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I joke, but it's not really a joke. American dream is not about owning a house, going to school and being more successful. American dream is about owning a bi
by segmondy 7y ago
I joke, but it's not really a joke.
American dream is not about owning a house, going to school and being more successful.
American dream is about owning a bigger house than your neighbors, having nicer cars than your friends, being visual successful. Most people who will give you a threshold for their financial happiness will become unhappy if all their neighbors exceed them.
Social signaling by wealth is very strong out here. It's true that you can now see it in other parts of the world but it was exported by US to them
- solotronics 7y agoThis is almost definitely related to the strong consumer propoganda which has been applied so consistently since WW2. If you think what I am saying is ridiculous look at the history of who invented advertising. Edward Bernays was the nephew of Freud and pioneered modern propoganda and advertising methods. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays "In the 1930s, his Dixie Cup campaign was designed to convince consumers that only disposable cups were sanitary by linking the imagery of an overflowing cup with subliminal images of vaginas and venereal disease."
- whalesalad 7y agoWhat you’re observing is not the American dream. It’s pop-culture in big population centers. Not everyone is competing with their neighbors. Some of us just want comfortable homes and like driving fast cars.
- jkmcf 7y agoThe new dream is to have more storage lockers than your neighbor. My brother has 2... I wish I were kidding. Where I live in Colorado, there are acres of self storage, indoor with A/C and outdoor, everywhere these days, with more being built.