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American dream, my dream
Income inequality continues to grow in the United States
American dream, my dream
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The phrase “The American Dream” is an incredible thing. The promise of that dream has convinced hundreds of millions of people that, as a citizen of this country, you can accomplish anything if you work hard enough. Whether you want to be a doctor, athlete, or even a president, those things should all be within your reach, regardless of your class or race! America is the nation where dreams can come true. Unfortunately, for a large number of people that believe this, this is a concept that does not apply to them. Many Americans find opportunities are denied to them because of their race. Others can be found living in poverty and far from anything that would be considered desirable. Statistics show that the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans earned 9 percent of all U.S. income in 1979. Did you know that the same 1 percent earns 24 percent of all U.S. income today? That is a staggering example of the income inequality in America. The American Dream is that if you work hard and have the ability you will succeed, but that has become an impossibility for millions of disadvantaged Americans because the income inequality has been steadily increasing since the 1970s and racism and poverty are constant barriers to their success and financial security. Bell hooks knows about the challenges of race and class, and why some people have a harder time than others in achieving the American Dream. It is normal to feel uncomfortable and awkward arriving at a new school for the first time, but this was something completely different. For bell hooks, walking through the halls with eyes staring at her as if she was an alien, she realized that schooling for her would never be the same. She describes her feelings of inequality a... ... middle of paper ... ...nities’”. After reading and analyzing what hooks and Ehrenreich had to say, I don’t know that I believe that anymore. As individuals and as a country, we have much work to do to provide equal opportunities here and end racism once and for all. The question is, can we do it? I believe we can. Slavery was abolished. Women fought for and received the right to vote. The Civil Rights movement brought about great change in this country and went a long way towards the goal of ending racial discrimination. The idea of the American Dream has been around for over a long time, but it is still, in my opinion, far from reality. People should not be discriminated against because of their race, or forced to live in poverty. I hope to see changes for the better in America, changes which I believe are long overdue. Perhaps then the American Dream will become a reality.
Because it is very credible, emotionally appealing, and slightly academically based, bell hooks's essay "Keeping Close to Home: Class and Education" is an essay that I consider to be very touching. While arguing in her essay that the rich class and the working-class should come to respect and understand each other, bell hooks employs three elements of argument: ethos, pathos, and logos. With her usage of ethos, hooks relates her experience as an undergraduate at Stanford. Providing an experience from a time before she went to Stanford, hooks uses pathos to inspire the audience. However, hooks uses logos by appealing to the readers' logic. These readers are the working-class and the privileged, the audience of her book: "Ain't I a Woman: black women and feminism." Relying mostly on ethos, hooks uses the three elements of argument to express her belief that students should not feel the pressure to replace their values with others' values. Because hooks feels strongly about her belief, she argues that a university should help students maintain the connection with their values, so people of different communities will feel neither inferior nor superior to others but equal.
In our current society, it is acceptable to talk about race or gender. However, when it comes to the subject of class, people tend to tense, and are uncertain as to where they stand. At one time in history money afforded prestige and power, however now, money is a large part of our society and tends to rule many peoples lives. In the book Where We Stand: Class Matters, by bell hooks, she describes a life growing up in a family who had nothing, to now becoming one of America’s most admired writers. She wrote this book because she wanted to write about her journey from a working class world to class-consciousness, and how we are challenged everyday with the widening gap between the rich and the poor. In her book, hook’s describes a life dominated by the haunting issues of money, race, and class.
Brandon King in “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?” redefines the American dream as something people can strive for. “I believe that the ideas and value of the American dream are still very much live”. People still believe in the American dream, despite recession, economic hardship, and high unemployment. The real sign of success in our society used to be owning expensive items, named cars, and homes and acquiring more material wealth. Today, most people do not strive for a rags-to-rich tradition, and instead prefer a stable, middle class lifestyle, one in which they can focus on saving money for the future and having secure employment. Due to these economy issues, two main approaches mentioned can be mad to fix the economy: minimize the income gap between social classes by raising taxes on the rich, and providing money and incentives to large businesses and wall street to hire more workers and increasing wages, which king agreed with. King also claims that American dreams aren’t necessary about income gap and class system, but rather how each individual can achieve their own American dream if they can. Redefining affects his argument because Robert Reich and Paul Krugman have hope in the American Dream, they argue that since income and wealth primarily focused on the rich, the lower and middle class are not able to effectively progress in the economy and require equal distribution in income.
