The American dream is not just the dream of owning a house. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae proved that wrong.

What is the American dream? It is open for interpretation and it’s open for business 24/7, even in an economic recession. The dream is like a grocery store, or a school—people always need what it has to offer.

We asked people in Wal-Mart and Pitt-Johnstown about their idea of the American dream.

Some feel that instead of living a dream they are living a nightmare.

An unemployed engineer browsing in the pet section at Wal-Mart replied, “Is there an American dream? Unions’ demands drove companies out of business. There’s your American dream. It went to China.”

Unionizing is a legal and, to some, a moral right. But true, China seems to have begun living the dream. The nation put the United States in its rearview mirror, as it lead car sales for 2009. Americans bought about 10 million new cars, the lowest number in 27 years. China’s sales were around 13 million.

But, if the economy continues its supposed slow stabilization in 2010, Americans may begin to buy more cars and produce more jobs.

However, according to James Truslow Adams, the historian who coined the phrase “American Dream” in the 1931 book “Epic of America”:

“It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capapable. ”

Even still, another Wal-Mart shopper considered reality to lack the American Dream’s social order. “The American dream is fairness—America needs a more fair justice system,” he said.

“Some people who sell drugs will sometimes get more jail time than those who commit murder.”

In addition to fairness, the American Dream is, of course, about family.

A woman, unemployed, but doing some custodial work for Pitt-Johnstown, said she would rather have a job as a secretary.

“But I get satisfaction from this job,” she added. She talked about supporting her daughter through high school and her son finishing his college studies. Her example shows that family is much closer to the the heart of the American Dream than a dream job.

A Pitt-Johnstown senior history major said his American dream is “Not to be wealthy, but to be financially secure, meaning I have enough to give to others.”

Others. The English word “others” can be used to convey two totally different meanings. “Others” can either describe people as different, or the word can also describe people as similar.

A most important part of the American Dream is certainly to see to others as similar and equal.

And a lot of others are poor and suffering; for example, those in Haiti.

Indeed, America’s response to the Haiti earthquake does not seem to come from a super-hero America that saves the world, but from others experiencing an economic earthquake.

A quote from poet Walt Whitman may best explain the American Dream-- in a recession-- and in a way that encompasses the ideals and responsibilities that come with liberty:

“Henceforth I ask not good fortune. I myself am good fortune.”

The editorial reflects the opinion of the editorial board.