Immanuel Kant Gymnasium Münster-Hiltrup
Schuljahr 2007/08
LK Englisch 1 (Frau Lätzel)
Chris Gardner’s „The Pursuit of Happyness“ an example of the American Dream
Facharbeit
von
Christopher Brunert
Münster
Februar / März 2008
Table of Contents
1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………3
2. Background………………………………………………………………………… 4
2.1 The author and his movie………………………………………………................ 4
2.1.1. His life before the movie………………………………………………………. 4
2.1.2. The movie……………………………………………………........................... 4
2.1.3. His life in general and his philosophy of life………………………………….. 5
2.2. The American Dream- an attempt at a definition……………………………….. 6
3. Aspects of The American Dream outlined in “The Pursuit of Happyness”……….
7
10
4. Is Chris Gardner a representative of the American population? ...............................
5. Conclusion………………………………………………………............................. 12
6. Bibliography………………………………………………………………………...14
7. Addendum……………………………………………………………………………16
2
1. Introduction
“Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness” - this is what we all know from the
Declaration of Independence. And still today America is presented as the “ideal” country,
the country of unlimited possibilities so that we often hear sentences like “It is only
possible in America! Here you can achieve everything!” and as. From time to time we hear
of new from-rags-to-riches-stories, which sound, for us Europeans, unbelievable.
And that was what I thought when I first heard of Chris Gardner’s story. He was a man
who suffered from a lack of personal fulfilment. He had problems in his family, had lost
his job and had to sleep in an underground station with his son because he had no money
for a room. And now, a few years later, he is a multi-millionaire with his own business
company.
When I was looking for a topic to write about, I directly thought of the movie “The Pursuit
of Happyness” because of the connection of the topic to our series of lessons. Furthermore,
this autobiographical story is very interesting, and on top of that an appropriate story to
explain and to analyse the American Dream.
Besides, analysing a movie to stress some elements of the American Dream is appropriate,
because a movie is more lively than texts or articles and hence gives better impressions.
In the first part, this paper will deal with the historical background of the American Dream
and a biography of Chris Gardner, combined with a summary of the movie because the
movie shows his real life.
Since the term “the American Dream” covers many different aspects and the number of
pages is limited, this work will only concentrate on the main aspects that can be found in
the film.
An important question is always whether this story is just an example of a single lucky
person or whether Chris Gardner is a representative of the whole American population.
Is the American Dream as depicted in Gardner’s movie really feasible for everyone in
America?!
So this paper is meant to find an answer to this question and to show why Chris Gardner
was able to fulfil his dream in the end.
3
2. Background
2.1 The author and his movie
2.1.1 His life before the movie
Chris Gardner was born on February 9th, 1954, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and lived with
his mother, Bettye Jean Gardner. As he never knew his father, his mother played an
important role in his life. From her he learned that “in spite of where he came from, he
could attain whatever goals he set for himself by saying ‘If you want to, one day you can
make a million dollars.’ “1 and he adopted her strong will of reaching your aims2.
Gardner’s youth was a very difficult one. His mother was in prison twice and he had to live
with different relatives. Her second prison term was a consequence of her setting the house
his stepfather was sleeping in on fire. She wanted to kill him for the violence he had used
against her and Chris. So for Chris the worst violence he ever saw in his life was in his
home. After high school, with 18 years, Gardner joined the Navy to get out of his
neighbourhood. Four years later, not having gained any further education, he went to San
Francisco to become a medical supply salesman. 3
That is the time when the movie starts.
2.1.2 The movie
The movie “The Pursuit of Happyness” was released in Germany in 2007 and it shows, on
the one hand, the darkest year in Chris Gardner’s life at the beginning of the 1980s and, on
the other hand, his personal fulfilment of the American Dream.
However, the movie is not only a classical from rags-to-riches-story but deals with a father
and son topic as well.4
The title of the movie is derived from the Declaration of Independence but is deliberately
misspelled. 5 In the movie it is written like that on the wall of the day care centre. Thus it
shows that these people do not know anything about real happiness. Furthermore, in this
way the word “happy”, which is of great importance in the film, is stressed .
The film shows the family man Chris Gardner struggling to give his family a better future.
