Where did the American Dream go?

So scrolling through my Twitter feed, trying to get caught up with the important and relavent stuff by mining through the 'silly' stuff, I came across the following tweet;

Following @MrRBourne's debate with Thomas Piketty (http://www.iea.org.uk/in-the-media/media-coverage/inequality-se-isnt-bad-8 …), We're asking "Does inequality matter?" http://www.iea.org.uk/events/capitalism-and-wealth-accumulation-does-inequality-matter …

I thought that is the wrong question, cause our definition of inequality is the root problem.

The 'liberals' or 'do-gooders' or 'leftists' give great speeches about bringing the poor out of poverty. And while that is a noble endeavor, their approach is wrong. Their definition of poverty is not accurate and thus their 'solutions' to the problem are not realistic. As with most of the core elements of society and culture the meaning or the method by which we define our existence has changed and not for the better. When we measure inequality what we measure now is are you materialistically equal to others, do you have equal money or equal 'things' and those are not the best judges of whether someone is equal.
We have so deluded the 'American Dream', though in reality it is simply man's dream not American or Turkish or Russian, but all men, that we have forgotten what the original dream was. The original dream was freedom and independence and the opportunity to follow one's own path. That dream does not exist anymore; it has been replaced with the dream of conforming, looking and acting like everyone else, doing and being like everyone else, and following the same path as everyone else. Society has allowed big business to remove the human nature from humanity. Creativity is ok as long as it is inside the lines; talent is fine as long as it conforms to the preset image. Motivation and innovation are acceptable as long as you are a company man. Intelligence and ingenuity are sought after as long as your soul is for sell. All these limits, leashes and cages on the human experience have crushed humanity.
However, we seem totally surprised that mental issues have risen, that drug use is at its highest, that violent crime is sky-rocketing. We seem ignorant to how business creating a consumer oppressed delightened work force has increased our diseases and decreased our happiness. We are animals, like it or not, and as such we were created to roam and explore and discover our world. Something that is severely limited under the subjegation of government control for the purpose of security and national identity. 
If we truly wanted to do away with inequality then we would increase the foundational opportunities for all peoples and refocus how we define equality. To make all equal then we need to create equal and quality and real education opportunities across the board. We need to meet the needs of the student instead of requiring the student to meet the needs of society. We need to acknowledge, accept and celebrate the fact that we need many levels and skills and talents in varied areas and of various aspects for society to move forward in a meaningful and truly humanly successful way. We need to judge the success of a person not by what place in society he holds but how well he holds his place. For in an equal society the garbage man is just a valuable as the lawyer. Don't believe me, do not take out your trash for a week and see how well you like your house then.