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Development of the American Dream
Development of the American Dream
The american dream. how and why has it evolved over the last century? essay
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The American Dream to an independent seventeen year old young adult in 1967 wasn't a fancy car or house but, was to stop the Vietnam draft and to return her friends from an unsanctioned war. Coming of age at seventeen and moving from Arkansas to California, this young adults American dream was anti-establishment and to rebel against the government which picked up her friends and dropped them off in a war where in her mind she believed to be wrong. Living in California at the time her peers had the same mindset and most people of that age group could not “seem to fixate past that”(Patricia Huff). Now at the age of 66 the young teen or Patricia Huff recast on her past thoughts on the American Dream and sees a sizable change, now she appreciates …show more content…
Patricia now has achieved her definition of the American dream. She now has Medicare, and is able to vote for herself, while be retired and safe owning a small business. “I live where I want to live, my children and family are safe, and my kids are free,”(Patricia Huff). Do you believe the American Dream has meaning currently? I think the youth don't get it. People have become lazy mentally and physically because of the technology. No one does anything by themselves anymore. People need to pay attention and be aware or local and global issues. The most important thing is “we need to be one nation under God,” people have forgotten this today. From interviewing my grandma it has really showed me the difference a war can have on a person's lifestyle and they way they perceive life. The way that she changed her view on the American Dream was interesting especially coming from such a harsh view on the government and her country at the …show more content…
At the time her vision of the American Dream was to own a house, have a good stable job, and owning a nice car, in her eyes was a Honda Accord. Her vision was shared among others at the time. “But others may thought the American Dream involved finishing college and getting a degree,”(Marika Collins). Her views of the American Dream have changed slightly and now she believes it to be self-sustaining in a way which makes you happy to yourself. “Weather it be living out of a car and surfing the waves or having a family and buying a house,”(Marika). When she first was married her view of the Dream was to have a house, have kids, and a stable job. Then it changed to where she wanted a summer house for vacations, a nice car, and to retire and not work. In her current state it is to support herself and her two kids. “I believe I am close to achieving the American Dream I am in the process,”(Marika). The American Dream definitely has power in her eyes, but she believes it has changed over time. It is still out there but now it is more achievable for others and she feels bad for the people who can't compete for it. She hopes it changes to where the kids who can't afford college can still achieve the American Dream. While interviewing my I mom I noticed how passionate she was about the people who work harder to achieve their dreams. She wants people to become creative
‘“It used to be that if you stayed with your job, you would be rewarded… now there is no guarantee.” (62). Randy and Cherie are a couple who had worked for airlines for 26 years and for them to get pensions lower than they deserve shows how many blame business or the government in this situation. ‘“These words ‘retirement’ and ‘vacation’ are not in our vocabulary.”’ (62) Simone and Miguel both share a garage door system business and believe economy has a huge play in their earning. They both agree that, ‘“The American Dream is a bygone thing.”’ (62) and believe that it’s not easily achievable. The American Dream is to have freedom, liberty, opportunities, and be successful. Both couples have freedoms, liberty, and opportunities which means their living part of the American Dream. The other part is their interpretation of the American
If you look up the meaning of the American Dream, you will keep finding definitions similar to this one: “the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.” The real meaning of the American Dream however, varies from whom you ask. Many people argue that the American Dream is alive and well, whereas others might argue that the dream is pretty much dead. If you ask me what I think, I personally believe that the American Dream was once a farfetched goal of the people of America, where people dreamed of going from rags to riches. Though the dream might still be alive, it is no longer what is use to be. I believe that the American Dream nowadays, is just a short redefined version of living a middle class lifestyle. But, for others the dream might simply mean to escape poverty and give their children a better life. The American Dream however, is in my opinion not only applicable for natural born citizens but to legal and illegal immigrants as well.
In the United States there is an idea many pursue called the American dream, which differs from person to person. The American dream according to americanradioworks.publicradio.org is “a revolutionary notion: each person has the right to pursue happiness, and the freedom to strive for a better life through hard work and fair ambition”. Yet it has been said there is no real definition of American dream, instead it merely proves that it has an unconscious influence in American mentality (Ştiuliuc 1). The American dream is different for each person because everyone yearns for things that will they hope will in return make them happy. Whatever that may be, each person goes through different struggles to obtain what they want. According to Frederic Carpenter, the American dream “has never been defined exactly, and probably never can be. It is both too various and too vague” (3). The Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse depicts the different interpretations on what the American dream actually is through the opinions and actions of Hector Esperanza, Efren Mendoza and Mrs. Calhoun.
