The Television Show Shark Tank

The American Dream is the idea that financial success, upward social mobility, and overall prosperity can be achieved with perseverance and hard work. It’s the idea that anyone, even the very poor, can make a better life for themselves if they are willing to work for it. It’s an idea that has become integral to American society, encouraging us to put in an effort to see our dreams come to fruition. However, when it comes down to individual experiences, it turns out that accomplishing the traditionally agreed-upon American Dream gets a lot messier than it’s made out to be. Using the books Nickel and Dimed and The Color of Water, as well as the movie Enron- The Smartest Guys in the Room, both similarities and differences can be found when it comes to what achieving the American Dream really means.

In the articles, “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold by Brandon King, the author argues his opinions on the American dream and how it still alive and attainable, although he realizes that the dream is not the same as it was before. At the time King wrote this article, he was a student at the University of Cincinnati in 2011, three years after the stock market crash in 2008. With the timing of the stock market crashing, this gave King the idea of writing about the American dream and how it is today. When the article was published in the college book “They say, I say” we the reader saw that King redefined the American Dream as "the potential to work for an honest, secure way of life and save for the future." Replacing what he described

While the motivation of the American Dream may be materialistic or moralistic, it is based on the sole property of opportunity. As shared by Martin C. Jischke in “The American Dream,” “the American dream is the ‘dream of a land…with opportunity for each according to the ability or achievement’” (75). Because the qualities of an individual are unique, the measurement of success varies. Improvement in any sense must be sparked by a window of hope at a richer life. The American Dream is easily attainable when paired with opportunity and a strong work ethic. Without the necessary investment of time and labor, the skill sets and knowledge of those working towards the American Dream are laid to waste.

For many years, the American dream has been deteriorating for several reasons. Paul Krugman, author of “Confronting Inequality,” blames the “inequality of our income distribution.” He explains how and why the differences between wages of the poor and wealthy are a major conflict in today's society. Constance M. Ruzich and A. J. Grant, authors of “Predatory Lending and the Devouring of the American Dream,” argue that the downfall of the American dream has occurred because of predatory lending acts. According to the authors, predatory lending and inequality play a very significant role in the corruption of the American dream.

Comedian George Carlin once stated, “That’s why they call it the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it.” Financial security, freedom to live how one chooses, retiring at 65 and living comfortably in old age, owning a home, knowing that working hard pays off: these are all fundamental beliefs tied to the American Dream. As newer generations are increasingly finding the dream to be unrealistic, people are beginning to abandon the concept; however it is still a very present ideology. While many believe the American Dream is a lively goal that everyone strives to achieve, it is actually a dying illusion that is unattainable for all but the wealthiest and used to propagate a classist society, causing a cycle of ignorance

Today the “Dream” is more of a struggle for success. For some it’s a fantasy while for others, it is a long term goal. The media defines society today, thus it’s only natural that it defines the American Dream, one which is no longer focused on freedoms or liberty, but rather money and success. The American Dream not only calls for financial success but also emotional success.

America still to this day holds on to the idea of the “American Dream”. This is rather surprising in today’s society and the ups and downs that the nation is facing. The dream in the past was more about freedom and equality. Moving through the decades, this dream has morphed into something quite different. Instead of what America means for all of its inhabitants, the nation has become more individualized. Society has moved to interpret the dream of what America can do for the one. Instead of the unified nation, America has been known for in the past, a shift has started creating an inconsistency in who can realize the dream. The myth of the “American Dream” has been hugely affected by increased materialism, the gap in economic status, and the fantasy of “rags to riches” idea.

Steve Jobs is the co-founder of Apple and owns 80% of Pixar which is worth $1 billion. Steve jobs had a rough start at first, as stated in Steve Jobs: An Extraordinary Career. Now, "Apple says it has sold more than 300 million iPods, over 100 million iPhones and more than 15 million iPad devices. They has sold billions of songs from its iTunes." This demonstrates just by starting small and by working hard, one can access their American Dream. Another example is Shelly Comer. She is a divorced mother of three who as well takes care of her friend's oldest child, Michelle. The twist is that Michelle wants to go to college and because of that Shelly "is going into debt so that Michelle can go to college. Shelly has worked her whole life-," as stated in Is The American Dream Still Possible?. Michelle has six small scholarships, took out a federal loan, and also works 16 hours a week in the financial aid office at the university she is attending at. Yet her and Shelly are struggling to get money to pay for Michelle's university. This shows that people do have access to their American Dream, but just because they are both struggling to get financial aid, Michelle is still going to her university so she can have a better quality of life. This demonstrates that people have access to their American

