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Easy of the american dream
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“We like to tell ourselves that America is the land of opportunity, but the reality doesn’t match the rhetoric - and hasn’t for awhile” (Matthew O’Brien 1). In today’s economic situations, dreaming big may seem unaffordable, but not impossible. To achieve this goal many aspects should be analyzed to understand the American dream, weakened retirement, and smart investments. Megan Cottrell states that “graduate from college. Get married. Buy a house. Have kids. Put in a few decades of hard work, and then it’s time to retire by 65. That’s the American Dream, right?” (1).
First, what is the American dream? According to David Wallechinsky, “the traditional American Dream is based on the belief that hardworking citizens can improve their lives, pay their monthly bill without worry, give their children a start to an even better life, and still save enough to live comfortably after they retire” (1). “The American Dream” states, “It has always represented the possibility for individuals to succeed and live a life of wealth and comfort, made possible by both the political and economic attitudes in the USA and the individual’s own hard work” (1). Daniella Nicole adds that “in years past, chasing the American Dream meant the sky was the limit. . .” (1). “At the core of the concept is the individual’s responsibility to aim for and achieve the American dream by working hard and taking advantage of the freedom offered to them by the country” (“The American Dream” 1). “A recent nationwide survey from LearnVest found that 43 percent of Americans today feel the dream is attainable for everyone - and about the same percentage feels that it’s within their grasp, personally,” notes Camille Noe Pagan. “For American Dreamers today,” states Nicole, ...
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...t doing research and becoming knowledgeable will result in wise investments.
In conclusion, when dreaming big, remember to consider the American dream, weakened retirement, and smart investments. At times, dreaming big can seem unrealistic, but achieving your dreams are not hopeless. Sailor adds that “in other words, instead of putting all of your money in stocks, put some in stocks, some in bonds, and some in alternative investments [An alternative investment is any investment other than the three traditional asset classes: stocks, bonds, and cash.] like hedge funds, private equity, or even fine art and wine” (1). Being knowledgeable and making wise decisions can help with dreaming big. According to Jesse Owens, “we all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort” (1).
A little girl dreams of a white wedding with white doves flying over the ceremony and the fairy-tale honeymoon. Only then to come home to the yellow house in the country, with the white picket fence included. Everyone has daydreamed about their future and having the “perfect” house, with the “perfect” car and the “perfect” marriage- everyone wants to live the “American Dream”. There are many people that believe that the “American Dream” is a concept that they are entitled to and expected to live. Then, there are those who believe that you should use the opportunities that America offers as a stepping stone to earn and create your own “American dream”. However, as time goes on the mainstream idea of “living the American Dream” has changed. This change is mostly due to the ever-changing economy, professions, and expectations of the American people. Throughout the book Working, by Studs Terkel, we meet many diverse groups of people to discover the people behind the jobs that allows American society to operate and how their choice of a career path has changed their lives.
‘“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
People who work hard enough become successful and build a good life for themselves and their family. Millions of Americans and others who admire America have believed this for generations. However, is this still true? Brandon King debates his interpretation of the American Dream in his published work, “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?” During his essay, the speaker highlights how important the American Dream is to the economy and providing a distance from inequality. The speaker emphasizes his belief that the American Dream is still alive within America and that people must work hard to achieve it. When discussing the American Dream, King will agree that the idea is alive and thriving in the minds of Americans; yet, I argue that the idea is on hold within American society due to lack of upward social independence and economic mobility.
Money constitutes the American Dream, because in America, to be successful in life means being wealthy. We live in an industrialized nation, in which money controls our very own existence. The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara establishes an argument about society’s injustice that entails financial opportunities by revealing the differences in living conditions between upper class and lower class. Another important point Stephen Cruz, a successful business person and a Professor at the University of Wisconsin at Platteville, makes in his speech is that the American Dream is getting progressively ambiguous, because the vision of success is being controlled by power and fear which only benefit 1 percent of Americans. For most people, the American Dream is to be financially stable to the point of content; however, realistically the accomplishment of the American Dream is often obstructed by society’s limitations and influences from higher power.
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
Truth Behind the American Dream: Is the American Dream only a dream or can it ever be achieved? In the United States, the basic motto is to attend the American Dream. It is the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. It does not matter if a person was born into a poor family; he or she has equal opportunities to attain the American Dream. The American Dream basically means success in life with a nice house, a job, knowledge and especially the pursuit of happiness.
