'Exporting the American Dream:'
Faculty compare today's generation with past in debate
By: Emily Dale Swoboda
Issue date: 4/28/05 Section: News
MacNeill added the United States has always been more tolerant of inequality that any other country and inequality is increasing.
He said the ratio of compensation of a CEO to the average worker in the 1980s was 39-to-1. Now, it is 1,000-to-1.
Minimum wage is also part of the problem, he said.
"It is possible to have a minimum wage job and live in poverty," Mac Neill said.
He also said pessimism, insecurity and fear in workers and in corporations have all contributed to the death of the American dream.
Exporting the
"American Dream"
"Because America is the super power others are trying to imitate it," Suransky said. "Can other countries have 70 percent of people owning homes?"
MacNeill said that life and liberty are not the problem. Being born in America guarantees citizens these rights.
The pursuit of happiness is what gets in the way of the American dream. This is not a common concept in other parts of the world.
MacNeill said the ideas presented in American movies, such as wealth and success, are truly unique to American society.
"Material ownership is extremely foreign outside of the United States," MacNeill said. "It is being rejected by the rest of the world. The rest of the world is still trying to get life and liberty."
Armbruster cited the 1990 film "Pretty Woman," the story of an intelligent prostitute with scruples who is saved by the rich and charming businessman, as a perfect example of this idea.
"'Pretty Woman' was the American dream fairy tale," Armbruster said.
Evans said American television also bears a lot of responsibility for the exportation of a false ideal.
"Shows with very glamorous people and very little words are packaged and sent all over the world as a representation of the American dream," Evans said.
He said the ratio of compensation of a CEO to the average worker in the 1980s was 39-to-1. Now, it is 1,000-to-1.
Minimum wage is also part of the problem, he said.
"It is possible to have a minimum wage job and live in poverty," Mac Neill said.
He also said pessimism, insecurity and fear in workers and in corporations have all contributed to the death of the American dream.
Exporting the
"American Dream"
"Because America is the super power others are trying to imitate it," Suransky said. "Can other countries have 70 percent of people owning homes?"
MacNeill said that life and liberty are not the problem. Being born in America guarantees citizens these rights.
The pursuit of happiness is what gets in the way of the American dream. This is not a common concept in other parts of the world.
MacNeill said the ideas presented in American movies, such as wealth and success, are truly unique to American society.
"Material ownership is extremely foreign outside of the United States," MacNeill said. "It is being rejected by the rest of the world. The rest of the world is still trying to get life and liberty."
Armbruster cited the 1990 film "Pretty Woman," the story of an intelligent prostitute with scruples who is saved by the rich and charming businessman, as a perfect example of this idea.
"'Pretty Woman' was the American dream fairy tale," Armbruster said.
Evans said American television also bears a lot of responsibility for the exportation of a false ideal.
"Shows with very glamorous people and very little words are packaged and sent all over the world as a representation of the American dream," Evans said.
