Das hilft dir vielleicht - ich mache gerade eine Reihe über den "American Dream" mit meinem 13er LK ...
American Dreams, American Nightmares
What is it that has lured tens of millions of people from every nation to the shores of the United States? This question was asked by the historian James Truslow Adams in the 1930s. His answer was the American Dream – “that dream of a land in which for every man, which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability and achievement.”' It is not merely the dream of the land of plenty but a dream of a social order in which men and women are able to realize their full potential, regardless of their socio-economic and ethnic background.
If you ask Americans today how they understand the American Dream, you will get many different responses. Some see it as a thing of the past. Others claim that it is alive and well and feel that Americans should make it a reality for all. For some it is the dream of decent and affordable housing. For others it is the dream of racial equality and justice for all, while some see it as the dream of upward social mobility, of success through education and hard work.
Most Americans still emphasize the importance of self-reliance and are sceptical of government interference. For them the American Dream has to do with individual freedom and the opportunity to make a better life for yourself. But all Americans will agree that the American Dream has been central to American beliefs and behaviour.
Historically, the American Dream was a dream of the West and the frontier, i.e. the moving borderline between civilisation and wilderness. When the westward movement, reached the Pacific coast in the second half of the 19th Century, there was no more to be conquered. Unlimited expansion had come to an end, and Americans had to seek new frontiers and challenges in science and technology, in space exploration, in social and political reform, in foreign aid and global commitment.
While patriotism, positive thinking, optimism about the future, pragmatism, and a can-do attitude are characteristic of many Americans, there has always been a self-critical awareness that America has failed to live up to its ideals and that for many the promise of America has not come true. The United States has not become the New Jerusalem that the Puritans hoped for; rather it has become a society which faces a host of social, economic and ecological problems. Some even fear that the American Dream has turned into a nightmare. The United States, they say has become a wasteful consumer society of lonely individuals, with a government that does not do enough to dose the growing gap between the rich and the poor.
Aus: New Context (Cornelsen)
Danke, danke! 
