20th century dreamin'

American Radio Works provides an instructive look at the American Dream of a Better Life in the 20th century.  While the program does not directly address the matter of happiness, it is an exploration of the ways in which large social (and economic) trends influence individuals' expectations and the likelihood of their achieving those expectations.  Of course we are reminded of the role media (including movies and television as well as advertizing) play in encouraging viewers (and listeners) to want various consumer goods from phonograph records to cars to houses.  Importantly the program also helps us to recognize that one of the major developments of the 20th century was the increasing proportion of Americans who had a reasonable chance of fulfilling their expectations through self-initiative, with the help of government policies including GI Bill funding for education and mortgages, or by charging it to be paid for latter. 

With regard to material possessions as part of the dream four words leap out at me: practical, luxury, comfort, and security.  The program allows us to follow the shift in popular expectations from one standard to another as well as the interweaving of these.  The luxurious ideals of the 1920s gave way to desire for practical things things during the Depression of the next decade. The program also contrasts Jimmy Carter's efforts to promote restraint with Reagan's example of a glamorous life in the White House.  This leads me to wonder about a study of the public face of the presidential household as a window on American expectations

Our large portrayals of these big topics need to attentive to these sorts of changes and to the best explanations we can give for them.