This Thanksgiving, American polarization is on full display. Some Americans will celebrate the Trump administration, while others will give thanks for the blue wave that hit New York, New Jersey, and Virginia. Democrat or Republican, however, there is another reason to give thanks: The American dream.
As an immigrant from Uruguay, I became a U.S. citizen in 2020. Recently, I have been intrigued by a newly lit beacon of hope and liberty for the world: The recently inaugurated Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream and its “American Dream Experience.” Part of the Milken Institute, a nonprofit educational and cultural institution, MCAAD is located next to the White House as a constant reminder to our elected officials that preserving the American dream for generations to come is their first, second, and third priority.
What does that mean? Nearly 100 years ago, James Truslow Adams coined the term “the American dream” for a land where “life should be better and richer and fuller for every man [or woman], with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.”
Through the American Dream Experience, which I experienced firsthand, citizens and tourists can start from anywhere and be “part” of any social group, race, or class. The grandiose exhibitions feature stories of civil rights leaders, nonprofit champions, scientists, and so many others, including successful immigrants such as Arnold Schwarzenneger, Yvonne Chan, and Gloria Estefan. MCAAD stays true to former President Ronald Reagan’s maxim that “you can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.”
Notably, MCAAD also includes economic and policy research on the American dream and economic mobility. The path of upward mobility has been well researched by academics, including Nobel Laureates Gary Becker and James Heckman, as well as Raj Chetty, a Bates Clark Medalist, so visitors can understand that the American dream is both emotive and empirical. Still, the exhibits that resonate most are stories of women, men, minorities, immigrants, and entrepreneurs.
Being thankful for the American dream also means pushing back against counterproductive narratives. Negative economists and pundits often associate the American dream with only income mobility measures and not a more holistic, inspiring vision tied to human flourishing. Besides facts and survey data or even the stories at MCAAD, a physical representation of the American dream is needed now more than ever, since the pessimism surrounding it risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. When MCAAD first opened, it received some scathing reviews that failed to objectively see what it could represent as a symbol for millions of visitors.
Interestingly enough, Adams already described the skeptics of the American dream when he coined the original phrase almost 95 years ago. The second part of his definition is, “It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of a social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable.”
History indeed repeats itself. Some of the criticism levied at MCAAD is similar to what the Statue of Liberty initially experienced. At first, Americans were hesitant to provide funds to construct the pedestal of Lady Liberty. Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian immigrant, promised to publish the names of every person who contributed to the pedestal in New York. He ended up raising more than $100,000 (most donations were less than $1 each), publishing each and every name. It fell to people like Pulitzer and other immigrants to sway a skeptical electorate, and the hard work now falls to patriots to continue that legacy.
Fortunately, we are not alone. Most people are optimistic about the American dream. Seven in 10 Americans believe they have achieved their version of the dream or are on their way to achieving it, regardless of race, income, or education.
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At a time of extreme polarization, it is precisely a built beacon of the American dream that can rekindle the sense of hope and optimism we need heading into the 250th celebration of our republic — a republic Benjamin Franklin dared us to keep. It is time to be inspired by a new representation of America’s history and her people, as well as what the future can hold, such as the everyday Americans who chose to support the construction of the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal.
The United States is still a nation for dreamers, and we should all be thankful for that.
Gonzalo Schwarz is the president and CEO of the Archbridge Institute.
