Did the survey answer the hypothesis?

Here is the original hypothesis:

-         What is happening to the American Dream?

-         What is today’s definition of the American Dream?

-         How are different generations reacting and responding to the American Dream?

-         How will this Great Global Recession impact the future of the American Dream?

-         How are professionals in the mid-to-upper class responding to the American Dream?

-         How will we view careers, retirement, professional development post Recession?

Let’s review each one.

Maui

Maui - Photo by seagirl39

Monet's Garden - Photo by seagirl39



LinkedIn Discussion - after first survey results posted

Michael A. – Technology Account Executive and UMass Boston alumnus

I looked and read some of the comments here and reflected for a moment. So much talk about that person is wrong, President Bush was wrong, Wall Street Greed, much amateur rancor. Its one of the things that is currently wrong about the US. When we see a problem we must immediately think of who to blame and then demonize to justify our views.

I was watching the news on several channels tonight. In several segments there I saw Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi demonizing the Republican Tax Plan. This plan was on the agenda since February of 2010 while she was Speaker of the House. The United States is faced with mounting debt, hard choices must be made. But former Speaker Pelosi can think of nothing better than to attempt to vilify and belittle a plan.

You see I believe that the American Dream is about self reliance. It’s about taking responsibility for your actions. When I was growing up having to take Food Stamps and Section 8 Housing were things to be ashamed of. Now it is a badge of courage. We have teenage mothers who have babies for no better purpose than to escape the confines of their home and in turn parental constraints.

I see families who have been on welfare for generations with no inclination to rise above it. This even though they have been afforded that opportunity, but they chose not to take it.

When elected politicians decide that they will circumvent the over riding principles of our laws and moral obligations that is owed to each citizen of this great country in allowing illegal aliens to take full advantage of the system and many times displace a US citizen of their rightful benefit.

You see, I do not believe much of the hype about Wall Street, large homes, corporate profit etc. I believe the American Dream rest with each individual to be the best person, father, mother, son, daughter, uncle, aunt they can be. To rise above the challenges of their everyday lives and make this country what it was and still can be.

LinkedIn Discussion - after posting results from Survey #1

Michael C. – leader in nonprofit management and development with multiple degrees including a M.S. from Lesley University

So, of your respondents, 80% believe the American Dream is alive and well.

LinkedIn discussion

Michael C. – leader in nonprofit management and development with multiple degrees including a M.S. from Lesley University

I guess beauty is in the mind of the beholder. The American Dream to me is freedom. Lest we forget what a short supply of that commodity exists around the world now and how much less there was when the concept of an American Dream first blossomed. I could be wrong but I think it is what causes people to flock to our borders and take their lives in their hands to get here.

Freedom is our natural state as individuals.

That took hundreds of years for philosophers to articulate, back when almost no one actually owned or was allowed by the state to own property. I am in no position to disagree with them. If people decide that they are going to use that freedom to plan on getting rich, so be it. That in itself is a values statement. But no one in my family tree ever dreamed of being rich. Going back 300 years that I am aware of, they dreamed of living in a country where that dream as well as a million others were a possibility. The dream was that neither the state, nor anyone else could prevent you from pursuing home ownership or a million other dreams. Some in my family tree have grown financially secure enough to donate very large sums of money every year to those less fortunate.....another values statement, and a bi-product of the American Dream.

Everyone in my family tree, Irish and German immigrants all, simply wanted to live in a society where home ownership was an opportunity, if we were willing to work our asses off for it. My great grandmother could only speak Gaelic and she never dreamed of owning a home but she did dream that her children would be able to carve out a better quality of life than the one she met with when she landed here. No one in my family was duped into wanting a home when they didn't really want one by some evil Wall Street cabal. I think perhaps owning your own home may well be something many/most rational people would aspire to as they establish themselves financially. To someone from Ireland in the 1840's whose home was owned by landlords they never met but who could evict them for no reason plunging them into poverty and destitution, owning your own home must have been quiet the wild dream indeed. Could today's immigrants not share that common yearning?