Years ago, the United States of America was the prime example of prosperity and opportunity. In recent years, in the worst recession since the Great Depression, unemployment and interest rates have skyrocketed. The “American Dream” is an idea that was once a commonly accepted ideology in this country. It has since become only a fallacy. The “American Dream” is no longer an attainable idea, only a fantasy. The “American Dream” is not a true dream that will ever be equally attainable by everyone.
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.
The American Dream, recognized as being the earning of a college degree, the owning of one 's own home, taking vacations and experiencing upward social mobility, is a very important belief that helped create the success that America is today. Many people believe that anyone who works hard and has determination can achieve this American Dream. In this day and age, experiencing the American Dream is believed to no longer be as available to Americans as it once was. The economy and corporate America have had a strong impact on the availability to reach this state of success. Everyone wants to live the American Dream, whether they know it or not. I have never met a person who did not want to become successful. Even I had a strong belief that the
America is a very self-fulfilling economy and class matters after all in this so called “American Dream.” When did teenagers become any different. Last time I checked we were all equal. John M. Bridgeland in First, Help Today’s Struggling Youth. states that yet every year in America more than one million youth drop out of high school, crippling their chance at the American Dream.” John also states; “Nearly one in six, between the ages of sixteen to twenty four years old, is disconnected from the two structures that offer hope for their future.” These are school and work. This is where we need to promote growth and provide teens with any tools necessary to achieve. We need to be open to any ideas that this generation foresees in the future. John is a strong believer in the Youth Build program. In the third paragraph of First, Help Today’s Struggling Youth., he says that with a track record of success, Youth Build offers a holistic program of education, job training, personal counseling, community service, leadership development, placement in college or jobs, and follow-up support afte...
American Dream” is a national ethos of the United States citizens, a set of traditional social ideals, including freedom of opportunity for prosperity and success. The term “American Dream” was commonly used after the Civil War, the era of struggles, discrimination and a war that put an end to slavery. The Civil War is also known as the bloodiest war in the U.S history. It took place from 1861 to 1865 between the North (Union) and the South (Confederacy), resulting in the deaths of an estimated number 650,000 soldiers and an unspecified but reasonably large number of civilian casualties. Although, the primary cause of the Civil War is not just about slavery, it was the expansion sectionalism, ideological, economic and states’ rights. More than that, the term “American Dream” is a story of hope, opportunity, freedom, inspiration, in advances to fulfill America’s promise of equality and opportunity.
"The American Dream" is that dream of a nation in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with options for each according to capacity or accomplishments. It is a dream of social stability in which each man and each woman shall be able to achieve to the fullest distinction of which they are essentially competent, and be distinguish by others for what they are, despite of the incidental conditions of birth or stance. The American Dream is often something that humanity wonders about. What is the American dream? Many people discover success in a range of things. There are many different definitions of the American Dream. However, the American Dream embraces prosperity, personal safety, and personal liberty. The American dream is a continually fluctuating set of ideals, reflecting the ideas of an era.
The American Dream was and always will be something that makes America great. It allows those with aspirations to make them come true. In America alone needs is a dream and the motivation to carry out that dream. Ambition is the driving force behind the American Dream. It allows any one that has an aspiration, a desire, a yearning, to carry out the individual dream. It knows no bounds of race, creed, gender or religion. It stands for something great, something that every one can strive towards. A dream can be a desire for something great. In America, the American Dream allows dreams to become realities. According to Webster's New World Dictionary, the American Dream is defined as "An American social ideal that' stresses egalitarianism and especially material prosperity". To live this dream is to succeed. It allows anyone, rich or poor to have the opportunity to succeed. It is the ability to come from nothing and become so me thing. To succeed at any thing you do, you must have patience and persistence. It requires hard work, persistence and a desire for something better. To have these qualities and the desire and ambition to carry the moutis part of the American Dream.
“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.” (MLK) These are the words of Martin Luther King himself. In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. said that he too had a dream, and I would consider it a great view of the American Dream. But, what if his dream was something totally different than someone else’s dream? Is the American Dream different than it use to be, or is it changing? These are questions that we must all ask ourselves as we live here in America. I believe that education, business, and technology are major aspects that drive the American Dream, and that the American Dream is changing for the worst for middle and lower class Americans.
When the term ‘American Dream’ was first mentioned in 1931 by James Truslow Adams, he described it as “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.” (Clark). When Adams mentioned the term, it had much more of an idealistic meaning, rather than the materialistic meaning it has in modern society. At the time of it’s mention, the dream meant that prosperity was available to everyone. In the beginning, the American Dream simply promised a country in which people had the chance to work their way up through their own labor and hard work (Kiger). Throughout history, the basis of the dream has always been the same for each individual person. It