# The UnAmerican Dream

Source: https://www.theminimalists.com/dream/
Published: 2011-11-03
Updated: 2024-06-12
Author: The Minimalists

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### The American Dream

The white picket fence. The large suburban home. The luxury car. The big-screen TVs glowing in multiple rooms. The safe, reasonable nine-to-five. The corner office. The suit and tie. The white-collar pride. The blue-collar pride. The weekends off. The paid holidays. The occasional vacation. The fringe benefits.

### In Exchange For

The daily grind. The nose to the grindstone. The rush-hour traffic. The punching the clock. The cubical farms. The spreadsheet eyestrain. The much-anticipated lunch break. The inbox overflow. The [arbitrary goals](https://www.theminimalists.com/accomplishments/). The late nights at the office. The empty platitudes. The office gossip. The “productivity.” The downsizing. The “doing more with less.” The [mounds of bills](https://www.theminimalists.com/broke). The second job. The [credit-card spending](https://www.theminimalists.com/freedom). The [debt](https://www.theminimalists.com/debt). The second mortgage. The beer gut. The midlife crisis. The [retirement](https://www.theminimalists.com/retirement) at 65. The volatile stock market. The retirement at 67 or 72 or 75. The death before retirement. The unyielding tiredness. The emptiness. The depression. The unshakeable discontent.

You can keep your American Dream: give us back our time, our [freedom](https://www.theminimalists.com/cf), and our lives.

***Ragnar Freyr created an [UnDream poster](https://www.theminimalists.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/undream-poster.pdf), which you can download, print, and post wherever: bulletin boards, coffeehouses, your boss’s office door.***