The American Dream

Real? Or just an imaginative “perfect life”

America’s perception of the Traditional “American Dream”The traditional American dream begins with:

The perfect home

The perfect Family

All topped off with a steady income

9%

11%

15%

18%

23%

23%

Divorce Rate

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Americas perception of the American dream may not be as much of a utopia as you thought……

Marriages ended in:Poverty and Affairs

And… increasingly the divorce rate rose

Known as “Happy Days”

The “perfect” Family

The 1950’s was a family oriented decade.

Family was first.The American dream this decade was:The superior life with a beautiful homeA beautiful family and a steady income.

1960’s

Decade of rebellion

Family values came last

Family was last after the drugs began to become popular.

Unlike the 1950s where familyWas everything the 1960s was a time of rebellion towards the Government.

Because of this rebellion towards theGovernment the American dream wasThrown away.

American dream becoming available to all races,

American dream is becoming available to all races

1970’s

The 1970’s concentrated on becoming successful and offering opportunity’s to every American giving everyone a chance at success.

The “me” generation

1980’s

Time of hardship:

-Widespread divorce

-Single parenthood

-Declines in education

-Rise of STD’s

-Drug abuse

The American dream was becoming more negligible by each passing decade

• AIDS was a huge concern during the 1990's. AIDS and HIV were a huge concern for the American people because it was ignored during the 80's and unfortunately many people were even ashamed that it existed.

• It was labeled as a Gay Disease and not many people even knew how it could be transmitted. New Media and technology was also introduced during the 90's.

• Television was greatly popularized by the youth of the 90's and television shows like MTV brought rare music into the homes of most Americans. Hip-hop also took a major popular course during this decade. Microsoft brought to the public the new interfaces known as Windows which was amazingly popular among people with computers.

• The World Wide Web was also invented. 3-D graphics in video games were introduced as well.

America is now in the 20th century. We are no longer afraid of change. Every being is an equal. We are free to have our own dreams and lives. Each and everyday America is undergoing the revitalization of the new American dream, which is being recreated by our new president. The same dream as in the 1950’s of this so called perfect life is now a possibility. Each and every day the American dream is becoming more realistic.

2000-present