Seeking the American Dream

Robert C. Hauhart Seeking the American Dream

A Sociological Inquiry Robert C. Hauhart Saint Martin’s University Lacey, Washington, USA

ISBN 978-1-137-54024-9 ISBN 978-1-137-54025-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-54025-6

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The present inquiry had its genesis 5 years ago when I invited a colleague, Jeff Birkenstein, to co-teach an interdisciplinary course on the American Dream. We designed the course to be a combination of historical documents, literary selections, and sociological analyses. These foci made sense from several points of view. First, Birkenstein is a professor of English literature and I am a sociologist. Second, many of the ideas that led to the for- mulation of the American Dream arose in the historical era of our nation’s founding. Therefore, including documents born from that era that illu- minated the source of the American Dream also made sense. Third, there is little question but that American authors have been besotted with the notion of the American Dream for most of the last century and a half. One can readily tick off the familiar titles in our literature—starting perhaps with F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (2004)—that take up the idea seriously and as a major theme. Finally, American sociologists and criminologists have themselves frequently investigated the tenets, infl u- ence, and ways of life generated by our American Dream. We called our course “Chasing the American Dream” having concluded, without much investigation whatsoever, that the pursuit of the Dream was as much a part of the Dream as any of its core beliefs. In the ensuing 5 years, we’ve taught the course three times and will likely teach it a fourth time before the present manuscript assumes its fi nal bound and printed form. The course, taught within the university’s general education program to fulfi ll a literature requirement, has become a popular offering. The reason is simple and has little or nothing to do with Birkenstein or me: students, whether native born, the sons or daughters vi PREFACE of recent immigrants, or so-called foreign students here to study from abroad, fi nd the American Dream a fascinating topic worthy of study. What is it about the American Dream that attracts us so? The phrase “American Dream” evokes many responses because it har- bors elements, cloaked by two common, familiar words that almost everyone can readily grasp. When we hear or read the phrase, we think we know immediately what the speaker or writer is talking about; we can almost see it in our mind’s eye. Yet, couched in this immediately recognizable simplicity there reside, partially hidden, many alluring threads. Thus, our initial interest in the American Dream is magnifi ed when we begin to com- prehend its scope and depth. Many students, motivated by their early effort to investigate the meaning of the American Dream, reach a number of quick conclusions that satisfy them. Students discern, for example, that the phrase has many potential meanings. Many students will stop at this point and simply con- clude that the phrase encompasses nothing more than the diversity of aspirations and ways of life pursued in our contemporary multiethnic society. Students who settle for this level of understanding will see the American Dream as simply a matter of choice. They will argue that there is no single American Dream but rather a multitude of American Dreams. Then, however, a troubling thought intrudes for some: what if some (or more frightening still, many) of these American Dreams are such empty visions, and face such daunting barriers, that they cannot be achieved? Students who entertain this thought now enter a new realm of inquiry. Students at this level start to focus on the limitations inherent in the American Dream and concentrate their analysis on the many gaps and polarities that exist within American society. These students perceive that although the American Dream holds out the attractive possibility that one may follow the path of one’s choice, it also raises the persistently nagging question of whether one has made the “right choice.” One concern is whether one’s choice of American Dream can be realized. A second, related concern is whether American society is so complicated, fast-moving, and inherently contradictory that perhaps no one may ever achieve what he or she envisions. Like the invitation in our Declaration of Independence to pursue happiness, the American Dream invites our ardent efforts but holds forth only a tantalizing grail as ephemeral and diaphanous as the distant, and ultimately unattainable, object of Jay Gatsby’s desire. The present book has evolved out of these early efforts to guide students to more precisely identify, and then seize, the meaning of the American PREFACE vii