Her son, my grandfather went to high school - the first ever in my family to achieve formal education that we know of. He went to war for the American Dream as he saw it, and worked his ass off when he came back so that his son could go to college - the first ever to achieve that level of education in our family. With that degree, my father was able to buy a house. He also worked his ass off so I could have the opportunity to dream about financial security. I have an advanced degree- the first ever in my family, and I chose to buy a home...no one had to convince me it was a good idea, but it was an option.

Someone said that Baby Boomers are "The Grasshopper Generation". Our ancestors did all they possibly could to plant and grow the field for us, and we have spent our lives consuming what they grew.........We stand on the shoulders of giants. I hope every day I can do justice to their memory, hopes and aspirations...and to still live in a country where I am free to work my ass off if I choose to, and that embraces personal freedom to dream about home ownership,… or selling hot dogs on the corner, or living a cloistered life of poverty, and every other dream in between.

LinkedIn discussion

Bill M. – Executive Director in nonprofit with multiple degrees including a M.S. from UMass Boston

This is an interesting discussion because it takes so many forms.

People often equate the American Dream with homeownership because it was probably a marketing gimmick of the 40's to stimulate the economy and consumerism. Hence, the proliferation of houses with picket fences all over America. Owning a home represents so much more than simple homeownership - it involves independence, "owning a piece of the rock", asset development, values, accumulation of wealth and so much more. It's sad to think that reference to the American Dream is completely wrapped up in materialism but unfortunately it really is. I've often wondered how that could be because it isn't what I consider to be my American Dream.

However, today I believe it represents more of an American nightmare because housing acquisition costs are so wildly escalated as well as the cost of owning the home. A much larger percentage of income (often 50% when the rule used to be 25% - 28%) is needed to pay for the basic ownership costs (PIT). It's not the 40s & 50s anymore! All costs across the board have escalated not to mention modern day additional costs (technology) to the point that fewer and fewer people can afford to own a home but that doesn't stop Wall Street from putting them in one. Or, once owned, people can't afford to maintain it so run up additional debt turning their asset into a liability. And, you can see by the national foreclosure epidemic that today homeownership is very fragile and it doesn't take much to go to the brink of disaster. This has grave impact on people's emotional state because so many of our values, etc. are wrapped up in the home and where we live, etc.

Homeownership isn't for everybody but you cannot convince the American public because Wall Street sold them a bill of goods and we were brainwashed, albeit willingly. Most people fell for it hook, line, sinker, pole, & boots! The byproduct of Wall Street's relentless desire for more profit at any cost has been translated into the American home. The result is a Narcissist society that demands whatever they want in a nanno second at any cost. They borrow money at an alarming rate as a tool to increase their income with little regard for the consequence or the fact that it needs to be paid back. No one believes in saving anymore - just whip out a credit card and that takes care of it. No one is willing to wait and save for anything. We have no real economic values. The result is an out of control society that has choked on its own success. There was no greater evidence of how out of control we've gotten than when the 9-11 disaster happened and President Bush told us to go shopping. Imagine, in the midst of a crisis and chaotic emotional state and the President of the U.S. says go shopping. What has happened to us? We are ruled by materialism, consumerism and a throw away society that has a "devil may care attitude" with no regard for the future or anyone else. The bill for all of this will come due and we are seeing this American Dream shattered perhaps as it should be.

I'm concerned for the collective emotional trauma that will hit so many people. Everyone blames someone else for their problems. We say less government but the first question asked when something goes wrong is where was the government? We can't have it both ways. The truth is the first place to look is in the mirror. It's time we got real and started taking responsibility. I think it's time to jettison the old idea of the American Dream and replace it with one that has real personal values and responsibilities.

LinkedIn discussion

Austin P. – UMass Boston Alumni 

Better said than what I wrote but right on the money. I don't know that home ownership necessarily provides security though it can certainly provide a (sometimes false) sense of security. Are any of us secure? Ask the people who invested with Madoff, or sunk there retirement money in the stock market. Once you get past subsistence, having a skill that enables you to earn a living doing something you feel is important, enjoyable....could be described as achieving a sense of security or comfort with oneself. And there's nothing wrong with owning a home or anything else for that matter. One might consider need vs. prefer, and the true or complete cost both personal and for the world at large. Funny, I've never considered basic heath care a material thing, obviously it is. And I'm all for universal health coverage, soc sec, decent public schools, living wage and the like. I'm thinking as I type, probably not the best thing to do.