When his girlfriend Linda leaves him and his son Christopher because of them being in
1
www.chrisgardnermedia.com (12.02.2008)
cp. www.sueddeutsche.de (25.01.2008)
3
cp. www.abc.com (25.01.2008)
4
cp. Bennett 2007
5
cp. www.abc.com (25.01.2008)
2
4
financial difficulties he is left to raise the 5-year-old boy on his own and he tries his best.
One day Chris meets a stockbroker with a red Ferrari at a parking lot and asks him two
questions “What do you do? And how do you do that?”. This is to be the turning point in
his life. From now on Chris fights for an unpaid trainee programme at a stockbroker firm
but only the best one out of many applicants will get the job. Since he cannot pay his rent
Chris and his son become homeless and have to sleep in a church shelter or sometimes in
the restroom of an underground station but he does not give up because years ago he
promised to himself that he would care for his son, just as his stepfather did not.
In the end Chris passes the exam because he has worked harder than all the others and
becomes a stockbroker. This is the beginning of his wonderful career, which has ended up
in his being a multi-millionaire with his own business firm nowadays.
2.1.3. His life in general and his philosophy of life
The person Chris Gardner is not only interesting because he has managed to fulfil his
dream, but also because he has revealed many of his philosophies of life.
After having had this great success, Gardner met different important persons like Oprah
Winfrey6, where he was invited twice, and he had a meeting with Nelson Mandela during a
charity mission in South Africa7. As one can see in his charity missions, Gardner wants to
pass on some of his success to other people as well.8
On the other hand, it is part of the American Dream that you show and enjoy success
afterwards and that is what Gardner does. He fancies demonstrating his personal success9
so that he once bought a red Ferrari from Michael Jordan, which was also a symbolic
element because of his experiences at the turning point in his life10.
For him it has always been important to be in full control of his life11 and to know that “the
only person that can help you, is you.”12
One of Gardner’s attitudes towards life is also “that you need something that you really
love to do”13 and that is what he teaches his son by saying that he has to protect his own
dreams without letting others tell him that he cannot achieve what he wants to achieve14.
6
cp. www.faz.net (25.01.2008)
cp. The Pursuit of Happpiness (TPOH) 2007 bonus : the man behind the movie- a conversation with chris
gardner, min. 11:50-12:10
8
cp. TPOH 2007 bonus : the man behind the movie- a conversation with chris gardner, min. 12:10-12:20
9
cp. www.faz.net (25.01.2008)
10
ibid.
11
cp. www.stern.de (25.01.2008)
12
Author unknown 2006
7
5
Furthermore, it has always been important for Gardner not be like his stepfather and,
therefore, he has read a lot and said that his stepfather could beat them, but one day he
would go his own way.15 His strong will to be different from his stepfather gets very clear
in the following quote “I hold one thing dearer than all else: my commitment to my son.”16
On top of that, he learned during his trainee programme that it is not important what colour
of skin you have, but whether you can make money or not.17 This was quite important for
him being the only Afro-American trainee.
Will Smith, who stars as Chris Gardner in the movie, once said about him: “He was rich
with belief. Rich with faith.”18 This quotation characterizes Chris Gardner very well, as it
sums up his basic attitude towards life.
2.2. The American Dream- an attempt at a definition
The American Dream covers so many different aspects that the following text must be
restricted to those that are relevant in the movie.
Because of its complexity no one has yet succeeded in giving a generally acceptable
definition of the dream, which Dan Rather called “one of the most wonderful ideas in the
history of human achievement”.19
The term the American Dream was first used by James Truslow Adams in 1931 when he
defined the American Dream as “the dream of a land in which life should be better and
richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his abillity or
achievement,” to describe “the complex beliefs, religious promises, and political and social
expectations of his nation.” Besides, he said that the dream should be a social order in
which each person should be able to attain to the highest status of which he was naturally
capable, regardless of his circumstances of birth and position.20
But the idea is much older. The first settlers had already dreamt of a better life in the new
world.
The Declaration of Independence, written in 1776, mentioned “life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness” as men’s inalienable rights. Besides that, it contains the sentence that all men
13
ibid.
cp. TPOH 2007, min. 51:25
15
cp. www.abc.com (25.01.2008)
16
ibid.
17
ibid.
18
Waxmann 2006
19
Freese 2006, p. 4
20
cp. Adams 1931
14
6
are created equal. These basic convictions have made many people from other countries
come to America and start a new life there hoping to reach their individual aims.
