America is in a Great Recession, and the American Dream seems to be dying (if not already dead) to many Americans. I don’t think that the American Dream is dead; it just needs rehabilitation due to the injuries it sustained from the hands of an unregulated government. Though we are in a Great Recession, every American can progress their lives for the betterment of themselves and future generations. According to Brandon King (2011) in The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?: “…the most worrisome problem is inequality: that wealth is concentrated into the hands of a rich minority.” Because of this, many Americans and politicians are arguing about either “raising the taxes on the rich” or “supporting the richest sectors in America” (Thomas, 2011) to stimulate the economy. In the articles I have read in They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, both Cal Thomas and Brandon King seem to believe that the government should not tax the rich minority more than the poor majority. I disagree with both Cal and Brandon and believe that the rich should be taxed more than the poor. However, the income from the taxes should be put to use for the betterment of the poor majority of America. Do you think that the American government is out of control? Cal Thomas thinks so, as he bluntly asserts: The creation of a government that is out of control, and thus out of touch robs every citizen, preventing fulfillment of the original American dream. (Thomas, 2011) I agree: our government is out of control. Our economies problems are mainly from “…bad policy decisions that have led to the rapid migration of American jobs overseas, the degradation of the American education system, and continuous costly wars” (King, 2011). The governmen... ... middle of paper ... ...s great country; we’re the people that elect them into office! So, all in all, I think that the governmental funds from higher taxes on the rich minority can greatly assist in educating and motivating underprivileged Americans achieve their American Dreams of prosperity IF governmental funds are used in accordance of national progression. So my message to fellow American citizens, press your political representatives to create a society that supports each one of your American Dreams, as long as they’re morally correct and/or legal. Works Cited Thomas, C. (2011). Is the American Dream Over? They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing (2nd ed.). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company. King, B. (2011). The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or Hiding? They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing (2nd ed.). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.
Graff, Gerald. “Hidden Intellectualism”. They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. Comp. Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russell Durst. New York W.W. Norton & Company, 2006.
People can still restate it; first, recognizing “how much trouble we’re [Americans] really in,” and then, the citizens can determine the sacrifice they have to make to stop the declining economy and help the United Stared has the standard of living it used to have (567). Also, Americans have to accept that the government is playing an important role in the declining of the American dream and for that reason Americans have “become a hapless, can-t do society, and it’s, frankly, embarrassing. Here, Herbert offers a clear solution to bring the (wanted) American dream back, saying to his audience that Americans need to start taking this in consideration. Nevertheless, he presents a hasty generalization when attributing most of the economy problems in US to the government because what makes every country has a good economy is not mainly its government, but its citizens and the desires to prosper; Cal Thomas in his article “Is the American Dream Over?” [A response’s article of “Hiding from Reality] believes that people who think the government can make their life better are “putting their faith in the wrong place” and “displaying cult-like faith, which can be never fulfilled.
Rodriguez, Richard "Scholarship Boy." From inquiry to Academic Writing: A Text and Reader. Eds. Stuart Greene and April Lidinsky. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. 15-22. Print
Thomas, Cal. “Is the American Dream Over?” They Say I Say, 2nd ed. New: W.W. Norton &, 2012. 568-571. Print.
Ungar, S. J. (2010). The new liberal arts. In G. Graff, C. Birkenstein, & R. Durst (Eds.). “They say, I say”: The moves that matter in academic writing with readings. (2nd ed.). (pp. 190-197). New York: W. W. Norton. This article looks to prove that liberal arts education is just as valuable as “career education” because contrary to general belief, career education doesn’t guarantee high-paying jobs after they graduate.
In today's society, the American dream is hindered by issues involving gender discrimination, racial discrimination, and weak economic mobility. The influence of money has broadened in our society, creating an elite group of winners, and leaving the rest as losers. Our government has been intoxicated under the influence of those holding a paper with a handful of zeros scrawled on it.
The American Dream is known to be a hope for a better, richer, happier life for all citizens of every class. For almost all Americans, this entails earning a college degree, gaining a good job, buying a house, and starting a family. Although this seems wonderful, a large amount of the American population believes that the Dream has changed immensely because of increased prices in today’s society, the price of tuition being highly unaffordable, as well as the unemployment rate skyrocketing and weaker job growth. While some American citizens believe it has changed, others believe that the American Dream has not changed, but point out it is harder to obtain.
Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say / I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2010. Print.
The government of the United States of America is very unique. While many Americans complain about high taxes and Big Brother keeping too close an eye, the truth is that American government, compared to most foreign democracies, is very limited in power and scope. One area American government differs greatly from others is its scope of public policy. Americans desire limited public policy, a result of several components of American ideology, the most important being our desire for individuality and equal opportunity for all citizens. There are many possible explanations for the reason Americans think this way, including the personality of the immigrants who fled here, our physical isolation from other countries, and the diversity of the American population.
Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel K. Durst. "They Say/I Say": The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing: With Readings. Vol. 2e. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2012. Print.
The American Dream is so important to our country and especially for our generation to take seriously. The American Dream is the opportunity to reach the goals one sets for themselves. It is about having your dream job and life you have always fantasized about. The dream is also about having freedom and equality. The American Dream was much easier to attain a few decades ago compared to today. However, it is still possible. The economy was better fifty years ago than it is today. People are in greater debt now and the United States is in higher debt than it was fifty years ago. The American Dream is still possible despite the lack of improvement within social mobility in American society over the past years. The American dream is achievable by being able to live a middle-class lifestyle and that lifestyle is obtainable through hard work and perseverance, even in light of obstacles such as racism. “The American Dream is still achievable, however, the good news is that people at the bottom are just as likely to move up the income ladder today as they were 50 years ago” (O’Brien 1). The ability to attain the American Dream is hindered by race, the middle class, and giving up facing adversity.
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.
Cullen, Jim. The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation. New York: Oxford, 2003. Print.
For many, the American Dream is associated with the ability to make gains based on hard work, in much of a rags to riches way. However, the dream now associated with equal opportunity to get ahead is dead, in the same way regressing the country to the early 19th century in which there was a small circle of extremely wealthy robber barons and the majority of people were very poor. The Progressive Era changed all of that, and throughout the mid and late 20th century the American Dream was very possible. Regardless, due to the fact that most of the resources vital to success are now owned by the top 1%, the traditional American Dream is a concept that is only accessible to the wealthy of American society. This allows the affluent to make investments and save money in a way that middle and lower class Americans now struggle to do.
Lerych, Lynne, and Allison DeBoer. The Little Black Book of College Writing. Boston, New York: