The American Dream as depicted and encouraged by television through the years
By dragon54u
@dragon54u (31636)
United States
June 20, 2009 5:43pm CST
That sounds boring, doesn't it? But I noticed something really interesting and have been thinking about it for a few weeks.
I love to watch old movies and in the 20's-40's I notice that everyone who isn't rich lives with their parents if they're not married or in an apartment. If the parents are regular working folks, they usually live in an apartment, too, unless they are farmers then they have a house. Wealthy people were shown as owning houses in that era, along with bankers and doctors and other people with education. Regular working folk lived in apartments.
When the 50's and 60's came along, suburbia became popular--WWII was over and there was plenty of money. The movies and TV shows showed married couples with children living in houses in the suburbs. If they were childless, they were either old and in the house they raised the kids in or they were young and lived in apartments.
In the 90's we started seeing single people in movies and sitcoms living in houses by themselves. Now it's rare to see a sitcom, drama or movie where someone other than a very poor person lives in an apartment.
With the housing crises and the new "normal" becoming less of everything, I wonder if we will see a return to television of people living in apartments rather than owning houses? Because lots of people are beginning to see that owning property isn't the only way to achieve their dreams and can be quite costly. Lots of them are opting for rentals so they can save some funds for emergencies and not have the hassle and expense of owning a house.
Anyway, thanks for reading. It's just a thing that interested me and it always helps get something out of my mind if I write it down. Making a penny on it helps, too, even if nobody replies to it! 
3 people like this
10 responses
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
21 Jun 09
That's not annoying, it's the truth. We'll get through this and come out better for it in the end. But getting through it is going to be tough and we'll have to change a lot of our attitudes!
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
21 Jun 09
So..what are some of your ideas on 'working' on it? I personally feel we must start from scratch. And that isn't likely to go over real big with most of the American people.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
21 Jun 09
We own our house, and we are quite happy but things are different in Canada in that our mortgage interest is not income tax deductible so that we own smaller houses. I think that the return to apartment dwelling when one has owned a house would be difficult. It was much simpler when everyone lived in an apartment or lived at home with their parents and you did not get a house until your children were older.
But this time, it will not be that way.
There will be no one who once lived in the slums with five or six brothers and sisters, plus the grandmother or grandfather or both going off to the city and having room and board and later if they are lucky, sharing an apartment with a friend until they meet the young man and they share an apartment. Instead it will be the one who used to live in a house, now having to rent their next house because they cannot afford the mortgage, then going into an apartment because the rent on the house is too high, and there will not be a large extended family to greet them.
So it will be more then a let down.
But the television of the future will show that, just as the movies and television of the past failed to show the reality of living in an apartment where you had to really scrub to get the tiles clean and where cleaning meant getting the yellow stains off of the ceiling and the walls left from cooking on a gas stove not to mention the dust.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
21 Jun 09
There are definitely down sides to apartment living. But people used to do it while they saved up the down payment for a house, and they don't do that anymore unfortunately.
I think it would be difficult to adjust to living in an apartment after having your own house. But I'm seriously thinking about it, as my income is about to be cut drastically and I'll probably lose my house. I don't know what I was thinking in the first place, buying a house when my income depends on my ex-husband who makes a lot of money but spends it like water. To be fair, things are bad here but he wastes so much on going out, partying and his hobbies that I'll probably end up in an apartment again.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
26 Jun 09
I guess it really hurts when your ex is such a spendthrift. The trouble is that in some places apartment dwelling is a stigma and a sign of failure. If you live in New York City, or in Europe, where even families live in apartments or flats, you do not have that problem, but when I used to live in Vancouver, B.C. and in many places, if you had children, you could not get an apartment, you had to either buy or rent a house, and even then they said no pets. Now this applied to married couples, and I suppose then the restriction on unmarried couples with children was even more restrictive.
So the ones that were apartment living were young couples before children, old couples after children, or single or couples with no children.
And then there is the failure aspect, if you never wanted to live in a house, it is all right, but if you intended to buy a house, and now found that after years of living in a house, you have to step down to an apartment, it is a failure.
We, except for when we first married, we have always lived in a house, but it has always been a three bedroom bungalow type so if everyone things that we would be downsizing if we moved to an apartment, I would tell them, "Hey we have never upsized yet."
