I don't usually read the magazine Vanity Fair, but it caught my eye on Friday night and I am glad it did. I was standing in line at the bookstore and noticed an article titled "Rethinking the American Dream" on the cover. I was very intrigued but didn't want to dive into my kids' college fund to pay for the magazine. After reading the article online today, I realize it would have been well worth the money if I had forked it over on Friday night. It's a GREAT article.
It's a long read, but traces the roots of the "American Dream" concept and how it has evolved over the past 70 years. As a 30 year old it gave me some perspective on why I think the way I do and why my generation has so many questions about life.
By the way, a phrase or mantra we have adopted at The RightNow Campaign is "a generation trading in the pursuit of the American Dream for a world that desperately needs Christ."
Along with millions of jobs and 401(k)s, the concept of a shared national ideal is said to be dying. But is the American Dream really endangered, or has it simply been misplaced? Exploring the way our aspirations have changed—the rugged individualism of the Wild West, the social compact of F.D.R., the sitcom fantasy of 50s suburbia—the author shows how the American Dream came to mean fame and fortune, instead of the promise that shaped a nation.
Read the whole article here.
