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American dream

To Americans, industriousness, thrift and ambition are possitive values. We encourage our children to be competitive, to get ahead, to make money, to acquire possassion. In games and in business alike, the aim is to win the game, the trorphy, the contract. We go in for laboursaving devices, gadgets, speed and shortcuts. We think every young couple should set up a home of their own. And we pity the couple who must share their home with their parent, let alone with other relatives. Actually, of course, not all Americans hold all these values. And those who do may hold other, and at times controdictary values that affect their ways of behaving. In the main, however,the collective expectation of our society is that these are desirable goals, and the individual, whatever his personal inclination, is under considerable pressure to conform.