A new study shows that a lot of Americans are living the American Dream but do not recognize it. This 7,015 person study found that the majority of the people reported of owning a home, receiving good education, finding a decent job, and giving their children a better life than they had. All of these factors are traditional principles of the American Dream. "Even though people report that they are not living the dream, they actually are when you look at the traditional benchmarks," said Denise Delahorne, SVP, Group Strategy Director, DDB Chicago, who worked closely with the survey. She theorized that many people do not see themselves as having attained the traditional American Dream because of a changing definition of the term. More and more Americans are measuring their success based on how much money they have. "If you're new to this country, then life seems pretty good here," Delahorne said. "But for many people who have lived here a long time, they've started to think of the American Dream less as the traditional elements, and more relative to wealth." The original American Dream is still alive, but some Americans have lost sight of the traditional values and are too focused on measuring their success by
The American dream has been a tangible idea, greatly sought after by many over the course of American History. The dream has eluded many, to strive for achieving in America’s open markets, and become a self-made man from the sweat of one’s brow. The idea of become self-sufficient, and have limitless dreams that take one as far as they are willing to imagine is captured very differently from The Great Gatsby to A Raisin in the Sun. Both novels seem to have the American dream as their subject, but both end up having very different outcomes to how one achieves it, and if the dream is truly in existence, namely with the characters of Jay Gatsby and Walter Younger. The books mainly brushes upon the idea of what the American dream truly is, how one achieves the dream, and what the real fulfillment the dream encompasses.
Kamp, David. “Rethinking the American Dream.” Vanity Fair.com. Conde Nast Publications, April 2009. Web. 19 Nov. 2010.
In the article, “What is the American Dream in 2016”, by Sean Bryant, he writes about how the American dream barely exists. “The American Dream is still alive as we head into 2016. But it has changed
Mostly anything you want to achieve requires time and perseverance it doesn 't just come to you easily. In America we all have dreams we want to achieve, a set of goals for the future. The American dream is in your perception, what you want it to mean for you. It’s what you want to consummate in America where you can 't anywhere else. How you can succeed in life enough to survive and be happy. The reality of the American dream is the essence of any person living in America, immigrant or not. Trying to achieve in life more than their parents did and to be successful with a prosperous life, but many people believe it can’t be achieved, but with assiduous work and determination you can make your
In 1931 when the American Dream arose, Americans believed that the harder one worked, the more one would prosper (Meacham, 2012). In other words, they strongly believed that the American Dream was gaining a better, richer, happier life. Today, the American Dream is still hoping to earn a college degree, get a good job, buy a house, and start a family, but according to MetLife’s fifth annual survey, 41% of the respondents said it was about personal fulfillment, while most American’s say it is out of reach for many (White, ...
Until recently the possibility of achieving the dream had been within reach. However, recently the youngest generations of Americans did not and are not growing up with this idea. America’s youth, made up of teenagers and young adults, especially those of color, are not able to reach their American Dream with the same relative ease that past generations were able to do so.
Comparing the perspective of the American dream in the 1920’s to the American Dream in the 1940’s and present day seems to be a repeating cycle. The American dream is always evolving and changing. The American dream for present day is similar to the dream of the 1920’s. An Ideal of the American life is to conform to what our society has determined is success. Money, materialism and status had replaced the teachings of our founding fathers in the 1920’s. A return to family values and hard work found its way back into American’s lives in the 1940’s. The same pursuit of that indulgent lifestyle that was popular in the roaring twenty’s has returned today for most Americans, many Americans are living on credit and thinking that money and the accumulation of material items can solve all problems. Through film, literature, art and music, an idealized version of what it means to be an American has changed from money, materialism, and status of the 1920s to hard work and family values of the forties.
“American Dream” is a national ethos of the United States citizens, it is the idea that American is the land of opportunity, it is a set of traditional social ideas, including freedom of opportunity for prosperity and success. Through studying this interview, I learned the term “American Dream” was commonly used after the Civil War, which represented the era of struggles, discrimination and a war that put an end to slavery. More than that, the term “American Dream” displayed a story of hope, opportunity, freedom, inspiration for the whole of society. However, in the video “On Winner-Take-All Politics” It showed that the American Dream is too difficult to achieve because the rich kept getting richer, and the poor worked harder without being
Today, people’s dreams of what America is to them has changed once again. Today, many parents have the dream for a better family life than they had. Family life has changed. Many people are getting divorces and having stepchildren. These children have grown up with the American Dream of providing a better Family life by financially supporting them better, spending more time with them, and expressing their love more readily.
The American Dream is a difficult concept to describe because the dream is usually different for different people. Nevertheless, if we define the term ‘American Dream’ it is the uphold ideal that everyone has the right to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ as stated in the Declaration of Independence 1776. The American Dream is also known to be an improved social and financial status by hard working. The vision of the American Dream for Of Mice and Men for George an...
Cullen, Jim. The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation. New York: Oxford, 2003. Print.