The American Dream Is Still Analysis

Generally speaking, the American Dream is mostly achieved by people of the higher class, the people who reside in the “East Egg”. It is a lot easier for high classed people to achieve the

What is the American Dream? Is it home ownership, gaining fame or wealth, having a great family or is it gaining a peace of mind? Many people have different versions of what the American Dream is, some people believe the dream is lost, and some people are right in the middle and still believe the American Dream is still alive. “The American Dream” by Brandon King debates about what the true state is left in the American Dream now. Throughout the essay, King asks if the American Dream is dead, alive, on hold or just changing due to economic hardship. King believes that the American Dream is still alive even though there are people who believe it's not, and is defined today as the ability to work hard, plan for the forthcoming and have a

For years there has been debate over the state of the American Dream. There are many differing opinions over not only its health, but how it is defined. In his essay, The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?, Brandon King adds to the ongoing argument by stating that the American dream is alive, but has changed from what it was originally. He states that the American Dream used to be the ability to become wealthy. However it has now become the ability to earn and honest living and to save for the future. He continues to explain to American’s what this information means in the context of the recession of 2009. He also strives to prove that the American Dream has not been destroyed by the economic hardship. King creates an effective argument

One way the American Dream is still accessible is through hard work. “The American dream is a dream of “getting ahead,” painted in strokes of gold wherever we look.” (Zinsser 81) By Zinsser’s quote, this is explaining how you work hard to get higher each and everyday. The more you get ahead, the less time it’ll take for you to reach the gold strokes you painted for yourself.

The American dream for years has been see known to be something that anybody can achieve with hard work through all obstacles. For most of Americans, especially minorities, this does not occur. The notion that working hard will get you somewhere with your merits does not face up to the statistics. But despite all these statistics, facts, and evidence, people, usually minority, aspose these talking points non-stop. Matter of fact, the average person has a little chance of mobility or stay in the same socioeconomic class. In my own personal life, I have yet to achieve the American dream. My own parents have are janitors and grew up in poverty. You can say that they themselves are clear example of the difficulty of achieving success solely on meritocracy. Now you might ask what is your definition of the American dream? For me, the American dream is about owning a home, having enough money to not struggle to buy food, clothing, and decent water for not only me but my wonderful family as

The greatest explanation of the American dream is Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech” I Have a Dream.” In 1963, King and other leaders of the civil rights movement organized a huge march for equal rights in Washington, DC. With a massive crowd of over 200,000 followers, the march was protesting racial discrimination in employment, racial separatism in schools, and they demanded minimum wage for all workers. (Biography.yourdictionary) Dr. King’s speech is more like a testimony of truth rather than a speech. At the time of his speech, African Americans were not free while the Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal. Dr. King’s movement established the way for the idea that there is an American dream, the idea that somebody can be anything they would like to be. This idea is still relevant now in America. Americans pursue their dream everyday by having the opportunity to attend college, and work. Although America is the land of opportunities, Americans take these opportunities for granted, while other parts of the world make it their lives’ time goal to get here. In certain times of history the American dream has not been available to some races. For example it be the Japanese during World War 1 and the African Americans during the Civil rights era. “The land of opportunity has discriminated people from completing their dreams” (Nobelprize.org.). Our country has gone through great trials of racism. The great Martin Luther King Jr. worked his whole life to change these things. Dr. King made history when he gave his speech “I Have a Dream” at the Nation’s Capital in 1963. “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal (King, Martin L., Jr.). The famous speech is a testimony to the struggle of African American people and the deep desire of Dr. martin Luther King Jr. who lived, fought and died to win equality for the African American community. Another important aspects of Dr. King's struggle was his vision for the memphis sanitation workers strike.

As citizens of America, we all work towards acquiring one thing: The American Dream. The American Dream is something that most citizens of America try their hardest to attain at least some point in their life time. This dream may include but is not limited to, wanting to reach a certain social class, having a safe country with strong military forces, and also wanting to “fit in”, or to find his or her’s place in life. Also, this dream may or may not look similar to the American dream you want to inquire. While most of us desire to attain most of the things listed above, some of us always dream of having a nation where the color of your skin and social standards do not define who you are as a person. However, while citizens may want these things, not all of America may agree with each other. A question that has merged into our minds is, “ is the American dream attainable?”

portunity to move up the career ladder, financial stability, having a family, owning a car, ability to receive an education, and having freedom and equality. Is this American Dream really attainable for everyone? Some groups of American citizens seem less likely to ever achieve this dream even if they work hard. Society and their circumstances are against them either because of their race, gender or class. Women, minorities, immigrants and the poor are left out of the American Dream. They may strive for the dream, sometimes even for a number of generations, but they will only get so far because of the obstacles they face from society, specifically from the individuals who already achieved the dream. How can it be called the American Dream when many individuals cannot achieve it? Or is it called the American Dream because many will be left dreaming about it their whole lives? Many families struggle to even get close to the American Dream. In Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun”, the Younger family struggled for money, despite having numerous jobs, and a descendant living space. Being African American in the 1950’s made it difficult for the family to move up in class to achieve the American Dream. In “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, the Younger’s cannot fully achieve the American Dream due to societal obstacles they experience based on their race when trying to obtain a good paying job, buying a house and receiving an education.