Dream. On the way, I’ve published some preliminary fi ndings which are worth describing briefl y. Among my fi rst attempts to say something about the American Dream in print was an article my colleague Birkenstein and I published regarding our course and the Saint Martin’s University students who constitute its audience (Hauhart and Birkenstein 2013). The article grew out of a Global Studies Conference presentation we offered in Victoria, BC, Canada, in 2011 where we presented a number of observations after surveying our students the fi rst two times we conducted our course. While our in-class surveys revealed a number of intriguing points, perhaps the most consistently interesting fi nding was the strength with which our students maintained their faith in the American Dream. In our initial survey (2010), after querying our students about whether various life experiences formed a part of their American Dream (i.e., com- pleting college, marriage, owning a home, etc.) we simply asked, sepa- rately, whether they believed they could achieve their American Dream. Overwhelmingly, our students responded “yes.” Taking this as a sign that we perhaps had failed in our efforts to educate our students suffi ciently we revised our survey in 2011. In this second iteration, we preceded our fi nal question with a short, but sobering, recitation of some of the then widely reported, contemporary facts about the accumulation of student loan debt, the relatively diffi cult recent job market for college graduates, the number of college graduates who continued to live at home, and so on. Then we asked whether our respondents believed they could achieve their American Dream. While a measure of tentativeness crept into some responses, our students as a group still strongly responded “yes.” (A sub- sequent reprise of the same survey in 2015 also produced a similar result.) This persistent production of what we might call a “true believer” effect is a remarkable feature of the American Dream that has been documented by others. Another early attempt at grasping the infl uence of the American Dream, penned about the same time, responded to the impact of the so- called Great Recession of 2007–09 (Hauhart 2011). This inquiry arose in the context of my plan to attend the Ninth Annual Conference on New Directions in the Humanities in Granada, Spain, in June, 2011. In contemplating what I might present, I decided to investigate the effect of the collapse of the US mortgage and housing markets on other countries. In the course of doing so, I discovered that: (1) the popular press in many countries now routinely produces articles on the American Dream, generally with reference to comparable middle-class dreams held by each viii PREFACE country’s own citizens; (2) many countries now rely on mortgage practices similar to those in the USA even though there was often little history of home mortgages in those countries heretofore; (3) the 2007–08 collapse of the US mortgage and housing markets produced a similar collapse in many countries from Europe to Asia (although the collapse was more pro- nounced in some countries—Ireland, Spain, Italy—than others); and (4) the same fi nancial dynamics as those in the USA (such as no down-payment loans, adjustable rate “balloon” mortgages, speculative purchases, and infl ated home prices) had been the directly attributable causes of these countries’ own market problems as well. The discovery of this widespread congruence of factors across a number of countries suggested to me that I could argue, persuasively if only metaphorically, that the USA’s principal export had now become (perhaps to the detriment of other countries) the American Dream of single-family home ownership based on deceptively “cheap” borrowed money. One measure of the validity of this contention arose when, having made the initial statement of my thesis, a conference attendee raised his hand and said in a distinctive accent, “I thought that was the Australian dream.” Thus, the place of home ownership and the role of mortgage fi nancing within the American Dream is a feature that merits more consideration. Finally, in a recent precursor to the present volume I investigated at some length the qualities earlier American sociologists were able to identify as elements of the American Dream or related features of the American way of life, whether expressed in a fully articulated, intentional fashion or more subtly and implicitly (Hauhart 2015). The observations I will draw from this prior work that fi rst appeared in the American Sociologist are many. For present purposes, it is suffi cient to remark that a certain degree of the work necessary to understand the meaning and infl uence of the American Dream involves “teasing out” its various manifestations as exemplars take root in particular segments of American society. American sociology, born at the end of the nineteenth century and dedicated to documenting and analyzing the social lives of society’s members, is especially well-suited to investigating the American Dream. We can, I believe, better grasp the meaning, infl uence, and impact of the American Dream if we study those sociological works that have investigated the “American way of life” over the last 125 years. This effort will constitute the essential core of the book. For this reason, I have subtitled this work “a sociological inquiry” although, to a degree, it is a misnomer. The reason is simply that the study PREFACE ix of the American Dream cannot be limited to a single perspective. It would be foolish, and counterproductive, to ignore the contributions that derive from history, literature, economics, anthropology, political science, and journalism. Sociology, however, makes a distinctive contribution by rec- ognizing that writings from any of these disciplines about social life must themselves be subjected to cultural analysis and interpretation. As sociologists are fond of reminding its audience, society is “socially constructed,” and any effort to understand society needs to engage in a form of intellectual deconstruction. It is sociology, then, that will provide a frame of reference or lens that will enable us a broad understanding of what we mean by the American Dream. The plan of the book is intended to facilitate an orderly pursuit of that goal. Chapter 1 reviews the historical antecedents upon which our idea of an “American Dream” rests. As the European quest for a more direct passage to India led the English and others to the New World, so our quest for the American Dream must start with an appreciation of the forces and moti- vations that led English settlers to colonize our eastern seaboard starting in the early seventeenth century. Regardless of the many other infl uences that by now have contributed to the form of contemporary American society, the importance of the issues that dominated English society before and during the American