A brief history of how the American Dream became "own a home and pay off your mortgage as soon as possible, then enjoy the rest of your life while your home appreciates in value."

When the U.S. was first founded, people didn’t just sit down and think about what would make them happy. They just went out and did stuff that they wanted to do, and if they made any money from it they were rich. Eventually the U.S. government was like, "Hey, you know what would be great? If we had laws to govern everything!" This is when the concept of a career was first introduced. The American Dream at that time was "retire young from a fulfilling career, and enjoy the rest of your life doing what you love most!" That was fine for people in the 1700s and 1800s, because most people died from smallpox and other diseases in their early 40s.<br><br>Eventually the U.S. government was like, "Hey, you know what would be even better? If we had laws to govern the government itself!" This is when democracy was first introduced. With a democratically elected government, politicians started caring more about getting elected again than doing what people wanted. This is when the first politicians started lying to the public and doing whatever they wanted, often to gain wealth and power. Eventually the concept of corruption became an integral part of society.<br><br>The next thing to happen was the Great Depression. People lost their jobs, their homes, and their money. A lot of people started questioning what they thought was the American Dream, and realized that they didn’t need to be wealthy to be happy. This is when the concept of "own a home, but only if you absolutely need one" was first introduced. The American Dream at this time was "work hard, pay your bills on time, and die broke."<br><br>The next big change to happen was WWII. When everyone was busy fighting, nobody had time to think about what they were or weren’t allowed to do. As soon as the war was over, the U.S. government was like, "Hey, you know what would be great? If we had laws to govern every aspect of American life!" This is when the concept of a national economy was first introduced. With a national economy, every American was expected to work and contribute to the economy. This is when the concept of "retirement" was first introduced. The American Dream at this time was "work hard, enjoy your life, and then die peacefully when your time comes."<br><br>The next big change to happen was the housing bubble. People were making a lot of money off of the housing market, so they convinced everyone else that it was a good idea too. The American Dream at this time was "own a home as soon as possible, but don’t forget to buy a second car, plasma TV, and a large screen projector to display all the HDTV channels you’ll get with your new digital subscription!" This is when the concept of consumerism became an integral part of society. Eventually the housing bubble popped, and a lot of people lost their homes. This is when the concept of a "foreclosed home" was first introduced. Eventually people figured out that they could make more money from renting out foreclosed homes than they could from selling them. This is when the concept of real estate investing became an integral part of society. Today, the American Dream is "own a home and pay off your mortgage as soon as possible, then enjoy the rest of your life while your home appreciates in value."