LinkedIn Conversation

Wayne M. – Bioinformatics with multiple degrees including a Ph.D. from U. CA Berkeley

I largely agree with you regarding the corrosive effect of pervasive materialism in modern life. However, I think its matter of degree. Like the Goldilocks and famous bears, a certain moderate amount of materialism is a good thing, and in any case essential. Putting to rest hunger, disease and ignorance all costs $'s, but the world will a better place when they are vanquished. I'm sure you think so too.

The problem as I see it is that the _middle ground_ has been eroded to the vanishing point. People don't just want a home of their own, which I think is a reasonable goal, representing a degree of security that looms larger and larger at least on my personal (and, alas, homeless) horizon as I grow older. No, they want a 10,000 sq ft McMansion, preferably in a choice zip code, with three cars for the garage and a hi-def TV in each of the seven bathrooms. A bit over the top.

It’s the absence of any non-material dream that is deplorable.

What I think you are saying to the readers here is that one's dreams should not be reducible to a 30 second commercial, and if they are then this is a real existential warning sign. When an entire culture is so afflicted, beware.

LinkedIn Discussion

UMass Boston Alumni 

The American Dream is a marketing device. In that sense, there is no American Dream. It is a manipulation that isolates us, belittles our individual human dreams, and promotes the belief that we become unique by becoming like everyone else. For many, the American Dream is owning a house. Pretty frigging lame, if you ask me. It wasn't always and won't always be defined by home ownership. There is no such thing as an American Dream. There are dreams that people have - American people, French people, Russian people. And if the people who dream only of great wealth and power would stop poisoning the human dream pool with their self serving non-sense, and if people were less eager to buy into their BS, America and the world would be a better place than it is today.

LinkedIn Discussion

Gilman H. – Creative Director and executive with multiple degrees, including a MFA from Rhode Island School of Design

I think there is a myth about the American Dream - that we are taught in early childhood. The challenge is: does the myth meet one's expectations? As the global economy emerges we are seeing that other systems also work for other cultures and countries - and that in itself may be confronting to a nationalistic belief such as the "American dream'. Also as the US population and multi cultural demographics have increased, we are learning 'to share' that simple dream with others.

LinkedIn Group Chatter

Individuals provided comments on the survey and in LinkedIn groups. Here are some of the LinkedIn comments:

Dan G. – Marketing and Advertising executive with BA degree from Michigan State University

Personally, I believe the American Dream means different things to different people and that presents problems. For even if I had chosen one of the listed "definitions" for the "Dream" in the survey, it wouldn't be the definition my children would have.

BTW, in research conducted by MetLife, there was only decrease of 4-points from '08 to '10 in Americans feeling that the American Dream is "alive and well" (74% to 70%). However, and again, I'd venture to say that the definition of the Dream is all over the place and that it's no longer "a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage"!

Follow-up comments:

Interesting survey. Think it would be a better/more effective one if you had a marketing researcher design the questionnaire. Lot of "gaps" and assumptions that, IMO, makes a clear analysis problematic, given that the American Dream means so many different things and that questions about it being achievable need to be tied to its definition. And, given that the question about the Dream being achievable for one's children can't be tied to anything given that we don't know their definition. Kind of like asking someone how they research and/or purchase insurance without separating out auto from home from life.

FWIW and without knowing specifically what you're writing about, I believe it's critical to define the American Dream which means many things to many people, even within families (parents vs. children), and that it's also critical to link expectations about achieving the Dream to what people believe it is. For example, while some in a relatively high socio-economic level might define the Dream as "opportunity" and feel that it's (still) achievable, those in a relatively low socio economic level may 1) not define the Dream as "opportunity" and 2) if they do, don't believe it's achievable and, perhaps, never did.

Couple of things top-of-mind:

Even within the middle class the American Dream is defined differently, depending on Generation/Life Stage.
It isn't just about how the recession has impacted their perception of and belief in the Dream and their children's future. For many, it's how it impacted their own future in terms of retirement -- can they retire? Will they outlive retirement? Where did their retirement funds go? Etc.