Directors Conference, Trends, Reports & Analyses
The American Dream (Revised)
ORLANDO, Fla.—People still believe in the American Dream, pollster John Zogby maintains. But what they dare to dream is changing at an extraordinary clip.
Pollster and analyst John Zogby explains the changing American dream to the NRECA Directors Conference. (Photo By: Steven Johnson)
While the traditional American Dream encompassed luxury cars and backyard swimming pools, today’s dreamers are more likely to focus on good works and activities that bring meaning to their lives, he said.
“There is a significant readjustment taking place,” Zogby told participants at the 2012 NRECA Directors Conference Feb. 13, as he outlined trends that co-op directors might see in their own communities.
A renowned pollster and columnist for Forbes, Zogby started including questions about the in the American Dream in his surveys the 1990s, after he found a poor economy forced many people to work for less pay than they earned at their previous job.
At that time, almost three-quarters of respondents indicated the American Dream was achievable both for the middle class and themselves, he said.
Those respondents included two groups of about equal size. Traditional materialists defined the dream largely in material or financial terms, like a corner office suite or a condo in Aspen.
A second group Zogby dubbed “secular spiritualists,” however, identified the dream as undertaking activities that brought meaning to their lives.
The recent recession has driven down the overall number of people who believe the dream is achievable—it’s now less than 60 percent, Zogby said.
But within that 60 percent, survey respondents who define the American dream as being driven by purpose outnumber the materialists almost 2 to 1.
That group of secular spiritualists includes Americans who have decided, “If I can’t have this big house and the big car, then my life has to be worth something. I need to readjust my expectations,” Zogby said.
A self-described optimist, Zogby said he’s especially heartened by the 18-to-32 age cohort, which also rejects the material definition of the American Dream and doesn’t view American culture as necessarily superior to the rest of the world.
“They are changing the definition of community,” Zogby said.
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