This study will define the problem of racism in the falsity of the American Dream as defined in the writings of Alger, Dalton, Jen, Baldwin, and Cisneros. The notion of equality and fairness in the American Dream has often been defined through the false presumption that hard work will allow the individual the reward of fame and fortune. However, racism against minorities, such as Chinese immigrants, is defined in the Chang family’s struggle to join a local white country club in “In the American Society” by Gish Jen. The Chang endure continual harassment—even though they are wealthy business owners—by white supremacists, such as Jeremy at a country club party:
In the past 100 years, the definition of the American Dream has changed in many ways. The American Dream will never have the same exact meaning for any social class. The American Dream isn’t something that comes easy to certain categories of people. The American Dream takes hard work and desire to complete. Many challenges will occur to try to prevent a person's dream from coming a reality. When people achieve their dream however, American's are usually never satisfied with the benefits they do have to enjoy. Most Americans don't even recognize they are living the Dream, because people always want more. Only 40% of the United States population actually believes they are living the American Dream. (Rosenfeld) The American Dream is not the same
The American Dream is the belief that anybody can achieve anything in life. America is known as the country of opportunity regardless of race, gender or nationality. The land of opportunity and equality rights and liberty. The American Dream is to be successful no matter what social class an individual belongs to. The opportunity for upward mobility through hard work leads to a successful life. Individuals in society often strive to obtain many resources that are important. The structure of the economy is typically related to education, occupation, housing, and health care which are not distributed equally to enable an individual to achieve equal opportunity some will have to go through hardship in order to obtain it. The lack of social mobility makes the
which is defined as writing that engages the realities of it world- that thinks about human problems including those in the social and political realm” (Foster 10). After careful thinking, Mama decides that her symbol of success is not a liquor store, but a home. Home ownership is a common example of “achievement of the ‘American Dream’” (Viator). Mama takes some of the social security money and buys a home for the family in an all-white suburb, “Clybourne park? Mama, there ain 't no colored people living in Clybourne Park..” (Hansberry 93). Mama’s actions took a social stand that many during the 1950’s took seeking to desegregate education, housing and transportation (Saber). Integration in the 1950’s aimed to end racial exclusion and to
Income inequality has affected American citizens ever since the American Dream came into existence. The American Dream is centered around the concept of working hard and earning enough money to support a family, own a home, send children to college, and invest for retirement. Economic gains in income are one of the only possible ways to achieve enough wealth to fulfill the dream. Unfortunately, many people cannot achieve this dream due to low income. Income inequality refers to the uneven distribution of income and wealth between the social classes of American citizens.
In the essay of “Learning in the Shadow of Race and Class”, Hooks illustrates her experiences of racism, oppression, and rejection during her college year due to the huge differences of her race and social class. She was isolated by her roommates at a local college. They trashed her room and would not communicate with her at all. However, she still stayed strong and believed in herself. She started making her way out. Finally, she got into Stanford where the place she thought it would let her get away from those immature whites girls, but it brought more problems. Bells experienced the same stereotype at Stanford that was caused by her race and social class. Hooks said, “Uncertain about whether I had managed to a make it through without giving up the best of myself, the best of values I had been raised to believe in—hard work, honesty, and respect for everyone no matter their class—I finished my education with my allegiance to the working class intact” (294). Since Bell Hooks grew up in a low income family, she was forced to live her life with less opportunities as others do. Under the finical pressures, she has to stop her desires of wanting things that are unable to possess. Even
In a country where 45 million people struggle to survive below the poverty line, inflation continues to rise as wages remain the same. What happened to the American Dream? As the rich continue to get richer, even those in the middle class can’t seem to catch a break. The structure of American society makes it nearly impossible for those in poverty to rise above, and there are other factors, including race and gender, which play a role.
Over the past four decades, income disparity amongst American citizens has skyrocketed. The American Dream - the equal opportunity for prosperity and success, achievable for all citizens through hard work - is crumbling away.
Oppression is prolonged cruel or unjust treatment or control. Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. The American Dream can differ from person to person. To one person their American Dream might be to be able to provide for their kids or have a successful business, but for many it means that everyone has equal opportunities and are treated equal. Freedom, oppression, and the American Dream will always interact with one another.
The American dream is an ambiguous notion, each person with their own unique opinion based on their current circumstance and past experiences. In my opinion, the American dream is about achieving happiness and contentment through pursuing one's personal fulfillment and validating one's self-worth, where one can achieve their fullest according to their capabilities and be recognized for their accomplishments, disregarding their race, ethnicity, or social status. The American Dream, although not easily acquired, is achievable through hard work and dedication. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech, “I Have a Dream”, and John Steinbeck's novella, Of Mice and Men, exemplify their personal views on this ambiguous subject.
Achieving the American Dream has been the ideal for people living in the United States for decades. People believed that the way to get there was through hard work. The American Dream can vary depending on the person. Some people think that owning a house with a white picket-fence is the American Dream while others think that it is becoming a celebrity with a lot of money but it not just that there’s more to it. Anyone should be able to accomplish the American dream whether Hispanic, African American or Asian.
The American Dream is known to give people opportunity and a chance for a fuller life, filled with equality. The American Dream is what thousands of people have come to America for. But what if the American Dream isn’t all it is cracked up to be? In the United States, we are told if you work hard you will see the benefits and get the rewards you deserve. In some cases that is true, but for people who aren’t white males, that statement falls short.