Transcriber: Mohand Habchi Reviewer: Elisabeth Buffard
If we were to believe,
everything that we hear or read about the American dream,
we have to come to a simple conclusion:
as a society, we're screwed. (Laughter)
I mean we are really screwed.
And I get that.
When we hear from, say, realtors or mortgage lenders.
or even our own government
that the American dream
is a solitary dream about owning a home,
yet we see millions of people facing foreclosure.
Nearly 3 million people in 2009.
That's more of an American nightmare
than American dream to many.
Well, how about a funny one?
How about the American Lottery Dream?
It's sound like a good thing
until we find out that
nearly 70 % of all jackpot winners
file for some form of government assistance
within just a few years of winning.
Again not a dream that many of us want.
So the American Dream is not doing so well.
No. After spending years
analyzing and studying the American Dream,
I can tell you definitively, the American Dream is thriving.
And each and everyone of us is living it today.
But what is this thing?
What is the American Dream?
The thing that we know of,
but know so very little about.
Well if I was to go around this entire room
and ask each and everyone of you
"What is the American Dream?"
I'm probably going to get as many different answers
that there are people here.
So for me to stand here
and give you a clear, concise definition,
one that fits every single one of us,
well, I would look kind of foolish. (Laughter)
So rather than look foolish,
why I don't take you on a tour the American Dream.
The American Dream that we have found through all our study,
the dream we're all living.
And to start,
the American Dream it's not just one dream.
That's a trap that most people who report
on the American Dream fall into.
The American Dream is many dreams.
We in fact found there's 35 separate yet equally important dreams.
So let's start at this thing,
this home that we believe in.
We believe, we dream of a place to call home.
But not just a home.
We dream of the things that we need for the home
and the things that we need in our daily lives.
We dream not only of the things we need,
we dream of the things we want.
We dream of having access to clean water, clean food.
We dream that we can live in a clean and healthy
physical environment.
We dream of the melting pot.
Living in a community with others,
where we can share in the richness of each other's lives,
where we can express ourselves both personally and socially.
We dream of a quality education.
No matter at what level, it's our ticket to a better life.
We dream of living in a safe community.
We dream of being able to go to those destinations in life
that we choose – and safely.
We dream of a good job.
We dream that that job will give us the means
to get those things we need
and sometimes the things we want.
We dream of having that job also give us good benefits.
We dream to have an affordable and quality health care.
We dream of having a happy and healthy life.
We also dream of a leisure,
doing those things that we just love to do.
We dream of the support of our family and our friends
and the ability to trust them.
We dream that the next generation
will have a better life
than the one we're currently living.
We dream of making the choices we desire.
I mean, we dream of making the choices we really desire.
(Laughter)
We dream of having a government in which we can trust.
We dream of believing and trusting in businesses.
We dream of an entrepreneurial spirit.
A spirit that allows us
to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.
We dream that our efforts we will be justly rewarded.
So you see, when you put the pieces together,
the American Dream is quiet simple.
The American Dream as we live it
is leading a quality life.
That's it. It's a quality life.
And we're all living it to some extent.
Some are farther along into their dreams than others
but we're all there.
The American Dream isn't changing.
It's not evolving.
It's not dying. It's not dead.
I am running out of negative things to say.
The American Dream is no different now
than it was 50 years ago.
The only thing that changes is us.
The way we are and where we are in our dreams.
Now we've been doing a little bit of research
in Xavier University here in Cincinnati
on the American dream.
And we've developed an instrument
called the American Dream Composite Index.
This index quantatively measures the American Dream each month
based on a sample of over a thousand people across the country.
So for the month of April,
as a nation we are 64.1%
on the way to fully achieving the American Dream.
Our dream cup is almost two third full.
That's good, but we can do better.
I'll let you on a little secret.
The one area that we have the most room to improve:
Trust.
Trust in people. Trust in business.
Trust in government.
Trust, that's simple.
Oh, and financial security.
We should probably be financial secure.
Keep dreaming. (Laughter)
Thanks. (Applause)