爱华网American Dream
For many immigrants, the Statue ofLiberty was their first view of the United States, signifying freedom andpersonal liberty. The statue isan iconic symbol of the United States and of the AmericanDream.
美国梦
对于许多移民来说，自由女神像是他们对于美国的最初看法，代表着自由和民主。自由女神像是美国的地标性象征，同样之于美国梦。
The American Dream, sometimes in thephrase "Chasing the American Dream," is a national ethos of theUnited States inwhich freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperityand success. In the American Dream, first expressed by James TruslowAdams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller foreveryone, with opportunity for each according to ability orachievement" regardless of social class orcircumstances of birth.[1]The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the second sentence ofthe United States Declaration of Independence which proclaims that"all men are created equal" and that they are "endowed by theirCreator with certain inalienable Rights" including "Life, Libertyand the pursuit of Happiness."[2]
美国梦，有时也可以说成追逐美国梦想，成为整个国家的民族精神，包括繁荣和成功可能的自由。美国梦，首先被JamesTruslowAdams解释为：“人生对于每个凭借着个人能力或者成就，并怀揣着机会的人来说应该更加美好，更加富裕和满足。”不用去管社会阶级或者出生条件。美国梦的理念还深深地植根于另外一句来自美国独立宣言的句子，宣称道：“所有人生来平等”，而且他们“被创造者赋予某种不可分割的权利，包括生命，自由和追逐幸福。”
History
Since its founding in 1776, the UnitedStates has regarded and promoted itself as a beacon ofliberty and prosperity. The meaning of the "American Dream" haschanged over the course of history. While historically traced tothe New World mystique — especially theavailability of low-cost land for farm ownership — the ethostoday simply indicates the ability, through participation in thesociety and economy, for everyone to achieve prosperity. Accordingto the dream, this includes the opportunity for one's children togrow up and receive a goodeducation and career without artificial barriers. It is theopportunity to make individual choices without the priorrestrictions that limit people according to their class, caste,religion, race, or ethnicity. Immigrants to the United Statessponsored ethnic newspapers in their own language; the editorstypically promoted the American Dream[3].
历史
自从1776年成立以来，美国已经把自己当做并宣传成为自由与繁荣的明灯。美国梦的意义随着历史的进程也在逐步地产生变化。当历史性地追溯到新世界的奥秘——特别是为农场主提供的廉价土地——民族精神仅仅指每个人通过在社会和经济参与取得最终成功和财富的能力。根据这个梦想，包括了每个人的孩子在没有人为障碍的情况下健康成长并获得好的教育和职业。这是一个在没有优先限制下，也就是通过个人等级、社会地位、宗教、种族限制人们，做出个人选择的机会。移民到美国的人赞助用自己的语言编辑的有关种族的报纸，编辑人员代表性地宣扬美国精神。
The American Dream is that dream of a landin which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man,with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. Itis a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpretadequately, also too many of us ourselves have grown weary andmistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wagesmerely, but a dream of social order in which each man and eachwoman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which theyare innately capable, and be recognized by others for what theyare, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth orposition.[1]
美国梦就是一块“人生对于每个凭借着个人能力或者成就，并怀揣着机会的人来说应该更加美好，更加富裕和满足”的梦想之地。对于欧洲上层阶级进行充分解释，是一个困难的梦想，对于我们自己也变得对他感到厌倦和不信任。这不仅仅是一个关于汽车和高薪的梦，而是一个对于任何人，不管是男人还是女人，都能到达他们力所能及的最大高度，同时也被别人所认知自己，不管偶然的出生条件和社会地位。
and later he wrote:
The American Dream, that has lured tens ofmillions of all nations to our shores in the pastcentury，has not been a dream of materialplenty, though that has doubtlessly counted heavily. It has been adream of being able to grow to fullest development as a man andwoman, unhampered by the barriers which had slowly been erected inthe older civilizations, unrepressed by social orders which haddeveloped for the benefit of classes rather than for the simplehuman being of any and every class.
美国梦诱使成千上万各个国家的人在过去的一个世纪来到大洋彼岸，虽然它还不是一个富足的梦，可还是毫无疑问地被认为是非常有价值的。它已是一个能使男人和女人最大限度发展的梦，没有被在古文明中逐步建立起来的东西所阻碍，也没有被为阶级而不是人类的各个阶级发展起来的社会秩序所抑制。
Public opinion
Hanson and Zogby (2010) report on numerouspublic opinion polls that since the 1980s have explored the meaningof the concept for Americans, and their expectations for itsfuture. In these polls, a majority of Americans consistentlyreported that for their family, the American Dream is more aboutspiritual happiness than material goods. Majorities state thatworking hard is the most important element for getting ahead.However, an increasing minority stated that hard work anddetermination does not guarantee success. On the pessimistic side,most Americans predict that achieving the Dream will becomeincreasingly difficult for future generations. They areincreasingly pessimistic about the opportunity for the workingclass to get ahead; on the other hand, they are increasinglyoptimistic about the opportunities available to poor people and tonew immigrants to get ahead in the United States. Furthermore, mostsupport programs that make special efforts to help minorities getahead.[15]
公众观点
一份对公众的民意调查显示，自从1980年代已经在探索美国梦的意义，以及他们对于美国未来的期望。在这些民意调查中，大部分美国人一致认为对于他们的家庭而言，美国梦在精神快乐上远远高于物质上的享受。大部分认为努力工作是走向成功最重要的因素。然而，一小部分则认为努力工作和决心并不能保证成功。在悲观的一面，大部分美国人预测追逐梦想对于未来的几代变得更加困难。对于工薪阶层抓住机会青云直上，他们正变得越来越悲观。在另一方面，他们正变得越来越乐观，尤其对于穷人和新移民，能提供在美国取得成功的机会。此外，大部分支持那些做出特殊努力并能为少数人提供成功的机会的机制。
Prosperity
Home ownership issometimes used as a proxy for achieving the promised prosperity;ownership has been a s--tatus symbolseparating the middle classes fromthe poor.[16]Sometimes the Dream is identified with success in sports or howworking class immigrants seek to join the American way oflife[17]
成功
房屋所有权有时被当作取得成功的代用品。所有权已经成为区别于穷人与中产阶级的地位象征。有时美国梦被定义为体育运动中的成功或是工薪阶层移民怎么设法融入美国的生活方式。
