My previous post remains the most searched-for on my blog, so I googled around to see what other people believe the definition is.

Here are my distillations of what I found.

The American Dream is about getting married, having kids, and building the perfect two-story house with a white picket fence and a large backyard. The growth of a child into the upper-middle class.

Furthering the benevolent reach of God.

Love is the definition of the American dream. It isn't about money or a cool cars or a nice house...it's about finding that one person and spending the rest of your life with him or her in happiness.

Health and wealth are the two fundamentals of the American Dream. Achieving them frees you to persue other goals.

Regardless of what it might have meant in the past, The American Dream can today be boiled down to simple consumerism and the persuit of wealth and comfort. 'More is better.' Crass materialism that fails to take into account the dangers such unchecked consumption pose to the world we live in.

Living at a standard at least equal to but hopefully better than your parents is the real American Dream. Making them proud of you in the process, you continue family traditions and the name.

My American Dream? All those damn illegal immigrants packing their bags and getting the hell out of my country. Their presence corrupts the American Dream.

I still like mine.

The American Dream, as the phrase is usually tossed around, is about specific, subjective things unique to each person who dreams it. However, the bedrock underneath those dreams is the fundamental right to one's life and to decide how to live it. When people dream about saving lives through medicine, becoming President, making themselves rich, or quietly living with those you love, what they are really dreaming about is the freedom to do so. Without freedom, the dream remains just that: a dream.