The idea of the American Dream is first voiced by James Adams, who says that it is “that dream of a land,” where life should be better for everyone, “with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement” (Tobak). The main drag American society has today is the “according to his ability or achievement.” Most believe that the American Dream is a promise dealt out exactly equal to all, this is false. The American Dream is not assured, it is dealt out according to ability, achievement, and a little luck. This is because America is not class locked, unlike many other nations “where position is far more important in determining a life’s outcome” (Tobak).

The American Dream is tougher for people to achieve because of their gender, where they live, or their race. Different perspectives of The American Dream include having a family, a supporting job with good pay, or just straight up success. But to achieve that success may be harder for women because it is clear that they make 80 cents for every dollar made by men. Also where you live may determine your success because there is a stigma for going to school in an urban area rather than a suburban area. Our society contains to many unnecessary roadblocks to The American Dream and leads to individuals who work really hard for something but cant get to the next step because of their gender, where they live or racism.

The American Dream started as a dream for minorities or citizens of other countries; furthermore, they knew if they came to America and worked hard they could make a better life for themselves and their family. In America, there is equal opportunity for everyone; therefore, people are not categorized based on race, gender, or religion. Over time, people have started to believe that the American dream is unachievable because of racism, gender roles, and a poor economy.

“The American Dream is set of ideals stating that in the United States freedom includes opportunities to obtain prosperity, success, and upward social mobility through hard work no matter what an individual’s racial, religious, or economic background” According to Eliassen, Meredith, Salem Press Encyclopedia, in the (American Dream). In which they proclaim the American Dream is something that can be achieved by anyone whether man or woman and social class. On the contrary, the American Dream is harder to be produced by an African American than Caucasians people because white people are usually privileged with opportunity of not being racially discriminated, they are provided the possibility of having good education, and government policy meaning when it comes to many benefits such as the preamble of the constitution which includes welfare of Order to form a perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity which seems to be an American Dream and privilege for the Caucasians, Although some might actualize the American Dream, the dream is still hard to achieve for many, such as African Americans; issues such as limited housing, mass incarceration, and inadequate educational resources are conditions that always manage to prevent black from attaining the American Dream.

The American dream for minorities is a difficult to obtain goal because for minorities, everyday obstacles prevent them from obtaining this dream that was never meant for them. Despite the difficulties, there exists many instances throughout history of people from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds have fought for the simple right to be able to have the chance to reach that goal. Ironically, during one of the most devastating times in our nation’s history, historian James Truslow Adams coined the term “The American Dream”. The term American Dream is defined as the ideals of freedom, equality, and equal opportunity traditionally held to be available to every single American Citizen regardless of race, gender or sexual preference. My

The quintessential of the American Dream is that anyone can make it in America and become wealthy if they just work hard enough. In reality, there is no definite answer to whether or not the American Dream is plausible because we all view the American Dream with a different lens based on our own background and interests. However, nowadays, the American Dream is slowly fading away, making it harder and harder to achieve it, whether it might be due to one’s race, social status or gender.

In the article “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?” Brandon King states that even though The Great Recession had a huge effect on the nation’s economy and each person’s life, he believes that the American Dream is still living, and it is a significant solution of recovering the economy. King begins his article by providing two contrasting ideas of the American Dream, which are about the existence of it or not. Then, he continues to give the new definition of the phrase “The American Dream,” known as having comfort and security instead of working hard to achieve success. The author goes on to write about the fragile economy nowadays, and he believes that the economy is having a hard time to recover because of difficulties from the Great Recession: the price of housing goes down, people get jobs slowly, and it is not easy to get money immediately. After making note of this, King continues to discuss that the government’s solution currently does not work for everyone. He states that the result of raising minimum wage does not help poorer become richer. Furthermore, King agrees that we should plan by saving more and enacting policies that sustain economic growth that will keep the American Dream alive. After reading this article, my point of view is opposite with the author’s idea that the American Dream nowadays does not exist like before the Great Recession happened, which was in 2008. It is shown through the debt of new graduated students