The American Dream And The American Dream

From a young age, children all over the world are taught that America is the "Land of Opportunity". Their parents and their parents ' parents have experienced some type of fulfillment from the American Dream which prompts them to relay belief in it to the newest generation of Americans. However, nowadays, populations of Americans have become increasingly critical of the American Dream and what that dream entails. That particular group claims that the American Dream is now dead due to many different facets of society. Is it possible to demand the "death" of an ideal that is essentially the backbone of a powerful country such as American? There are people who argue strongly both for and against the death of the American Dream with the "for" side focusing individualism and the "against" side focusing on declining conditions in America. The passionate arguments from both sides make it clear to see that the Dream is unlike what it used to mean, possibly requiring it to evolve to fit a changing nation.

            Most homes are structured to have multiple bedrooms and multiple baths. This is very fitting for families, but is unfit for young adults just getting out of college. Most millennials have followed the trend of attending college longer than the past generations have, and after they are done they make it a goal to find a career first before settling down with children. While they are busy doing that, they usually rent apartments because a house is too big for them to live in alone, or with a significant other. Until prepared to have children, most millennials chose the renting lifestyle so that they won’t be tied down to a place in case they want to make time for travel, or their career pushes them into another part of the country. Buying a house symbolizes settling down in an area and often means that the couple is prepared to have children. However it is not a priority until college is completed and a career is established, meaning purchasing a house doesn’t typically happen until people are in or close to their thirties.

America, known as the nation of chance and flexibility, where any man or lady can come and have a reasonable shot at accomplishing the coveted objective usually alluded to as "The American Dream." To many, effectively getting the American dream implies having a steady 2 parent family, with money related success, and rich in political and social opportunities. This "fantasy" be that as it may, is all the more effectively accomplished by specific individuals over others, and in spite of the fact that America prides itself on being the place where there is the "opportunity" and "correspondence", those words serve all the more unequivocally as a wellspring of false reverence and incongruity. One's race, economic

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.

Like many Americans today, a successful life is something every family endeavors to achieve. Whether you are native to this land or an immigrant, everyone is pursuing their idea of the American dream. Whereas every dream may be different, the journey to each dream is both trying and straining. In both articles written by Hogan and Shteyngart, we find two families striving for a better life as they encounter their own struggles along the way. Although Native Americans and immigrants are different as Native Americans are indigenous, while immigrants are foreigners, the authors illustrate they are also similar as they both have adversities, pervading family influences, and are strangers in a world they attempt to call home.

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

The American Dream, an idea of what it truly means to be an American in some respects. For many, it is the idea of starting from nothing and making something to look back on in your later years and be proud of what you’ve done. For many in the generations before the millennial generation, the ideal was to graduate college, get married, get a house, and raise a family. For many millennials, this has changed with one key difference. That difference is the importance of having their own house. This was brought about by many factors including the economy, political ideology, and sustainability.

The typical series of big events in life include graduating high school, going to college, finding a significant other, graduating college, getting married, and buying a home. Although these events happen in a variety of different patterns nowadays, a major bump in the road is occurring when looking to buy a home, especially in Colorado Springs. This article highlighted the challenges that the millennial generation is facing when reaching this stage in life. "Student loan debt is more than $1.2 trillion, and nearly 70 percent of college graduates have some student loan debt, according to the Federal Reserve (pg 1)." These college graduates now need to add loan payments to their monthly debts, leaving them with even less disposable income. Not

The economic decline has possible home buyers, especially first time home buyers, scared to invest anything into the housing market. With the fear of another depression in the back of everyone's minds, some businesses are attempting to clarify the pros of home ownership.

There has always been stories and films about many people coming from everywhere around this vast world to America so that they can make it big, achieve their dreams, and become extremely wealthy. The concrete definition of the word, "American” is someone who is a citizen of the United States, but it is not the only  definition of the word American. An American is someone who is not satisfied with what they have. Natives of the United States do not realize how lucky they all are. There are some people that have more things than others, but are still not completely satisfied with what they have. There are examples of this phenomenon in the movie,” The Queen Of Versailles", the book “The Great Gatsby” , and many other sources. One of the things that help mold someone into an American is the American Dream itself. The American Dream involves goals of success, whether it's a goal for wealth, material possessions, or anything else you could possibly dream of.

In the article “How to fix wealth inequality”, Hecht (2014) raises houseownership as a factor to minimise wealth inequality, and brings up an issue over how the poor are more affected than the rich, while listing several factors that deter poor people from getting homeownership. According to Hecht (2014), despite declining house prices and interest rates, homeownership is out of reach for low income families because they are vulnerable financially in post-recessions. Moreover, there is ongoing progress on reducing education fees so that young people could graduate without being saddled with debts which deter them from having houseownership in the future. Throughout this article, he highlighted the importance of houseownership as being an asset which can be passed from one generation to the next thus reducing the economic disparity.

“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.” This statement of declaration holds the founding ideas of the American Dream that “all men are created equal with certain rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. American culture has implanted the idea that we live in a land of opportunity where the American Dream is possible for all citizens. Millions of people from across the globe travel to the United States with the hopes of gaining a piece of the pie (The American Dream). This declaration sounds convincing and easily obtainable, but it is? In his article, “Master of Desire,” Jack Solomon states “The American dream has two faces: the one communally egalitarian and the other competitively elitist…Even as America’s great myth of equality celebrates the virtues of mom and apple pie, it also lures us to achieve social distinction, to rise above the crowd and bask alone in the glory”. Simply put, the American dream promotes the concept of “one for all and all for one” yet entices its citizens with the idea that to succeed it’s every man for themselves. Jack Solomon was right in his claim that the American dream incites competition, yet competition is necessary to achieve success.

Homeownership is a double-edged sword. It is the “American Dream” to one day own a house. Compared to their predecessors, Millennials are seeing the advantages and disadvantages of homeownership at an earlier age.  These early generations believed owning a house was the cherry-on-top to being an all-around American and achieving the “American Dream”. As a cynical generation who grew up with information at our fingertips and the world falling around us, millennials see homeownership differently. “The cautious and conservative approach to home buying displayed by millennials is driven by the fact their outlook on life was shaped by a number of bad things when they were young—the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, the 2008 financial crisis, the housing bust with mass foreclosures and a weak recovery that has so far provided incomes below that of prior generations” (Stowe England, 36). We learned that the world was not fair and that it is time to redefine the “American Dream” to reflect our current economic society.

The information has already been provided that sense the the housing market crashed people in general have been apprehensive to purchase homes. But even more so to the new generation of millennials. And even current events are shaping the future of home ownership, like the new revision on taxes. So does most certainly understandable to why people would be so wary of the dangers, and struggles of buying a home. And how it might be all together easier not to buy one.

Establish Credibility: According to US News, the great American dream of owning a home appears poised for a comeback. Real estate company Trulia reports that in many parts of the country, rents are rising while housing prices are falling, making buying a home more affordable. Trulia found that in 98 out of 100 major metropolitan areas, including Detroit, Atlanta, and Cleveland, buying has become more affordable than renting.” I think the mortgage catastrophe of 2001 left prospective home buyers afraid of buying a house without being extremely certain that is the right decision.