colonial period cannot be disregarded. Likewise, accounts of how these early English settlers lived their lives once they landed on these shores and the manner in which they explained their way of life to themselves and others necessarily form the foundation for early statements regarding our subject. Similarly, the formally adopted statements of intention that constitute our democratic heritage are particularly important for understanding the principles that men sought to inculcate in governing the American communities they were forming. Finally, contemporary and retrospective historical accounts of the USA’s westward expansion, domestic initiatives, and foreign engagements shed light on the drives that consumed Americans up to the end of the nineteenth century. Cumulatively, these historical records form the bedrock sources for the ideas that animated our conception of the American Dream. This book is not, however, primarily a history of formal pronounce- ments and abstract ideas. Rather, its central premise is that by examining American life closely we can identify what the American Dream has meant for various groups and how it may have changed. Chapter 2 therefore begins our examination of studies conducted by American sociologists that tell us something about the way we lived in particular eras in specifi c x PREFACE parts of the country. Early sociological studies often relied on fi eld methods that brought the investigators into close contact with their subjects’ lives. These methods may strike us today as being somewhat unsophisticated, but these early studies typically relied on approaches that compelled the subjects of study to explain themselves to the researchers. In so doing, Americans from all ethnic backgrounds and socioeconomic strata were forced to examine themselves in a way that some modern methods limited to mass social surveys do not. In particular, early researchers were often willing to listen at great length to the stories their respondents wanted to tell. These stories were fi lled with explanations of the reasons that the subjects, their forebears, and their contemporaries acted in the way they did as well as descriptions of their aspirations, their fears, and their strug- gles. Prominent among the reports one fi nds in these early sociological accounts of life in the USA are stories emphasizing the hopes of different generations and the means by which families addressed the conditions of their existence within American society. Often within this crucible of intersecting forces, the values that animated community life and inspired individual motivation are laid bare in a way that later studies do not fully reveal. Consequently, these early sociological reports are a fertile source of commentary on the American way of life described by the Americans liv- ing it. These accounts convey to us the constituent elements of what these Americans conceived of as their American Dream. Chapter 3 continues our review of sociological studies of American life in the 1920s and Chap. 4 addresses the period between the two world wars. As this latter era encompasses the economic collapse known as the Great Depression, studies from this period document the changing esti- mates applied to American life in light of changed conditions. Notably, it is during this era, early in the Depression years, that the popular historian James Truslow Adams (1931) fi rst committed the phrase “the American dream” to the printed page (Adams chose not to capitalize “dream” but as his iconic phrase has now entered our vocabulary with as much reso- nance and recognition as the “White House,” capitalizing “dream” seems the better choice). Adams’ defi nition has often been the starting point for investigations of the American Dream for that reason. While his defi nition offers us a touchstone to anchor some of our refl ections, many of the studies we will examine question whether his defi nition has continuing relevance to American life. Chapters 5 and 6 examine sociological studies of the immediate postwar years. Often characterized as a period dominated by the G.I. Bill, PREFACE xi prosperity, and an insular, complacent domestic politics, community studies of this era are informative about the goals sought by everyday Americans in different strata facing the challenge of thriving within an openly competitive environment. These studies reveal, as perhaps few others do, the class-based adaptations that Americans construct in making their way through society. Correspondingly, the American Dream is conceived in ways that often refl ect these class-based choices. While always prominent, issues of race and ethnic- ity in relation to the USA’s promise of “equal opportunity” also come to the fore since the economic prosperity of the period was not equally shared. Chapter 7 addresses several sociological studies that analyze the means by which identity is formed, the social self is constructed and transmit- ted, and the mid-century American culture was enacted. Among these are studies that are openly critical of American culture and what the authors perceive to be the pernicious features of our national life. In articulating the grounds for their social criticism, the authors inevitably examine the premises on which they believe much of twentieth-century American life was built. These authors explore more directly than many the cultural elements that they believe epitomize Americans’ dreams of the good life. While many of these theories and critiques remain persuasive, if not ame- nable to empirical validation, one limitation of these studies is their exclu- sive focus on the American middle class. Chapter 8 reviews studies published after the tumult of the 1960s has been replaced by the political danger represented by Watergate, the fi rst national energy crisis, economic stagnation, the deterioration of our central cities, and the new economic realities of global competition. Studies of the American way of life have often focused their attention on economic issues but those who examined the crucial forces at play during this period were nearly unanimous in according preeminence to economic analyses. American intellectuals and commentators of all stripes are currently consumed with pronouncing on the “inequality gap” yet it is worth recalling that the focus of many studies in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s were driven by this same recognition of the distance between the various economic strata in American life. Chapters 9 , 10 , and 11 bring our discussion up to the present by addressing contemporary subgroups in American life—black elites, wel- fare recipients, those who live alone, the homeless and street people, and students at private liberal arts colleges. In each instance, the goal is to understand the American Dream phenomenon through the life choices of distinctive demographic groups within our society. xii PREFACE