@Poison_Girl (4150)
• United States
22 Jun 09
I have a feeling nothing's going to change, though. The media doesn't seem to portray reality, but things that are usually out of reach. Things most of us can only hope for. They even try to make us think that being paper thin is the most attractive. Nah, sadly, I doubt it will change and our characters on our favorite TV shows will continue to live luxuriously.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
22 Jun 09
It's kind of nice to fantasize about living the way the people on TV do but most of us will never have the chance. That's ok, I don't need all that, but so many people think it's something important to strive for even if they have to borrow to the hilt to get it.
@Savvynlady (3684)
• United States
20 Jun 09
I feel that although the housing crisis isn't at it optimal best, I am tired of not having my own; I feel if I get something that someone else doesn't want and I want it, and I get a pretty decent deal, then I will swing it. See, I was born in New York City, and I have lived in everyone else's home but mine all my life; I know that when my mom goes, the house I am in will go to me; I have thought perhaps of adding on a room for myself so I can have my own privacy and such but I was told that it would cost as much as building or buying a house. So at present, I'd rather my own. Tired of everyone else's.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
21 Jun 09
I know how you feel! I never had my own house till I was 53, I bought a house 2 years ago after my divorce. I'll probably lose it soon due to lost income but it's been awfully nice! Actually, the mortgage is as much as an apartment would be in a decent neighborhood, but there's a lot of other expenses when you own a house. I've saved up a few thousand for a "rainy day" fund in case the furnace breaks or something else but I'll probably have to spend that on attorney fees. I'm partially disabled and live in a state that has very few jobs and depend on "spousal maintenance" for my main income. So, it's been nice for awhile.
I wish you luck in getting your own place. But be aware of all the hidden expenses. Remember, any place is a home as long as your heart is there!
@Savvynlady (3684)
• United States
21 Jun 09
You did well and I am sorry you are at that road now. I pray you keep it. I pray all works out for you;; It is not easy to lose after having it, but I also feel that if it's for you, it's for you.
@goldeneagle (6745)
• United States
21 Jun 09
My wife and I bought a house a few years ago. We are still paying on it, of course, and I will be in my 50's by the time we get it paid off. I don't regret buying a house. I have a couple of utility trailers for hauling things, and I have a boat. If I lived in an apartment or townhouse, I would have to pay for somewhere to store them when I am not using them. We also have three dogs, and it is nice to have a yard of our own for them to run and play in. We put a fence around our back yard so they would have a place to run around when we let them out. It would be hard for us to have the things we have if we lived in an apartment or rented a house from someone else. Home ownership is definitely NOT for everyone, but it seems to work better for us.
Sadly, I DO believe that the day of the "American dream" are pretty much gone. That isn't to say that we can't get it back, but it is going to take A LOT of hard work. Prices and the cost of living has shot through the roof, but wages and the amount of money earned have not increased to keep up with the increased prices. As a result, it is harder for people to get out on their own and buy homes, cars, and other luxuries. I don't know what it is going to take, but it is surely going to be a long road to recovery. We can thank greedy and ignorant politicians for the mess we are in, but we can also place the blame on American voters for not demanding accountability be enforced on our politicians and on the executives of the big corporations that got us into this mess to begin with...
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
22 Jun 09
Well said!
I bought my first house two years ago after a divorce and right now I'm just a bit sorry I did. But I really love this house--it's 85 years old, perfect for me and my dogs and I bought one below my means. I'll probably be losing a large portion of my income soon so it's a good thing I got an affordable house and didn't listen to the lenders who kept insisting that I could borrow 2-3 times as much as I did. My fenced yard is great and I put in a doggie door for my furbabies.
The politicians don't care. As long as they get the power and money they're after, their constituents don't matter.
@GraySpirit (103)
• United States
21 Jun 09
This is a good question. For many years, I paid an outrageous mortgage to own a piece of the American Dream. But you know, once I owned the dream, I realized that it wasn't what I really wanted in life.
Now that I am retired, I'm finding it a lot easier for me to get rid of baggage. Have gotten rid of the house and the car is next. I will be moving abroad and living more like how the rest of the people of the planet live.
It's a remarkable sense of freedom. While I do want a roof over my head, I don't really want to worry about maintaining a yard, painting the house, reroofing, and so forth. It'll be so much nicer to just call up my landlord and say, come fix the garbage disposal asap and go back to doing something more productive with my time.
