The American Dream Meets Reality:19th Century to Post Modernism

Being an American centers on the right to pursue life, liberty and happiness. How this would be accomplished is a different story. In the 19th Century, the Industrial Revolution took hold and America's image of life was based on realism. A life  once ruled by European  aristocracy, religion, myth and folklore, now was run by commerce, industry, urban growth and the rising middle class. America's formal realism and the narrative story of how life should exist in America, now clashes with American social realism, which now brings up poverty, class distinction, crime and everyday difficulty of life. This was not the America people had imagined. Entering the end of the 20th century to the early 20th Century, WWI began and capitalism became America's identity. Urbanization joined industry and out of this came fragmentation, formalization, heightened subjectivity and alienation for the American people. That is American's priorities and values changed. Of course, this was all in their eyes to pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Yet, over the years it became increasingly difficult to be happy when their were no jobs, no way to move up the ladder and no middle class. The Depression proved to be a huge blow to America's pride as a country and brought social inequality to an all time high. What we needed was a war to bring American's together, and so when WWII started a Post-Modern American identity was created. The war gave people pride in America again, creating jobs, purpose and structure. The rejection of elitism, and comparison between worlds lead to embracing multiculturalism, immigration and the desire to bond with other countries by creating a global economy. Again, how this was going to be done was another question. The main question still remains though: How do we pursue the American dream of financial security without creating social injustice? If we examine America's past, we can learn from our mistakes. If we visualize America in the future, we will create a better world. But if we acknowledging American life today, we will find the solution from the generation who is most affected by it; today's youth.