Nevertheless, the American Dream is a “controversial concept” 21 because for some people
it has been great, with a lot of success but for others it has been a nightmare with a lot of
depression.
In the movie, the main aspect is the Pursuit of Happiness, the striving for personal
fulfilment and success according to one’s abilities and the belief in a “from-rags-to-richesstory”.
22
It is important that you do not have the right to happiness, but you must pursue
it.23
3. Aspects of The American Dream outlined in “The Pursuit of Happyness”
This section of the thesis will point out those aspects of the American Dream the director
Gabriele Muccino made use of in the movie.
At first sight the film could be just another success story in which someone manages to
climb up the social ladder and get to the top according to the principle ‘You will make it if
you only try hard enough’.24 So Chris Gardner is a salesman without much success at the
beginning of the film, his financial situation is difficult and gets worse and worse so that in
the end he does not have any money or a home. When he decides to apply for a trainee
programme as a stockbroker he is the only black applicant, but he knows what he is
fighting for and never gives up in spite of difficulties, and in the end he gets the job and
earns lots of money. Consequently, he represents the way from rags to riches.
But there are a lot more elements in the movie that are connected with the American
Dream.
At the very beginning one can see an extract from the Declaration of Independence that
mentions “The Pursuit of Happiness”. By using this as the first picture in the movie
Muccino gives the audience a good impression of what the film will be about.25
With the American flag displayed on a public building and the stockbroker office, Muccino
stresses that the dream is an American dream and, besides, the flag is a well-known symbol
of the American Dream and Independence.26 Next, the movie shows multiculturalism in
21
Freese 2006, p. 4+5
cp. Spann 2007, p. 51
23
cp. www.stern.de (25.01.2008)
24
cp summary of the film in 2.1.2
25
cp. TPOH 2007, min. 1:48
26
cp. TPOH 2007, min. 2:28+18:18
22
7
the streets - America as the typical melting pot of nations - and especially the contrast
between the homeless, on the one hand, and business persons, on the other hand.27 There
is harsh criticism in contrasting young and smiling people in a sportscar driving along the
line of homeless at Glide Memorial Church.28 For some people life is the American Dream
with success everywhere, whereas for many others it is a nightmare, yet some of them are
still striving for success. Multiculturalism and poverty can again be found in the first scene,
which takes place in Chinatown, a run-down place showing the bitterness of the dream.29
In his television speech, Ronald Reagan informs the audience of the bad economic
conditions in America in that year, but also tries to convince them that it is possible to be
successful again with a lot of work.30 Not always being successful but having the firm
belief in a great future is again a symbol of the American Dream. But when Gardner is
meeting the stockbroker at the parking lot at the turning point of his life, the American
Dream is shown in all its beauty. All the people around are smiling and there is an aura full
of belief , success and happiness surrounding Gardner. This emphasizes the turning point,
also in his mind, because at this moment he is asking himself why he is not one of them
and thus it strengthens his belief in the future.
In the scene from minutes 21:50 to 23:18, the controversial attitudes of Linda and Chris get
very clear. On the one hand, there is Chris with a lot of hope and a strong belief, but on the
other hand, there is Linda who has given up believing in a beautiful future. She is the
counterpart of the striving Chris.
Furthermore, the Rubik’s Cube is a very important symbol of the Pursuit of Happiness and
its success. When Chris is finishing Mr Twistle’s Rubik’s Cube in the taxi, it shows his
high flexibility, his efforts and his final success.31
Very significant passages in the movie are the scenes where Gardner refers to Thomas
Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence. Gardner compares his life to the mystical
words Jefferson once used. He is wondering why Jefferosn knew that he had to use the
word “pursuit” in the Declaration and finally Gardner assumes that it is because you can
hardly achieve happiness, no matter what you do. Maybe, it is something we can only
27
cp. TPOH 2007, min. 2:38-3:00
cp. TPOH 2007, min. 1:24:35-1:25:00
29
cp. TPOH 2007 bonus: making pursuit- an italian take on the american dream, min. 4:09-4:40
30
cp. TPOH 2007, min. 8:07
31
cp. TPOH 2007, min. 24:25-26:35
28
8
pursue. On top of that, he remembers that Jefferson called the English “the disturbers of
our harmony” and he is wondering who disturbs his harmony. 32
As already mentioned in 2.1.3, Gardner teaches his son to believe in dreams and to be
strong in his personal belief. In general, one can say that he teaches him how this aspect of
the American Dream works. And again, the American flag with its symbolic character is in
the background.33
In the minutes 1:30:50 to 1:32:40 there is the church service at Glide Memorial Church.
