For me the American Dream has a lot of parts. It means gaining wealth, be it monetary or otherwise, while still having an impact on the world. Personally, I can not achieve the American Dream without making an impact, even if I have monetary wealth. However, I don't believe that I can be living the American Dream by only making an impact. I have to have some sort of personal happiness. Granted this happiness, or wealth, could be achieved by making an impact.
Wealth also has a lot of definitions. It really depends on the type of wealth you are addressing. Monetary wealth is the most commonly talked about. This simply means having a lot of physical things, money being a major one. Emotional and social wealth are completely different. This means being happy and having good relationships. This wealth can be obtained without having monetary wealth. Spiritual wealth also exists for those who are religious. This means having strong spiritual ties, such as having a good relationship with God in the Christian faith.
Americans tend to value monetary wealth, although the Americans I know, aka, my friends and family, tend to value the other three types of wealth I mentioned more than monetary wealth. Does this mean that Americans valuing monetary wealth is a stereotype? I believe so, but there are always those who do value monetary wealth above all else, and those are the people who are most prevalent in the media, giving Americans this stereotype. And poverty? The average, or stereotypical, American sees this as very negative. Those in poverty are seen as disgusting because they are poor. This relates back to monetary wealth being the most important in the eyes of Americans.
In my opinion, monetary wealth is not the most important kind of wealth. Granted, monetary wealth is nice to have, and it could make you happier, giving you emotional wealth. Still, I believe that emotional, social, and spiritual wealth are much more important than monetary wealth. What's the point of having money if you aren't happy and have no friends? Looking at poverty, they do not have monetary wealth. Still, this doesn't mean that they do not have other kinds of wealth. The same is true for those with monetary wealth. A very monetarily rich person could be poor in the other types of wealth. Really, a balance between all of the types of wealth is what I aim for. That would be my American Dream.
