American Dream

Coined by historian James Truslow Adams in 1931 in The Epic of America — during the Depression. Originally meant a social order where each person could achieve the fullest stature of which they are capable, regardless of birth.

Quickly narrowed from Adams' broad civic vision to a economic promise: work hard, get ahead, own a home. Used by politicians across the spectrum as shorthand for upward mobility. Increasingly invoked as critique — a myth that justifies inequality by making failure personal.