This belief in God and his help for America as his chosen country is, as well, an aspect of
the American Dream. Additionally, they perform a song about climbing mountains, a
metaphor of the Pursuit of Happiness. The next song in the movie, “Bridge over troubled
water” 34, is quite important, too. It is a song that shows people that light will return into
their lives. Light plays an important role in the following scene when Gardner buys a new
electric bulb for his medical equipment. 35 It is a symbol of a happy, new part of his life
and a symbol of hope.
In the minutes 1:44:40 to 1:46:33 the fulfilment of Chris Gardner’s dream with getting the
job at Dean Witter’s is shown and so is his happiness afterwards. He has reached his
personal American Dream, of which success is the most important part. This is what
Gardner calls “happiness”.
One of the most striking elements in the film is the running into a better life, which
Muccino emphasizes by making Chris Gardner always run in the movie because he says
that you move differently in desperation. There is hardly any scene where Gardner is not
running to achieve something or where he is not running away from desperation.36 But
then in the final moments of the movie, Gardner slowly walks down the street with his son,
a smile on his lips, and passes by the real Chris Gardner. He turns around noticing which
extrordinary person “he is well on his way to become”.37
A significant aspect Muccino mentions is that you have to be a foreigner to understand the
American Dream with all its beauty. Then, you have a differrent view on the book and the
movie.38
32
cp. TPOH 2007, min. 30:17-30:51 + 1:08:28-1:09:16
cp. TPOH 2007, min. 51:24-52:06
34
cp. TPOH 2007, min. 1:35:50-1:37:50
35
cp. TPOH 2007, min. 1:37:45
36
cp. TPOH 2007 bonus: making pursuit- an italian take on the american dream, min. 10:30-11:00
37
TPOH 2007 bonus: the man behind the movie- a conversation with chris gardner, min. 11:30-11:45
38
cp. TPOH 2007 bonus: making pursuit- an italian take on the american dream, min. 1:50
33
9
All in all, one can say that Muccino uses lots of different elements to stress the American
Dream in his movie again and again.
Two quotes from Will Smith may sum up what makes Gardner’s dream a typical American
Dream. “The beauty of America is that we’re not realistic. The idea that anything is
possible, that idea is being kept alive here. This story is why America worked- as an idea.
The idea is that this is the only country in the world where Chris Gardner is possible. The
pursuit is what makes America great.”39, and “The beauty of America is that you can grow
up on the farm or in the ghetto and rise to the top of this society- and not just the financial
aspect of it, the social leapfrog intrigues me. In England you can’t leap social classes. And
the fact that Chris Gardner can exist here, this is the only place in the world that’s even
possible.”40
4. Is Chris Gardner a representative of the American population?
This chapter of the thesis will deal with the question whether Chris Gardner was just one
lucky person or whether he is more or less representative of the American population as a
whole. That means the question to be answered here is if today there are still discrepancies
between reality and the Dream or if it has come true for most Americans. This question
with all its background and all its depth is a very large topic, thus this paper can only give a
short insight into the problem and will often only be able to concentrate mainly on the
Blacks because of Chris Gardner’s Afro-American background.
Of course, the movie “The Pursuit of Happyness” does not focus on the problems of race
and class in society, but shows Gardner’s incredible rise.41 In general, the principles of the
Declaration of Independence have only been realizable for a very limited group of people
and not for everyone.42 And there was, not even at the beginning, a classless society
because of native people, the immigration of many cheap labourers, etc.43 Some minorities
still today live an unworthy life in slum areas44 and these ethnic minorities are the problem
groups that have often led to conflict and controversy in society.
39
Waxmann 2006
Bennett 2007
41
cp. Oehmsen 2007
42
Spann 2007, p. 51
43
ibid.
44
ibid.
