The American Dream

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.

The "American Dream" is marked as unattainable in John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men. This is mostly shown in the case of George, Lennie, Candy, Crooks, and Curley's wife. These characters all have admitted to thinking about the "American dream" concept, and the freedom to pursue happiness and their dreams.

Following the Reconstruction Era, from 1877 to 1920, the United States of America was undergoing industrial, political and social change. The United States industrialized, with sweeping technological developments bringing the country into the “modern era”. During this time, the country faced many challenges due to its “Open Door Policy” that led to the largest influx of immigration the country had ever seen. Also, African-Americans struggled to attain the freedoms brought about by the passage of new laws and amendments and Native Americans faced relocation to reservations. Ultimately during this Gilded Age, the poor grew poorer and faced a life of hardship and drudgery while the rich grew richer and seemingly lived an easier life. As a result, the “American Dream” was unattainable for most. At the heart of the American Dream is the idea that all citizens are born with equal rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and that all citizens can feel secure in knowing the government, of the people, will work together to protect these rights and secure justice. None of these values were upheld for the citizens of the United States from 1877-1920. African-American citizens were deprived of their human and democratic rights. Furthermore, justice for African Americans was non existent as southern states devised loopholes to keep them serving a life of servitude. Native Americans were deprived of their human rights and security because the government prioritized

The American Dream is the number one goal in America. It is believed that anybody in America can become famous or successful, own a large house and fancy cars, and have equal freedom and justice. The biggest wrecker to this Dream is consumerism. Consumerism creates a dyadic relationship between buyers and business owners. Business owners use advertisements, strategic planning, and focus on a particular audience in order to get closer to the American Dream. This causes the buyers to be pushed even further from the American Dream, and simultaneously the business owners get even closer.

The American Dream is known as a dream where people can come to America to be whatever they want and succeed in life. Lorraine Hansberry author of A Raisin in the Sun wrote her paper with a form of The American Dream in the story because everyone in the story manages to have a dream to be somebody or have something. The best thing about the American Dream is that most of the time people succeed and learn a lesson after the all the hard work you do to make your dream become real all that is “...requires is hard work.” (The American Dream).

The American dream has been around for many generations. Apparently it appeared for the first time in history in a history book by James Truslow Adams entitled The Epic of America published in 1931, in the book he says: “But there has been also the American dream, that 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.” Adams believed that in America if one works hard and never gives they will be affluent and prosper. However in this day and age is the American dream really an achievable dream? Signs sadly seem to be pointing to no.

The American dream; it has a certain ring to it that gives us a touch of pride somewhere deep inside. We gravitate towards thinking we live in the greatest country worldwide and although we cooperate with others like Canada, we consider ourselves to have the best of everything. We do not openly boast about how many millions of Americans struggle daily to remain afloat in many ways nationwide. Hitting rock bottom and having bills to pay on top of normal responsibilities like families can be so much pressure it can make a person desperate. The stigma and biased held toward people receiving benefits from welfare programs gives a sense of embarrassment and they struggle to either find work entirely or they take positions that are underpaid. Mark Robert Rank tells us, “In general, recipients work at jobs similar to those they held in the past- positions requiring semi-skilled or unskilled labor, paying low wages, lacking benefits, and usually part-time” (119). Americans as a whole are far more wealthy than other countries and we hear constantly about other countries that are starving or sick. In our own country we have similar problems and sometimes a blind eye is turned because it is not an admirable subject. Moreover, we look at the stereotypical person on welfare as a menace to society when in truth, some are struggling due to lack of proper work and to help them would be a great asset to the United States. The majority of people utilizing welfare programs have

The American dream has been around for decades and as most things, it changes with time. The American dream used to be living in a free country free from injustice and eventually it has come to be the hope of one day owning a home, with or without a spouse, but recently, this American dream is seeming to be nonexistent among millennials. Seeing as Millennials experienced the great recession which triggered a financial crisis a decade ago, it is feasible to believe that millennials are no longer quick to buy and own a home. The question still stands however, on whether or not this dream is alive among millennials and I believe that, no, the American dream of one day owning a home is no longer alive amongst the millennials of today.

America, home of the great, land of the free, this is where people from around the world come to achieve the American dream, beginning with the people that originated the dream itself - the born Americans. Success can be achieved by any and every one with endless opportunities to obtain money, success and wealth; This is the American dream. The more money you have the more successful you are. America is a country of free thinkers, individualism, liberty, and privilege. It is a land of freedom to achieve, explore and flourish unlike other countries that only offer limited to none of these achievable freedoms, yet crime rates are high and constant here in America, unlike other countries. How did this happen? Is it due to the desired

The meaning of the "American Dream" has changed over the course of history, and includes both personal components (such as home ownership and upward mobility) and a global vision. Historically the Dream originated in the mystique regarding frontier life. As the Royal Governor of Virginia noted in 1774, the Americans "for ever imagine the Lands further off are still better than those upon which they are already settled". He added that, "if they attained Paradise, they would move on if they heard of a better place farther west. The German emigrant comes into a country free from the despotism, privileged orders and monopolies, intolerable taxes, and constraints in matters of belief and conscience. Everyone can travel and

Dan Rather, a journalist and news anchor for the CBS Evening News states that “[a] college degree is the key to realizing the American dream, well worth the financial sacrifice because it is supposed to open the door to a world of opportunity.” There are many different paths to the American Dream. Two paths that people can use to reach the American dream are to go straight to a university after high school or transferring to a university after two years at a community college. The main differences in going to a university and transferring to a university from a community college to reach the American dream are campus life, cost, and graduation/transfer rates.

The development of urban communities, and their consequent rot because of a free enterprise request took after by endeavors to reestablish city life alongside a departure of those with means and/or fitting skin color helped by arrangement instruments. With the racial isolation got as a result (or perhaps item) of the chain of occasions would compress the appointed readings more or less.

In Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman he critiques the American Dream. He has previously discussed how it has changed through time and demonstrates its effects in the play. Author Miller uses lies to prevail his message of how the classic American Dream has been tainted.

The concept of the ‘American Dream’ has changed dramatically over the past couple decades. Originally, the ideal American Dream consisted of marriage, children, a stable job with a high enough income to save and invest, and buying a house for the family. Subsequent of the Great Recession, buying a house is not as desirable or even feasible for the millennial generation. Millennials are interested in a different American Dream, focused on receiving an education and making enough money to pay the bills. There are multiple factors that drive Millennials away from homeownership, including difficulty obtaining a mortgage loan, establishing credit, permanency, and securing a down payment.

The American Dream can be defined as achieving the highest level of economic success for an individual and their family. Americans are brought up in a culture where they are told that if they start from the bottom and put in the maximum amount of hard work they too will achieve The American Dream. The dream itself is subjective to an individual's needs but most often includes homeownership, financial stability, job stability, and a better future for the next generation. The Washington Post article by Robert J. Samuelson discussed how the death rates of non Hispanic middle aged whites has gotten significantly worse throughout the years, and as a result men were dying even younger. The causes of death are most often suicide, overdose, or alcohol related. Researchers have attributed these deaths to be a direct result of income inequality and the social crisis. Therefore, I believe the American Dream is killing us. The American Dream is killing those who do not know how to appropriately seek help when faced with unemployment and mental health concerns. The American Dream is responsible for the death of the middle class, the social crisis, and the internal upset when the dream is not achieved.