Culture > American Dream

Without the American Dream, There Would be no America

If the American Dream goes away, both in practice and in collective memory, we will be a fundamentally different, unrecognizable nation, and a poorer one for it, both materially and in spirit.

Mike Tsichlis | April 29, 2026

In 1922 renowned British author and theologian G. K. Chesterton wrote a travelogue of his tour of the United States, leading off with the proposition that America was unique among the world’s nations. It was not simply shaped by borders or a shared language; it was created based on a distinct creed -- a bold assertion of principles that gave rise to its existence.

That creed consisted of thirty-five words that began the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. The watershed document not merely delineated the infractions against the colonies by the British sovereign, it also put forth a sublime statement that God-given rights to live freely also granted people the ability to chart their own destiny: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

This simple, audacious statement captured what came to be called the American Dream: the possibility that a synergistic combination of individual freedom and self-determination held the potential to lead to a fulfilling and happy life. Thomas Jefferson wisely exchanged philosopher John Locke’s original statement that included a right to property with “the pursuit of happiness,” a term broad enough to extend past physical possessions to encompass a larger view of human flourishing. It would turn out to be the source code of American Exceptionalism.

These principles inspired the founding of a new nation, despite its imperfections. Ironically, they were written by an aristocratic Virginia slave owner in a country where one fifth of 3.5 million people were enslaved and excluded from the Declaration's vision. Realizing that promise required a civil war and many years of civil rights activism.

The idea of self-determination has remained remarkably strong, especially considering the substantial social, economic, political, and technological changes over the past two and a half centuries. At the heart of this inspiring American ideal is the belief that individuals can work........

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