Name: Harold Andres campo 8th Semester

Luisa Fernanda Campo

1. What are the foundations of the American Dream? 1 Pt

2. What does the author say about progress and individualism? 1 pt
3. What does the author say about the dichotomy democracy-individualism? 1 pt
4. What does the concept of "society as human jungle" refer to? 1 pt
5. Why is the concept of "property" important in the American society? Does it
receive the same value in Colombia? 2 pts
6. In what way(s) have the concepts of entrepreneurship and hard work turned against
the American Dream? 2 pts
7. Explain why the author says that "humor has served as a custodian and facilitator of
the American Dream" (p. 24) 1 pt
8. Think of Colombia in depth or talk with people, what defines our "Colombian
Dream," what do we use humor for? Provide clear examples. 2 pts
SOLUTION
1. The basic foundations of the American dream are individualism, hard work,
entrepreneurship and property acquisition.

2. The author explains how the concepts of individualism and progress have been
attached to the concept of success, since the American dream promote that
individualism is the clue to success.

3. the American dream promote individualism and calls for attaining fame, only one
name in lights, only one name with rewarding, only one name triumphs but
democracy is about equality for all, this means success for all, this the dichotomy
democracy-individualism, a reward for all-a reward for one.

4. It refers to rationalization of competitive behaviors, and it explain how the human

race in order to achieve their dreams, they implement different cheats and bad moves
in some occasion due to the imposition of individualism and competition in the
American dream, bringing out pressures and another mental states. It shows a brutal
competence between the men in the achieving of their goals, an aggressiveness that
all American people were willing to take to be part of that competitive world where
everybody could participate but not all could success, so humans become animals
competing for success in the a urban jungle.

5. As it was said by Alexis de Tocqueville “in n country in the world is the love of
property more active and more anxious than in the United States” American people
 reached a point where have “property” is the most important thing in order to no being
stigmatized as loser, for American people having properties were as important as
living so they cannot tell apart the differences between dying and lose everything,
since for American people losing is dying, that is reflected in the answer of Benny’s
heralded when propose the example of the thief who posed the gallows choice: “your
money or your life!” Benny remained silent, then, I’m thinking! I’m thinking!
Reflecting a reality where people considered that their properties were as much
important as their lives. There are some cases when the property receive the same
value in Colombia, people are willing to give their lives to defend what they have
gotten thanks to their effort, incapables of telling apart the differences between dying
and losing a property.

6. Entrepreneurship and hard work turned against the American dream, firstly when
people failed to escape the economic fallouts involved in the quest for success,
because all may compete for their dreams but just few have the victory, secondly
some persons that failed and don't get success in American dream, try to redefine
success, becoming it in a nightmare, and finally American dream have a tragic part
because you can have entrepreneurship and work hard but there are a difference
between what one expects and what one finds, in other words difference in
expectative and reality

7. Since the humor remains an ironic tone, the humor was commissioned of carefully
observing the progress of the American dream and its evolution, on the other hand
humor has been the way how it enters in the people’s mind and hold there, as well as
humor has been in charge of challenging the foundations of American dream such as
individualism and property. Humor, on the other hand, criticize the effects brought
by the American dream and makes fun of them, in a search for exposing the
weaknesses of the dream in an attempt of compensate its vulnerabilities.

8. The Colombian dream is about having a political reborn, humor attempts to lead
people to be conscious at the moment of choosing their politicians, humor uses irony
and sarcasm in an attempt to stop corruption that surrounds the country. Humorists
use jokes alluding to the politician’s lies and the Colombian people weakness at the
moment of making an important decision.