American Dream - zusammenfassung PDF

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American Dream Definition:  No individual definition, it varies for each American  Basic idea: anyone can achieve anything only by working hard; anybody can go “from rags to riches” -> inspiration and motivation for Americans to improve themselves and get on in life  Set of beliefs and ideals which (in theory) allows every American to prosper and advance socially, as well as financially -> often unrealistic expectations  Patriotism: can be seen in the American flag, Superbowl; set down during Vietnam War  America first: innovations, first man on the moon, Silicon Valley  Optimism and today´s gun discussion Historical background:  America is built on immigration  1620: Pilgrim Fathers, members of the English Church (radical puritans which represented the protestants principles) fled from Great Britain to escape persecution at home  Sailed across Atlantic on the Mayflower and found the first permanent colony, the Plymouth Colony which is now in Massachusetts  Many others were also sent there for criminal offences and others were given land there  Many Native Americans lived in America before the pilgrims arrived -> instead of assimilating the Native´s culture, they stole their land and started to kill thousands of them -> the Pilgrim fathers formed a society based on bloody fights  They had permission as God´s chosen ones: Americans have the right to guide the world and to overspread it completely  People from many colonies, states or ancestries came to America, lived there together and became an unity  The idea of the American meritocracy, based on the divine blessing of the people, became the national mindset Immigration to the US:  US attracted immigrants to start a better life  Today largest group of immigrants from Mexico, followed by China, Cuba and India  People came for different reasons: religious persecution, Famine in Ireland, poverty in Europe, escape war and oppression in their home countries  Symbol of freedom for the new immigrants: Statue of Liberty  Ellis Island: start of a new life for immigrants was Ellis Island  Medical checks and examination of documents before entering US  Symbol of hope  Some didn’t pass tests were sometimes sent back to home country  US as a melting pot: describes the integration process of immigrants in the States; idea was that new immigrants assimilate into life in America by giving up their old lifestyles -> “from many to one”  American society today described as “mosaic” which consists of separate parts that make up a whole and work together, keeping their individual identities

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Undocumented immigrants (11 million ) mainly from Mexico  Children are often born in US and US citizens but parents are not  Green Card: is difficult to apply because they would have to leave the country for 10 years to apply for a green card -> consequence is that most illegal immigrants stay in the country illegally  Make up an important contribution of the American economy  Always have the fear of deportation  Trump: wants to crack down illegal immigration, reform the green card and pledged to build a wall between the US and Mexico

Declaration of Independence:  Basic democratic ideas (human rights) (4th July 1776)  “all men are created equal” -> still struggling today (violation against black people existing also nowadays: George Floyd) Civil Rights Movement:  National effort made by black people and supporters in the 1950s and 1960s  Eliminate segregation  March on Washington: longest US-civil rights protest (John Lewis) Important people:  Martin Luther King Jr.: important leader of the civil right movement “I have a dream”  Rosa Parks: gave up her seat on the bus for a white man Beliefs and Values:  Freedom: Americans regard their society as the freest and best in the world, everyone can participate, individual freedom and no oppression  Equality: no class distinctions, equality in court  Individualism: idealization of the self-reliant  Hard work: heritage is not important if you work hard  Education and self-improvement: education is the key to individuals realizing their full economic, social and personal potential  Progress: desire to progress personally by making use of opportunities  Patriotism: patriotic symbols e.g. national holidays, the flag, Superbowl Interpretation:  Personal dream: reach and preserve personal aims such as family, property, freedom, happiness, health but also materialistic wishes for self-fulfillment  Economic dream: prosperity and success, newness, desire to get better  Social dream: equality and opportunity, classless society, belief in melting pot (multicultural society)  Political dream: democracy and justice, basic human rights The A.D. today:  Very critical and negative view on the AD  Critics see the AD as a clever political and economic marketing strategy  Many values not reflected  “hard work will pay off”: huge gap between rich and poor, different social classes, bad career prosperity

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“heritage is irrelevant”: racism against the black population (“Black Lives Matter”) “education is the key to success”: costs of higher education leave many no choice to stay where they are AD is mainly projected on material prosperity -> main idea has changed, mindset is consistent No social mobility: “who is poor, stays poor”

When the AD was endangered-9/11:  11th September 2001  inspired by the American Dream, many people migrated to the United States in the hope of leading a better life through hard work  the World Trade Center employed many people who were living the American Dream  on the morning of the respective day, four airplanes were hijacked by terrorists: two flew into the Twin Towers, one into the Pentagon, and the fourth crashed somewhere else  the terrorists were supporters of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda, founded by Osama Bin Laden, who wanted to continue the so called "Holy War”  around 3000 people died, the whole country was in shock and it is an unrecoverable event in the history of America When the American Dream endangered other nations – The Vietnam War: • started in 1965 → America started interfering on 8th of March • after the second world war, North and South Vietnam were divided into a communist state in the north and a democratic state in the south established by the western world • in the north the communist-influenced “Vietcong” was founded which destabilised the south → a civil war in the south began and so the United States interpreted this as a danger for their interests • American Dream: spreading their idea of democracy all over the world as god’s chosen ones • America’s military problem: the Vietcong had much more experience in the jungle • soldiers’ psychological problems: didn’t know anymore who is evil or good and didn’t know what they are fighting for • protests in America and the world followed • America lost the war in 1975 • the American Dream had failed, society was let down and many soldiers were left disabled → the losers of the war (surviving soldiers) were excluded from the community and suffer from the circumstances of the war to this day Trump and Obama (speeches):  Obama: reclaim AD and unite all Americans even if there are separations (Bettendorf speech)  Trump: critique of the old system and the appeal to create a new and better country -> make America great again (Inaugural address) Similar: optimistic with regard to the future Different: pessimistic tone past (Trump); optimistic tone past (Obama)...