Collective Consciousness In The United States

Many people have come to America for adventure, opportunity, freedom, and the chance to experience the particular qualities of the American landscape. The American Dream is the idea that every United States citizen, including immigrants and residents, should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. America somewhat provides access to the American dream, it is more so the citizen who provides access to the dream for themselves. Even though they encountered many trials and tribulations, with persistence, people such as Langston Hughes in “I Too Sing America and Anzia Yezierska in “America and I” they were able to achieve their individual American Dream.

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.

Two words that inspire much conversation, thought, and even tension are the words American Dream. What is it? How do we achieve it? Is it even possible? Back when our country was first founded, the idea of the American Dream was people looking for a “new life” would come America to gain more opportunity. A very important document to our nation is the Declaration of Independence. This document highlights the concept of the American Dream when it declares, “All men are created equal” and also when it states the inalienable rights of each man are, “ life liberty and the pursuit of happiness” Equality, life liberty and happiness are significant points in the dream every American seeks to achieve.

Currently, this generation lies in a time of unprecedented growth and change. The last few decades have endured years of transformation thereby allowing for the evolution of the human mind. The evolution of the human mind and its thought process all lies within cultural beliefs; beliefs affect attitudes and attitudes invertedly affect behavior. These behaviors may implement a form of prejudice and discrimination upon a certain group of individuals. Perhaps the most concurred concept revolving around attitudes and behaviors rests upon gender roles. This flawed concept created by man himself has indoctrinated society to acquire a negative perception of women. Women carry a stigma that they are both unintelligent and are subordinate to their

He argues in the book that the human mind makes a difference between men and women, but they cannot be judged because of their genders and mental and physical abilities. Thought the thoughts of males and females are entirely different because of internal biological differences society and culture play a part in the standards these genders should conform to fit in. Socialization to gender roles impacts the shaping of the male and female minds in society, and this Pinker did not emphasize. Gender is defined as the socially constructed behavior, roles, attributes and activities that our societies consider appropriate for women and men. The development process that shapes the mind begins in life early and heightens during adolescence stage for instance; researchers discovered that gender expectation negatively influences psychosocial development of girls. Thus inferring the fact that men and females cannot be judged by their mental and physical abilities is true but minus the influence of influences of cultural and religious biases the male and females mind would not be that different.

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);

encountered by members of every level of society; however, most of all affected by this idealism

Primarily, male scientists overburdened women peers with household responsibilities, deterring them from absolute concentration on their careers. Moreover, women struggled to concur on their own gender discrimination, bifurcating between traditionalists and the so-called “revolutionaries” fighting for equality. Finally, with organized societies recalcitrant to accept women, female scientists relied on their husbands to legitimize their work, furthering the illusion of dependence.The marginalization of women and their eventual break through to the intrinsic discrimination harkens immense similarity to the 1920’s Suffragette movement. While women struggled to prove themselves as full citizens, capable and fully redeemable of choosing leaders, men continued to disseminate lies and vicious vitriol to prevent this inalienable right. Eventually, despite discrimination across all platforms, women through their tireless efforts were able to prove that the mind, the soul, and the spirit are

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?”

Throughout history America has been the arriving place of immigrants searching for a better life. America is perceived as the land were endless opportunities are available. The greatest explanation of the American dream is Martin Luther King, Jr. speech; I Have a Dream. Dr. King 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

The American Dream is a concept that is essentially older than the United States, dating back to the seventeenth century. It was then when people began to come up with hopes and aspirations for the newly discovered, unexplored continent. The “American Dream” is in essence the idea in that puts forward the notion that all people can succeed through hard work, that all people have the right to the pursuit of happiness, and be successful. The definition of the American Dream has been expanded upon and redefined over time. The concept of the American Dream has always been debated and put under criticism. There are many that believe the structure of American Society belies the idealistic goal of the American Dream. It points out examples of

The American Dream has always been a driving force in the lives of Americans. It has become a foundation of ideals and hopes for any American or immigrant. Specifically, one of the ideals that always exist is the dream of America free of class distinction. Every American hopes for a society where every person has the opportunity to be whomever he or she desire. Another ideal in the American dream is the drive to improve the quality of life. As one’s idea of the American Dream gets closer and closer, often times political and social ideals of America cause their American Dream to take a turn for the worst.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness (Independence Hall Association, 2011).” This exert from The Declaration of Independence provides a look on America and how life is meant to be lived; with all individuals having an equal right to exist. This existence includes life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This beacons to one vital idea, one main vision, which creates a fundamental dream. This dream is the American Dream, and is the ideology that life should be richer, fuller, and more sustainable for the common man. The idea influences viewpoints that anything can be

In comparison with men, women didn’t have a lot of rights and freedom. Some argued that men and women were different species and that men were similar to gods and women were similar to animals. Men could vote but women couldn’t,

Durkheim was one of the most influential sociologists in relation to the functionalist theories which stated society consisted of a structural consensus with a collective conscience of shared norms and values. He argued in order to establish the meaning of society one must understand the structures and social facts. He highlights changes in society from traditional societies which were linked with mechanical solidarity consisting of small scale ties with little division of labour. This in turn created a strong collective conscience of unity in comparison to modern society where differences amongst groups are promoted in turn weakening social solidarity. This is due to rapid changes within society in which Durkheim emphasises is due to a complex division of labour. Durkheim then argues that due to the combination of enlightenment notions and a capitalist society a collective conscience of individualism and greed is created. (Jones, Bradbury and Boutillier, 2011, pp.62-64)