The whole notion of having to have lots of toys for retirement is a bad idea for me. I like being able to pick up at a moment's notice and being able to move and not being tied down to all the toys we think we need.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
21 Jun 09
The freedom of not being tied down looks very attractive now to a lot of people!! I'll probably lose my house if things don't go well and while I really love this house, my first ever at age 55, it's only a house. Home is where my heart is. There's a lot to be said for not having obligations! I wish you good fortune in your move and hope your days are filled with happiness. 
1 person likes this
@GraySpirit (103)
• United States
21 Jun 09
Ahh, that's too bad. But don't despair if you lose the house. Sometimes what seems like bad fortune is an opportunity in disguise. As you say, a home does not have to be a house that is owned. And with luck perhaps new possibilities will open up to you!
Good luck to you also!
@SangsTurks (1444)
• India
21 Jun 09
Hmmm thats quite intresting, however here in India things are completely diffrent. Here boys stay with the parents and are supposed to care of them (that is what is usually expected out of son's) and he daughter leaves the family when she gets married to live in with her in-laws. So now whatever property the parents have is to be rightfully given to the heir (either the son or daughter or equally divided to both of them). So most of the people in India like to invest their money in Houses (buy property or house). it is also a safety measure for some parents who think their kids are going to throw them out of their house when they get old!!!
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
21 Jun 09
That sounds like a great system! Your old ones are well cared for and the young ones have the benefit of living with them, especially the grandchildren. Grandparents are so important for children!
Here, we send our ones ones to nursing homes. Not everyone, of course, and I never would but our families are scattered all over the place. I like your system much better!
@clutterbug (1051)
• United States
20 Jun 09
I now am regreting that my hubby and I bought a house 13 years ago. The economy has changed so much since then. We both would like to move to an apartment somewhere now, but the time has to be right of course. And trying to sell our house will be a royal pain. I enjoyed reading what you wrote about the "American Dream" through the years, boy, times have changed. At this rate we'll all be living out of our trucks and cars, lol. I think the days of the American Dream are over, it's very sad. Sorry, I didn't mean to get all sappy. Thanks for this interesting view of decades gone by.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
21 Jun 09
The American dream hasn't been destroyed, but just changed a bit. We can't all live to the max and spend everything we have without a care to the future, that's all. I really think it would be a good thing if we would learn to live within our means and good for the environment if we began once again to build "up" instead of "out". Everything has an "up" side! But I'll be sorry to lose my house of two years, my very first house, if worse comes to worse.
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
21 Jun 09
Hello dragon54u....I love the old sit coms and movies too. My son in law loves The Andy Griffth show. And guess what, so do my grandkids. It was clean, promotes respect and character and funny too.
I do however want to say that Leave it to Beaver messed up my head...lol. It made me think as a youngster that everyone's mom was like June cleaver...but mine!
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
21 Jun 09
I loved Andy Griffith, too. And Rawhide and other westerns, plus some show called Ripcord. Although we didn't watch much tv, we did it as a family maybe three times a week. I raised my own kids (now 20 and 21) on Mr. Rogers and old movies and shows.
Leave it to Beaver was SO far from my own socio-economic set that it was fantasy for me! I rarely saw it.
I wish they would make shows like Andy Griffith again. Most of what we have now is crap not fit for anyone to watch.
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
21 Jun 09
I have never owned a house. I raised five kids on less the $10,000 a year, most of the time by myself.I've rented houses...but never had the credit to buy one due to medical bills I could not pay. Credit ratings are like prison. Through no fault of my own (I didn't ask for illness)...mine is in the pits.
To me it is sad that the American Dream was and is about MONEY & THINGS and not making the world a better place and people's lives worthwhile.
Maybe when we have to live off the land like our ancestors did...we'll have to survive by helping one another. ? Maybe.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
21 Jun 09
That's the upside of this whole financial debacle--people are realizing that things are not important, they are only temporary. I don't understand the people who kill themselves when they lose everything--because it's only stuff, they still have their families and usually, their health.
Kudos to you, you must be a financial wizard to survive on $10K with five children! But it can be done--sacrifice is almost unknown nowadays and I'm sure we're all doing a lot of it right now. We'll learn from this, get our values back to where they belong--otherwise it will have all been for nothing.