45
ibid., p. 54
40
10
45
For others, the striving
got into “a blind pursuit of material wealth and economic success”, which included rivalry
and competition combined with pressure on the individual.46
Today, on the one hand, a very small number of Blacks are able to live a life in leading
positions, with a university qualification and with social recognition.47 For this equality
some laws were passed like the “Equal Opportunity and Employment Act”. But, on the
other hand, it gets clear that these laws are not always really effective and, in general, there
is still a lack of education and racial prejudice, which leads to unemployment and other
problems like ghettoisation.48
The Black population has big deficits when you have a look at the “Median Family
Income” and the “Percentage below Poverty Level” because the Whites earn about 60%
more than the Blacks and even the Hispanics earn more than the Blacks, though there has
been a positive development in the last 20 years because their income has risen from about
20,000$ to about 30,000$. In 2005, 24,9% of the Blacks were under the poverty level
which means that this percentage is twice as high as that of all Americans. But, anyway,
we have to say that it is a better result than in 1980 when there were 32.2% below the
poverty level. Concerning all these results one can say that there are mainly two different
groups of Blacks. On the one hand, there is a relatively small number of Blacks in the
middle class with higher education, well-paid jobs and suburban homes, whereas, on the
other hand, there is the “underclass” in urban ghettos with large unemployment rates. 49
In his bestseller “Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal”, Andrew
Hacker deals with the inequality in U.S. society and points out that 45.3% of the inmates in
state and federal prisons are Blacks. His point of view is that the American Dream “is not
yet equally available to all Americans”.50
Compared to other industrial countries, the Gini Index shows that the U.S. incomes are
unequally distributed.
51
This is, of course, a problematic statement seen against the
background that “all men are created equal,” and, furthermore, it explains the fact that the
rise of one man “from-rags-to-riches” implies the failure of many others who tried.
Nevertheless, with reference to the research ”The American Dream in 2004: A Survey of
the American People” the “National League of Cities” did in 2004, which covers about
1000 people, it becomes apparent that there is still optimism in the mind of many citizens.
46
ibid. p. 51
The best example of this group is Barack Obama nowadays.
48
cp. Spann 2007, p. 60
49
ibid.
50
cp. Hacker 1993, p. 180
51
cp. Luxembourg Income Study 1980
47
11
Two thirds think that the American Dream is achievable for all or for most people in the
country. Even about 60% state that they are living the American Dream, whereas you have
to say that it depends on how people define the American Dream. That the next generation
will have fair possibilities of achieving the dream is believed by about 65%. But on the
other hand, two thirds say that they think it has become harder for the average American to
achieve something nowadays, and especially for young families and single parents, as
Gardner was, it is a hard struggle against many odds. Thus 45% declare that the
government does more hinder their pursuit than help and 72% say that the government
should at least work harder to help people to achieve their dreams. About one half of the
Afro-Americans asked state that they believe in the American Dream as something
possible and achievable. 52
Finally, it is interesting that 93% of another survey agree that people who work hard to
better themselves and their lives can get ahead in this country.53
This shows us that the belief in the dream is still very strong, although for many people it
does not come true.
5. Conclusion
This section will have a final look at the situation in the USA in general and Chris
Gardner’s case in particular. Apart from that, it will deal with a personal review of the
whole work.
As a result of chapter four it gets clear that there are still huge differences among the
American population. Especially the majority of Blacks have to struggle with many odds
in their Pursuit of Happiness. Nevertheless, there are always some persons who are able to
go their way and, in the end, to fulfil their personal dream. However, it is obvious that the
political efforts have not been successful and that there are still many people living a life in
degrading conditions. But on the other hand, it is interesting that nearly all people cling to
the belief that one day they will be able to live a better life. Thus Chris Gardner with his
fulfilment of his dream of material success and happiness does not seem to be
representative of the American population, in particular not of the majority of the Blacks.
So one has to say that unfortunately he was only one of the lucky persons who were able to
achieve what they had always wanted to achieve. Even if we can say that he fulfilled his
52
53
cp. National League of Cities 2004, p. 1+4
cp. Transaction Publishers 2000
12
dream because he worked harder than anyone else, we cannot generalize that. There are so
many people who work very hard day after day, but the fulfilment of their dream will
never be feasible for them. Of course, you have much better chances when you work
harder than everyone else but it is no guarantee for success. It all mainly depends on luck if you are in the right place at the right time and if you meet the right people in your life.
