Don 't We All Have High Hopes For Our Future?

Supporters of getting a college degree often point to the statistics that college graduates earn more than their high school educated peers over a lifetime. Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau reports that since 1977, “Adults with bachelor's degrees in the late 1970s earned 55 percent more than adults who had not advanced beyond high school. That gap grew to 75 percent by 1990 -- and is now at 85 percent.” A gap of an 85% pay difference is a huge figure and a clear reason why college is a great option for some people. But there are problems with that figure because when the number of college graduates who are either unemployed or underemployed is taken into account it changes the value of the statistic. In an article by Businessweek’s Richard Vedder we get statistics to counter that argument. He tells of how the number of new college graduates far exceeds job growth in technical, managerial, and professional jobs where graduates traditionally have searched for employment. As a consequence, we have underemployed college graduates doing jobs historically performed by those with just a highschool education. He says we have “more than 100,000 janitors with

A college degree is a valuable asset that could ultimately lead to a productive life in society due to the received education, but people without a college degree do turn out more than adequate in regards to societal success. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the forecasted 30 fastest growing jobs between 2010 and 2020, five do not require a high school diploma, nine require a high school diploma, four require an associate 's degree, six require a bachelor 's degree, and six require graduate degrees to get the jobs (College). In an article called “College Education” by ProCon.org,

It’s time to get rid of the idea of the “American Dream” we once cherished. The "American Dream" has strayed so far from the true, original meaning and has instead become a convoluted, argumentative point for politicians to use in their speeches. No one can openly oppose it because it captures our faith in advancement as a nation. Opposing it would be unpatriotic no matter how unrealistic it truly is. That is the exact reason this phrase has survived all odds, it provides hope for those without. It is what drives us all, whether we know it or not, even though its nothing but an unreachable dream.

Have you ever just stopped to think about what it must be like to be “qualified” for a job yet be unemployed and homeless? Starving on the streets because you paid everything you had to an institution that was supposed to guarantee a better life, a more stable and successful career. Obviously this is an extreme case, not everyone who pays for college ends up living on the streets and broke, but almost every college graduate is in debt. For as long as college has been around it has always meant a better life, it’s always been that people who went to college were more successful, smarter, and would make way more money than someone who didn’t go to college ever would. Lately, however, college has become so expensive that going to college will more than likely leave you in debt working for years upon years just to pay back what you owe and then start making money for yourself.

In the article, “ Is The American Dream still possible?,” the author, David Wallechinsky, shares his opinion of the American Dream no longer being a reality, Americans who work hard are losing their jobs and are struggling in debt. “ The Traditional American Dream is based on the belief that hard working citizens can better their lives, pay their monthly bills without worry, give their children a start to an even better and still save enough to live comfortably after they retire. But many average Americans are struggling-squeezed by rising costs, declining wages, credit card debt,” ( Wallechinsky 55). Explaining the quote, the speaker is making his stand on the American Dream not being a reality by revealing the ugly truth of what really happens to the people who work hard for it. I argue back and say that Americans have the decisions to make what is best for their future. You can’t blame anyone for your mistakes but yourself. There must be a reason why you are in debt, you probably made wrong decisions and not think ahead of your future. An American who thinks about his future knows that every decision that they makes

The American Dream is not a function of ability and achievement, but a dying illusion. America is not truly the land of the free, but an ignorant classist society. Gregory Clark, an economics professor at the University of California, Davis, stated that “America has no higher rate of social mobility than medieval England or pre-industrial Sweden … That’s the most difficult part of talking about social mobility - it 's shattering people 's dreams” (qtd. in Evans). The United States has an incredibly outdated economic system that does not allow disadvantaged citizens opportunities regardless of how hard they work. People get stuck in their social status and are not able to stray out of it, which affects their further generations. Additionally, immigrants coming to America in hopes of prosperity are likely to have even less luck than immigrants of the pass and widen the gap of social inequality. Clark continues to state, “The truth is that the American Dream was always an illusion. Blindly pursuing

The American Dream, or the possibility of a better life, has become difficult but not impossible to achieve as people are not receiving a high enough education for some jobs as most cannot afford it due to low incomes.

