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Yann M (France)- 04:23am Oct 12, 1998 (1.)
The word mainly used in French and in English is "money".
It Appears several times in both answers of the questionnaire.
We can see two categories of answers. The first one is made of
explanations of the American dream (work, fortune, family, dog
(!)). This one is quite rational and there is no point of view
in it. Sometimes, we can notice a good connotation, as in the
French "réussite" or the English "success"
that shows us than anyone has a chance. It is the same case with
words like "self-made", "happiness", "opportunity",
"chance". We can see that there are still people believing
in it (in France and in the U.S). There is now the second category:
people who don't believe in it. They are people answering "utopie",
"bullshit", "holy grail", "garbage",
"illusion", "désillusion", "imagination",
"ridicule". There are no chances left in those answers
for the American dream, that is seen as an American Utopia. We
notice that those ones are mostly French people. However, It is
strange for a Frenchman to see that some American people don't
believe in it anymore. It is strange because the American dream
seems to be a part of every American people. That's why I wonder
if it is a general tendency or not.
salut, Je trouve cela très étrange que les Américains
ne croient plus vraiment à leur Rêve (on trouve pour
le qualifier les mots "Bullshit", "foolish",
"garbage" ...). Alors qu'au départ, cela pouvait
être une grande idée ("Freedom"). Avez-vous
perdu confiance en l'avenir ou le rêve Américain
n'est plus qu'une illusion du passé? A bientôt
Les mots les plus fréquemment employés sont chez
nous: argent,richesse,liberté et utopie ; et chez les Américains
ce sont: money,car et family. Ce qui ressort de cette association
de mots est que les Français ont une image beaucoup moins
proche de la vie de tous les jours du rêve américains:
le mot famille par exemple n'a jamais été evoqué
par les Français. Les Américains ont une vision
plus réaliste: maison, voiture,famille et même le
chien. D'autre part, le rêve américain semble être
quelque chose d'inaccessible pour les Français à
l'opposé des Américains: le terme fréquemment
employé "utopie" le prouve. Cela provient sans
doute du fait que le rêve américain est uniquement
représenté par une réussite financière
énorme, donc rare chez les Français. L'expression
"rags-to riches" est apparue deux fois, quelle en est
la signification svp?
Hello! In response to your question about the expression "rags
to riches," I think that the idea expressed by this term
is that one can begin with nothing more than motivation and build
a life for oneself in a place like America. A beggar can make
something of himself as long as he has the will and motivation
to do so - he can become rich even though he only starts off with
rags. This is the core of the American Dream idea - that America
is a place of opportunity that offers that chance to all who desire
to try. Of course, whether this is actually true or not is different
story.
Nous associons principalement le rêve américain
à l'argent. Certains d'entre nous, pour qui l'Amérique
a un aspect superficiel, considèront cependant ce rêve
américain comme utopique. Et on constate que certains d'entre
vous sont du même avis !! Quoi de plus surprenant pour des
personnes réputées pour leur nationalisme ! L'Amérique
n'est plus ce qu'elle était. Nous remarquons également
que la famille, la maison, la voiture, le chien sont des élèments
caractéristiques permanents du rêve américain.
La famille et ce qui l'entoure, sont-ils encore, à ce jour,
un rêve pour vous ?
Salut,
I feel that "The American Dream" is really a bad
stereotype and is obsolete for most Americans today, especially
those which were born here. The American Dream signified the ability
of Immigrants from poor countries to came to this country with
no money, and by working hard and with a little luck, they would
earn enough to buy a home, raise a family, and live a comfortable
life. I don't think it necessarily meant that one had to become
rich and famous as is the stereotype. I really don't even think
about the "American dream" at all. I only think about
getting a job that will support me and my family at a comfortable
level, not a millionaires level. Even in America happiness is
more important than money, and I think that rich people have alot
of their own problems! I wonder what the reve Francais would be....Is
there a reve Francais??? Je voudrais savoir!
Salut,
Tout d'abord, je m'excuse mais sur mon clavier, il n'y a pas
d'accent, aussi j'espere que tu n'auras pas trop de mal a comprendre.
Commumememt, il n'y a pas de reve francais. Ce n'est pas une expression
usuelle comme l'est "the americam dream". De plus, en
France, il n'y a pas d'entites "dignes de ce nom" auxquelles
on pourrait s'identifier. Pour vous, il y a des vedettes, des
personnes mondialememt connues, qui montrent leurs grandes proprietes,
leurs richesses... En France, les personnes riches et celebres,
ont tendance a se cacher. Ce n'est pas si ostentatoire. Cependant,
pour un certain nombre de personnes, nous avons a coeur de reussir
notre vie, en travaillant, et en reussissant a integrer les grandes
ecoles par exemple, qui sont actuellememt assez appreciees.
I think the American Dream is still alive. But there is also
the idea of "selling out". One of the French students
listed Bill Gates in the word association for "reve americain".
Especially at MIT, there is a lot of bad feelings toward gates,
for creating an empire that is so successful due to being followed
by the masses. It seems that once someone has become too successful,
and too mainstream, their success is no longer as admirable. They
have "sold out", and are no longer following their own
dreams.
As far as Gates "selling out" goes, are you sure?
Depending on the stock market the man is worth more than most
of us can imagine. In interviews he cites this and says "Why
would he keep working as hard as he is if he didn't want to make
a difference in the computer industry". The leverage that
Microsoft has changed the appearance of computing for all time
to come. All someone such as him is doing is making their mark
in history. My personal distaste for Gates/Microsoft comes from
the policy of inflated, buggy, software(any company that cites
that "some bugs are profitable" in their presentations
is kinda sketchy). In addition, their success depends entirely
on their ability to market, not necessarily turn out good software.
I don't think that his level of success is the backlash for the
american dream. He's doing what he wants and is really successful.
If anyone represents the american dream, i would say it is him.
His product and practice, however, have room for improvement.