From my point of view, writing this thesis was really the right decision. From the
beginning, the topic was very interesting, as I had hoped before, so that it was never a
problem for me to work on this paper. Of course, there have been some problems but I
think that is normal. For example, I wrote an email to Chris Gardner hoping that I could
ask him some questions to make a small interview out of it or getting some extra material
from him, but I was not lucky with that and never got an answer. This did not turn out to be
a big problem because I was able to structure the paper in another way and to get hold of
much more material than I could use in the end. Furthermore, it was very interesting for me
to see how many details there are in a movie which the normal viewer does not notice at
first sight. I myself had not expected such a lot of elements of the American Dream that are
not directly connected with Gardner’s dream. I realised what detailed work a director does
and how many small hints can be found in a movie if you watch it carefully.
Besides, it was interesting to work with all the statistics seeing that there are still such big
differences combined with unfair inequality.
In conclusion, I have to say that this was an intersting work for me and I am happy that I
could finally answer all the questions I had at the beginning.
13
6. Bibliography
1. Secondary literature
Adams, James Truslow: The Epic of America. New York: Blue Ribbon Books, 1931.
Taken from: Freese, Peter: Viewfinder. The American DreamHumankind’s Second Chance?. 2. edition. Berlin: Langenscheidt,
2006 p.10-11
Bennett, Joy T.: Hollywood’s Hottest Father/Son Duo Will & Jaden Smith. In: Ebony
Vol. LXII No.3 (2007) p. 52
Taken from: www.lexisnexis.com (28.01.2008)
Freese, Peter: Viewfinder. The American Dream- Humankind’s Second Chance?. 2.
edition. Berlin: Langenscheidt, 2006
Hacker, Andrew: Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal. New York:
Ballantine Books, 1993, p. 180. Taken From: Freese, Peter: Viewfinder.
The American Dream- Humankind’s Second Chance?. 2.edition. Berlin:
Langenscheidt, 2006 p. 61
Author unknown: Rags to Riches Story Inspires Hollywood Film. In: Voice of American
News 18.8.2006 (2006). Taken from:www.lexisnexis.com (28.01.2008)
Oehmsen, Heinrich: “Wenn du etwas willst, geh und hol es dir. Punkt.“; DRAMA: “Das
Streben nach Glück“ mit Will Smith ist die authentische Geschichte
eines Obdachlosen, der sich einen Traum verwirklicht. In: Hamburger
Abendblatt Heft 15/2007 (2007) p.8
Taken from: www.lexisnexis.com (28.01.2008)
Spann, Ekkehard: Abiturwissen Englisch. Landeskunde Great Britain/United States of
America. 5. edition. Stuttgart: Ernst Klett Verlag, 2007
Transaction Publishers: A Survey. In: Hoffmann, Kirsten (Hrsg.): The American Dreampromise and reality. Stuttgart: Ernst Klett Verlag, 2000, p.50
Waxmann, Sharon: No Robots, No Aliens and No Safety Net. In: The New York Times
5.11.2006 (2006) p. 3. Taken from: www.lexisnexis.com (28.01.2008)
14
2. Internet sources
http://www.abc.com (25.01.2008). Brown, Bob: From Homeless to Hollywood.
In: ABC online (no information about update)
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2003733&page=1
http://www.chrisgardnermedia.com (12.02.2008). no athor: Christopher Gardner.
In: Chris Gardner online (no information about update)
http://www.chrisgardnermedia.com/main/biography.htm
http://www.faz.net (25.01.2008). Kuls, Norbert: Von der Straße an die Wall Street.
In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung online the 09.12.2006
( homepage is not available anymore without paying, so there is no complete URL)
http://www.stern.de (25.01.2008). Weingarten, Susanne: Versagen kommt nicht infrage
In: Stern online in 03/2007
http://www.stern.de/unterhaltung/film/:Will-Smith-Versagen/580865.html?p=2&nv=ct_cb
http://www.sueddeutsche.de (25.01.2008). Piper, Nikolaus: Ein amerikanischer Traum.
In: Die Süddeutsche Zeitung online the 9.01.2006
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/finanzen/artikel/364/97267/
3. Other sources
The Pursuit of Happyness (ca. 113 min.) DVD, USA 2007 + Bonus material
Luxembourg Income Study: The Gini Index.1980 Taken from: Freese, Peter: Viewfinder.
The American Dream- Humankind’s Second Chance?
München: Langenscheidt-Longman, 1996 p. 25
National League of Cities: The American Dream in 2004- A Survey of the American
People. Washington, 2004
Taken from: www.nlc.org (19.01.2008)
http://www.nlc.org/resources_for_cities/publications/1637.aspx
15
7. Addendum
16