In what ways did the ideals of America provide an ideal to strive for rather than a lived reality?

Answer 1

The ideals of America were those of the American Dream, an optimistic ideal which allowed one to have the suburban lifestyle and achieve an ideal happiness and world in order to satisfy the American middle class which had been disillusioned by the previous era of the 1900's. This was also a time of American prosperity due to the boom of automobiles and the post WWII consumer world which sought help from the fledgling superpower which was the United States. Due to this increase in wealth, people were able to hold down a steady middle class job which including a house and a car and two kids and the rest of the ideals of suburbia as well as cheap housing from levittowns, the suburban reality which was realisable created a society which emphasized conformity and hated communism. The ideals of a hard working middle class reality did not exist for the impoverished people who lived far from factories and would be stuck in family farms as well as those who were not male or heterosexual due to a large amount of discrimination.

Answer 2

It's hard to answer this question without more specifics. For example, the ideals of America are often seen to be "liberty and justice for all", as well as the famous quote from the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal. However, at the time the Declaration was written, many colonies kept slaves, who were obviously not considered free or equal. There have been plenty of other forms of discrimination - against women, Native Americans, Asian Americans, LGBT people, etc. - but civil rights activists have long sought to make America into a place where people can enjoy liberty, justice, and equality regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, and so on.