Is The American Dream Creating An American Nightmare?

America prides itself on having what no other country can offer, The American dream. The United States offers someone to have freedom to make a name for themselves and become an entrepreneur in any industry they want. Therefore, it is easy for immigrants to come from other countries and have a chance to succeed in life. Every American wishes to be the great corporate executive officer (CEO) of a thriving company to make millions of dollars; however, achieving this goal becomes extremely difficult when you find out the great challenges that every CEO has to overcome. Aside from trying to become a successful entrepreneur, The American dream also consists of gaining an education. Completing an education in the 21st century is having a

What we call the American Dream, the founding fathers called the pursuit of happiness. The American Dream is built on the promise that individuals from all walks of life can find success and prosperity here. It shapes from our opinions, desires, interests, cultures, geographical locations, and religions. Some presume the dream of becoming an engineer, a medical doctor, an athlete, a politician, or even maybe following their father’s footsteps and carrying on the family tradition of owning a restaurant. Sometimes, achieving this success is associated with the conception of receiving an education, especially a college education. The common debate of today’s society has always been whether

In the essay “College Value Goes Deeper Than the Degree” author Eric Hoover claims a college education is important to one 's well-being so they can get a job and be productive in other parts of life. Promoters of higher education have long emphasized how beneficial college’s value and its purpose. Many believe the notion that colleges teach students are life skills to apply anywhere, they also work hard to earn a degree and learn specific marketable skills which they can use to get a good job. Though obtaining a college education and a degree is helpful in countless of ways, it is not necessary to pursue a college degree in world where a college degree is seen different now, people without turn out fine, the growing average of debt that students who attend college have to pay off and people without a degree can obtain many jobs that do not require college degrees.

“What’s the key to success in the United States?”(Steinberg,2010), author Jacques Steinberg starts off his article “Plan B: Skip College” with a powerful question that has been asked by many Americans. Majority of Americans first thoughts would be higher education. The ideology that obtaining a degree is the best and sometimes only way to be successful in the American economy. This has been instilled in numerous children growing up. Steinberg states “perhaps no more than half of who began a four-year bachelor's degree program in the fall of 2006 will get that degree within six years according to the department of education”(Steinberg,2010). Students who tend to not excel in high school often take longer, or at times finish a higher education at all. These

We have all heard of this intense rollercoaster ride that we are on called the American Dream. The term was coined by James Truslow Adams in 1931 defining it as “dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.” Since it’s arrival, the Dream has evolved from a pursuit towards “freedom, mutual respect, and equal opportunity” (Shiller) to later one of greed described by Shiller as being “excessively lustful about homeownership and wealth” beginning in the 1960s. Traditionally, the American Dream included features of a nuclear family, that is one with a breadwinning father, a housewife, and two kids, owning a white picket fence home, thriving without financial worries, and a happy family. There has been a shift in focus for the Dream caused by the Millennial generation and in turn they have included features that place an emphasis on equality in all aspects of their lives from family life to the workplace placing their own twist on the Dream. The American Dream has evolved over time to include equal opportunities, college education, and happy family.

It is clear that people believe that the universal ideal of the American Dream is rather difficult to achieve since our economy is at a downfall; this is why people have become pessimistic about the American Dream. Personally I think achieving the rags to riches American Dream is a one in a million, luck-based accomplishment that is nearly impossible. I believe the more resources and connections you have your chances of achieving your goals are higher, but that concept is based off of pure luck. The sad reality of the matter is that many people give up easily or accept the reality of the situation they are in. Everyone has said, “Dream as if you’ll live forever” but if you were to look at the lifestyles and goals people have, no one lives by that phrase. As college students, we all have similar goals. We want to get through school in order to someday have a secure career. A majority of us do not dream of becoming the next Bill Gates because we are realistic. People are aware of the hardships our country is facing; therefore we dream of what we know is an appropriate approach to the American Dream. It is sad that the Dream is not as optimistic as it was in history, but time changes everything.

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

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.

In 1931 the phrase "American Dream" swept the world and continues to bring hope to many Americans today. James Truslow Adams book, The Epic of America, defines the term as a “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.” This phrase continues to aspire hope Americans of a better life with endless possibilities. As time moves past the 1930s the pure reality of achieving the American Dream dwindles. Harsh realities quickly set in; people just are not making enough money to support themselves. Everyday costs such as health insurance, mortgages, transportation, and costs of pursing higher education depletes any chances of upward mobility on the social ladder. America creates establishes college to be a necessity by increasing tuition prices; this drastically affects the everyday American’s ability to afford it. The rising costs of achieving higher public education in the United Stated schooling system reflects the increasing enrollment rates correlating with the increasing amount of student loans creating a higher dropout rate than in previous generations.

The problem for this still exists, and as young adults are growing up, many drop out of college or do not attend college at all because they enter the workforce at an early age. With this, the American Dream for

There is a twenty-five percent unemployment rate. People are desperate for lodging and food. Families are stretching every penny to support themselves. Government is trying to solve these problems through reforms and programs. This is what the world in the 1930s was like for Lennie and George, two migrant workers traveling across California, earnestly trying to achieve the American Dream. Even though these dreams seem impossible to accomplish, during the Great Depression a dream was a reason to get out of bed.

For the purpose of this paper, the American Dream will be defined as the idea that you can achieve financial stability through hard work, which often means going to college. The term “college” refers to any undergraduate or graduate program at a secondary institution. This paper aims to examine the relationship between

However, we must remember an important fact: our generation of American faces the same wall of hopelessness that stood before those who lived through the Great Depression – and they overcame it. What we can take from them, is that we can succeed if we accept the simple fact that we must do what must be done, even if it isn’t desirable. If we graduate with a degree in fashion marketing and fail to secure employment, we work at a retail store in order to pay rent and get the bills paid. Running around for hours to work in a store takes grit; being underemployed takes gut; learning from experience and applying it to one’s life creates character. And one day, we grow. That in my belief is “the Dream.” For too many versions of “the Dream” equate prosperity to happiness, happiness I feel is not so simple. This makes it seem that the American Dream may always remain tantalizingly out of reach for some Americans, making the dream more like a cruel joke rather than a genuine dream. Perhaps, what our generation needs is to

Many years ago today, the United States of America was the prime example of prosperity and opportunity. It established America with the idea that its citizens would be guaranteed life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Today, it is true that people have liberties and are free to pursue happiness. However, in recent years, in the worst recession since the Great Depression. Unemployment, growing economy inequality, and medical care have skyrocketed. Despite the odds, the American Dream is still a goal that many people strive for and hope to reach. In fact, an essay written by Brandon King, The American Dream: Dead, Alive or on Hold? He says, “the American dream is a dream in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with the opportunity for each according to his/her ability and achievement…” (King 610-611). Therefore, the problem with the American Dream lies not within the dream itself, but within the means people pursue to attain this dream.

Introduction: Kids in U.S. are taught to believe the process: good at high school, then a good college, then a good job, career, which is the American dream