Pressures on society to live the dream can make feelings of low self-worth and turn into pushing people to go further to achieve by any means necessary. The American Dream does not only represent honesty and truth. It has not been uncommon for big CEO’s of companies to lie, cheat and steal to achieve their “American Dream”. This has been common throughout our history of economics. As society grows, wealth is the common denominator for success, and one starts to look up to these people at the top of the ladder to have achieved the dream. These people, who are anything but ethical, are the ones who influence society as what it takes to achieve and live the dream. "He's the man who fixed the World Series back in 1919" (The Great Gatsby, page 78). The dream became so focused on money that any means of a obtaining it were condoned, even if it were unscrupulous. Result of American dream being corrupted is that the motivation and ambition were gone and the dream is left with the pursuit of an empty goal. Ignorance and the ideal of looking out for oneself are prevalent; where as in the pure American Dream striving to accomplish ones' own personal goal is ones main focus. One should use the American Dream for motivation and hope that one can achieve ones personal goal. The American Dream should not

“People love to talk about how hard it is and how little opportunity there is. And to me, I have to tell you, that’s just a bunch of crap. This is still the greatest country in the world for opportunity.”Herjavec has previously encouraged entrepreneurs to take advantage of the opportunities presented to them in America.” By the sharks investing their own money, they provide aid to those entrepreneurs and businesses that need it to really start making money. Thus keeping the American Dream alive and possible for others. By the show sharing the success of others, it proves to the viewers that they can be this successful as well. Just like practicing and working hard in sports and school the American dream can be achieved through the same way. The sharks help prove this through their own success stories and through the contestants they have helped achieve the dream as well. Another example of shark tank embodying the American Dream is, in the article, “Shark Tank for Kids: This Game Delivers the American Dream” by Dan Kadlec it says, “I want to give my students a taste of this dream, while teaching persuasive language, entrepreneurship, and

As time has went on the meaning of the American Dream has altered. When Adams trademarked the term the American Dream, the idea of it was for people to become “better and richer and fuller,” (Adams 412), but now as 20th century inventions have been introduced to society the dream has changed. People want what others have and what is portrayed as glamorous and prestigious. A prime example is Gary Soto’s recollection of his childhood obsession with wanting to be like the families he saw on the television saying, “I very much wanted to imitate [the families from Leave It to Beaver and Father

When the phrase “American Dream” is uttered, it is typically associated with having money or striving to have money. The dream of much of the public is to have money and to be able to purchase anything they desire whenever they want. For some, this dream is not about money, but it is about having the opportunity to better his or herself and his or her loved ones. In either case, there are certain circumstances and obstacles that make this dream increasingly difficult to attain. Some would even be willing to argue, the American dream is unattainable. “American Dream” is defined as the concept of every citizen of the United States having an equal opportunity to achieve success and happiness through hard work, sacrifices, and risk-taking (Fontinelle);

“The American Dream” is advertised as being the act of a person having an idea, goal, or as the saying suggests, a dream, and then them spending time, energy, and money to make it come true. However, if you haven’t realized it yet, there’s a reason they call it a dream because it hardly becomes a reality. More and more people are realizing this so called “dream” is nothing but a hoax, and that the promises America assures and guarantees such as equal opportunity and equal success are nothing but pure manipulation. Furthermore, the American dream no longer stands by the virtue of discrimination and prejudice, overwhelming debt, and failed establishments.

Nowadays, many Americans wonder if the American Dream is still alive. At one point in our country, people felt that they could achieve success by working hard. However, after the economic hardships and recession of the 21st century, a number of Americans not only lost income, but some also lost their jobs. Although there has been slow progression to improve the economy, there are those who question whether or not the dream of Americans can ever be achieved again. With unemployment levels still high and salaries failing to increase, there certainly is doubt in most of Americans. In his essay, Brandon King formulates ways to redefine and change the way to look at the American dream. After analyzing King’s essay, one can see his view as believing that the dream is still very much intact. As he points out, the American economy is a very complex system that has had downfalls, but there is always a way to get back up from it. Regardless of your economic status (poor or middle class), if one has a working job, it is possible to succeed based on how much someone is willing to work to achieve their goals. As King would agree, the American dream is not only still alive and well, but anyone can reach success.

Today, The American dream is not fully represented in the same way as the ideas were initially raised. The ideas were primarily fabricated in the very beginning of our country. The propagandist role of any medium has changed just as much as the times have since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In contemporary America, film is the leading component of the propagation and detraction of the American dream. The film The Pursuit of Happyness (2005) supports the idea of the American dream our founding fathers set out. Wall Street (1987) on the other hand, supports and acts as a detractor of the true American dream and leads people to believe, what a lot of people already believe, that it is a dream to become monetarily