From the point of view of a german guy: what is the American Dream anyway?
I think it's not a myth. It was real in the past.
Wikipedia says:
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The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the United States Declaration of Independence which proclaims that "all men are created equal" and that they are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights" including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
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It was different here in Europe in the 19th century. Wikipedia furthermore tells us:
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In the 19th century, many well-educated Germans fled the failed 1848 revolution. They welcomed the political freedoms in the New World, and the lack of a hierarchical or aristocratic society that determined the ceiling for individual aspirations. One of them explained:
The German emigrant comes into a country free from the despotism, privileged orders and monopolies, intolerable taxes, and constraints in matters of belief and conscience. Everyone can travel and settle wherever he pleases. No passport is demanded, no police mingles in his affairs or hinders his movements ... Fidelity and merit are the only sources of honor here. The rich stand on the same footing as the poor; the scholar is not a mug above the most humble mechanics; no German ought to be ashamed to pursue any occupation ... [In America] wealth and possession of real estate confer not the least political right on its owner above what the poorest citizen has. Nor are there nobility, privileged orders, or standing armies to weaken the physical and moral power of the people, nor are there swarms of public functionaries to devour in idleness credit for. Above all, there are no princes and corrupt courts representing the so-called divine 'right of birth.' In such a country the talents, energy and perseverance of a person ... have far greater opportunity to display than in monarchies.
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Nowadays I think it's not only the American Dream. Cause Europe (and other countries) changed. I would say, the back then American Dream is more a Europe Dream at the moment. For example, governments put much effort in getting "lower class" children into education (even up to university). Most education is free here or very affordable.
Example: if you are eligible (Abitur or equal graduation from school) you can go to university. You pay the so called Sozialbeitrag per semester (half year). That's about 100-150 €. (No, that's not a typo, I didn't forget zeros). Includes a city wide bus/rail ticket normally, by the way. Besides that you only have to pay for the roof over your head and food normally. And the meals in the mensa are subsidized normally. I paid about 3 € for a complete meal back in uni. And that's true for universities as famous as Bonn (math), Paderborn (computer science) or Aachen (engineering). So not lower class universities or alike.
Just my two cents ...