Finally, it is worth commenting on the potential audience this book is intended to reach. On the one hand, this book is not a textbook; rather, it is intended to be a scholarly examination of the origin, meaning, infl u- ences, and impact of the way Americans have lived their quest for the American Dream. Yet, as a college teacher whose original inspiration for examining the American Dream was to develop a course for undergradu- ates, I believe the book can be used successfully as a text in a course on American society. Any learning experience depends on materials that focus the subject under study and provide a foundation for the questions to be examined. Supplemented by other resources, I believe this book could play such a role. At the same time, I am hopeful that my review of American sociology’s investigations of the role the American Dream has played in the “American way of life” will offer a platform for further studies. American sociology, like most intellectual disciplines, is a work in progress. Within its general mission, studies of how Americans live, what they believe, and what they wish to achieve offer possibilities that are sometimes neglected. As one example, since the topic is not a highly technical subject, sociological studies of the American Dream offer graduate students and younger scholars the opportunity to contribute to the discipline in a way that few other subjects offer sociologists in this day of highly segmented specialties. In the last analysis, though, this book’s potential readership is not limited to college students or sociologists. Rather, as all Americans live under the often intense shadow of the American Dream, I hope that most elu- sive and maligned of our national species—the educated reader—will fi nd something of interest here, too.

Lacey (WA), USA Robert C. Hauhart ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am indebted to many people for their support, guidance, and assistance in the course of writing this book. I would particularly like to thank Diane Wiegand whose support knows few bounds and has been critical to com- pleting this project. I would also like to thank those colleagues at Saint Martin’s University who discussed the American Dream with me, read and criticized parts of the manuscript, or otherwise supported this project. They include Jeff Birkenstein, co-originator of our Chasing the American Dream course; Aaron Goings; David Price; Julia McCord Chavez; and Teresa Winstead. Molly Smith, Professor of English and Provost at Saint Martin’s University, deserves credit for supporting a culture of intellectual inquiry on campus and fostering ambitious projects, like this one, which sometimes offer only a faint hope of “paying off” in some distant, nebu- lous future. On other campuses and in different capacities, I would like to thank Jeff Torlina, Utah Valley University, and Sheila Katz, University of Houston, for their shared interest in class, mobility, and the American Dream. I would especially like to thank Larry Nichols, West Virginia University, editor of the American Sociologist , for the opportunity to develop in print some of my initial observations about American sociology’s early studies of the American way of life. In this regard, I would also like to thank my research assistant in that work, Courtney Carter Choi. She made notable, perceptive contributions to that paper and I regret that she was unable to continue working with me on the present project due to other commitments. xiv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

At Palgrave Macmillan, I would like to express my appreciation of Mireille Yanow, who expressed interest in my proposal, solicited peer reviews promptly, and took the project from e-mail exchanges to a con- tract in under 3 months. I want to thank everyone at my publisher for producing a good book. Finally, I must offer my most heartfelt thanks to my frequent collabora- tor, Jon Grahe, Pacifi c Lutheran University, and Jessica Flores, my former student and junior protégé. Jon and Jessica were the point persons respon- sible for developing the online survey data from middle-class respondents and the interview data from members of urban street culture, respectively, that are reported in Chap. 11 . Jon is a seasoned researcher and professional whose work has often improved my own. Jessica is a bright, intrepid, skill- ful, and disciplined social researcher at the early entry stage of what I hope proves to be a long and successful career. It is their work, in my judgment, that has made the most important contribution to the analysis and commentary I offer here.

Robert Hauhart Petit Manan Point, Maine Placitas, New Mexico Lacey, Washington CONTENTS

1 Antecedents 1

2 Early Sociological Investigations of the American Dream 25

3 Sociological Studies of American Life in the 1920s 49

4 The American Dream in the Great Depression 67

5 The American Way of Life in the Post–World War II Era 93

6 Postwar Affl uence Meets the Great Society 117

7 The American Dream Critically Examined 135

8 The American Dream in a Diminished Economy 157 xvi CONTENTS

9 Dreams, Class, and Opportunity at the Fin de Siècle and Beyond 181

10 Contemporary Twenty-First Century Assessments of the American Dream 199

11 Down and Out or On Their Way: Street People, the Homeless, and College Students Envision the American Dream 227

12 Conclusion 251

Bibliography 275

Index 277