Evolution of the American Dream

I swear not an hour has gone by all weekend with out a mention of the 2010 Metlife Study Of The American Dream. I wasn't asked to participate and I don't know any of the 2,243 people who did. But, according to the study, two thirds of Generation Y more than any other cohort said they define the American Dream as family and children.

Boomers and Silents feel the American Dream is a comfortable retirement according to the study. The American Dream Coalition says it's a home with a yard and an automobile. Princeton defines it as the widespread aspiration of Americans to live better than their parents did.

95% of Gen Y compared to 53% of Baby Boomers feel they will achieve the American Dream in their lifetime. It's a matter of having a family and children versus a comfortable retirement as your objective...

In 1931, J.T. Adams (1878-1949), U.S. writer and historian, in "Epic of America" wrote about the American Dream:

That dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.

What does the American Dream mean to you and do you feel you will achieve it in your lifetime?