The capability of all Americans to achieve the American dream is what many believe to have made this country great. Perhaps this is why more immigrants flock to the United States than any other nation, because they view America as “the land of opportunity”, because here anyone can achieve the American dream. Generally, the American dream is the belief that anyone, even one at a low income level, can achieve success and make themselves content if they work hard enough and are determined. Unfortunately, when looking at certain aspects of society, it’s apparent that nothing can be further from the truth. For example, a person can pursue and live the American dream and still be unhappy. Also, the lifestyle that one may live to pursue the American dream can be dehumanizing. Both of these examples are flaws in the American dream that can be seen in the film Fight Club. Furthermore, rising levels of income inequality and the crushing debt people face also shows flaws in the idea of the American dream. When analyzing the evidence, it’s clear that in the modern United States, the American dream is non-existent.

Many American children grow up in horrible social and cultural living environments. These living conditions not only affect the child's upbringing, but also affects the choices they make once they reach adulthood. Yet so many people disbelieve that your social environment affects your life decisions and choices you make. This stems from the thought that you can be or do anything as long as you work hard enough. This concept is known as “the American Dream”. Though many Americans have started off at the lower rungs of society and have worked their way to the top, there are still many who make every effort for a better life, but are marginalized because of their position in society. They are not granted access to the resources

America historically owns the reputation of being the land of opportunity, and for generations immigrants have fled to the United States to experience the freedom and equality our government lays claim to. At the root of this reputation is the American Dream, the belief that with hard work anyone can succeed based solely on his or her merits. While definitions of success vary, the American Dream defines it as the ability to become a "self-made man," thereby rising to a more-than-comfortable state of living. The American Dream is believed to be blind to race, sex, or socio-economic status and at a first glance, seems to be almost Utopian. Conversely, repeated examples and statistics of the lower-classes, those continually facing the harsh

When people think of the American Dream, most think of the good that arises with it. They don’t consider the hardships and obstacles one must overcome. Many immigrants come to America in hopes of accomplishing their dreams and aspirations, and if they can’t, maybe their children can. Haspel debates how “The U.S. has changed drastically in the last several decades. The middle class, which was the heart of the American Dream, is dwindling, and the disparity of wealth among social classes continues to grow.” (41) This defends the popular phrase “The rich get richer while the poorer get poorer.” In essence, the American Dream can be viewed as the aim to climb the economic ladder. As the economic gap between the different social classes grow, it becomes harder for certain groups to see the American Dream as an attainable goal. The American Dream entails a variety of opportunities, and it is hard for minorities to grasp such opportunities with limited resources. Haspel also debates that “Another issue contributing to the decay of the American Dream is the country’s changing family

“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.

     It seems in the society we live in today, having a college degree is a necessity. Years ago it was the norm for people to just go right into a full time job after high school, if they even finished high school; they did this to support their families. In today’s society a person has a difficult time getting a decent job without a college degree. During an adults working life, bachelor degree graduates will earn about $2.1 million and a high school graduate can expect to earn an average of $1.2 million (Day and Newburger, 2002). This is quite a difference and it puts a college education in

How would you feel if your perception of the american dream did live up to its own standards? In Barbara Ehrenreich’s book The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream, she argues that white collar workers are limited to their capability by the harsh reality. People assume being part of the middle class in america will be the answer to a better lifestyle but it just hasn’t been case over the past decades. Teachers tell their students the key to success is thru higher education and parents portray college as a door to more opportunities and benefits. People say the reasons behind someone else’s economic woes and life hardships are determined thru the decisions they made throughout life. Dropping out of high School, not going to college, working dead end jobs on wages. Who would be to blame for the situations they end up in? safe to say they can blame themselves. A better question is who do you blame for the ones that do go to college, receive degrees, and have credentials to end up in situations just like the ones that didn’t go to college. Society should also be to blame since economic downturns do not just affect people individually but as a nation. America has an image of the college student as being a bright person going in the right right direction that will bring nothing but promises and assurance of a better future. The reality is that everyone has their own definition of the american dream, but the success is not just

A college education is now as necessary for success as a high school education was in the 1970’s according to the job industry. In 1970, only 40 percent of high school graduates went to college. Now 70 percent of high school graduates attend some sort of