step-father has been with the same company for nineteen years and has no signs of giving up anytime soon. He is one of those live to work types. He enjoys coming home from work and going right to work fixing up the house. We all think he is crazy for working 10 to 12 hour days and then coming home and starting to work again but that’s what he likes to do. 

Myself, I believe the American dream is working hard enough that you are able to afford the cost of living no problem. The American dream to me is being able to afford the two cars, the house in suburbia, the beach house in the Bahamas, the cabin in Vermont. Now it seems like a lot, but I was raised to think highly and prepare for anything. I hope to be successful enough to turn around and do what my step-father does for us now and with the same compassion and love that my mother has, but without the debt. I want to be able to provide for my family and take care of my mother and step-father the way they did for me and still be able to afford the two cars, the house in suburbia, the beach house, the cabin, and cruises to the Caribbean.

Over the years the American Dream has not changed too much. It is freedom to pick and choose what you want to do with your life. It’s having no one telling you what to do and how to do it. It is the ability to turn nothing into something. The American Dream is having the ability to get a good paying job and being able to afford anything you wanted. The American Dream is real and here to stay no matter what anyone says.