Where did the American Dream come from?

Let’s think about where the American Dream came from and where it is going.

If money is the American Dream driver, it is important to work hard, make a lot of money, get educated and buy a home and other material things. What happens to your Dream when savings decrease and costs increase?

In this Great Recession and the Recovery, your pay level decreases, you experience long unemployment or self-employment with less contracts at lower wages, friends and family are impacted, your hours are cut due to sabbaticals, or wages are frozen, and in some instances, your hours of work are increasing as you pick up the slack from downsizings and your "real" hourly wage decreases.

Meanwhile inflation increases, groceries and gas costs increase, social service needs increase, homelessness increases, and so on. More people need your help and are dependent upon you.

There are abuses of power and fraud, the Madoff scandals, politicians are cheating us, and the American deficit is rising to unheard of levels.

Is the American Dream on a slippery slope? Or like other things, does it need a new definition for the 21^st century?