What is the Norwegian Dream?
As an American, I always thought that “the American Dream” referred to the archetypal life-goal of individual citizens or immigrants – the dream of prosperity and a white picket fence, et cetera – not national objectives like Manifest Destiny. From what I’ve read about China, since Deng Xiaoping’s 1992 tour endorsing it individual prosperity has been something of a national dream there as well, to the tune of becoming extravagantly wealthy above and beyond what is characteristically described as the American dream.
to add, I think the “American Dream” as it is frequently articulated in your national consciousness is a common individual ambition of owning your home, having a loving spouse and one, if not two, adoring children — and to achieve this goal regardless of your original life circumstances. If anything, the only Americans eligible of achieving “The American Dream” are those from lower or lower-middle class who aspire to middle class affluence … and immigrants who may be middle class in their home countries, but most struggle against the challenges of assimilation to prosper in mainstream American society. Now, middle-class affluence isn’t unique to the US, but you won’t find a Canadian or Indian articulating that as a common dream shared amongst the citizenry; if only because it’s so common. As far as common aspirations that might lie outside the typical US model … some cultures value family structures and folks might aspire to being a respected elder. Lifetime security is based a li
