The American Dream

The American Dream is different for every person. The term “American Dream” is defined as “a happy way of living that is thought of by many Americans as something that can be achieved by anyone in the U.S. especially by working hard and becoming successful, With good jobs, a nice house, two children, and plenty of money, they believed they were living the American dream.” (webster)Now, in the definition you may notice this keyword “anyone”. Anyone? Really? Even those that are homeless and broke? The american dream is not possible becuase of two reasons. One people no longer want to work for the stuff they want, two the cost of a lot of stuff now a days is outrageous. So, is the american dream still

The recession of 2007-2009 has been over for 8 years, but its impact will forever change the way that Millennials interact with their world. Millennials are now in between the ages of 19 and 36, and the question of future homeownership has been on the minds of this generation that is now fully comprised of young adults. Anytime this question comes up, they are haunted by the memories of parents and the parents of childhood friends who struggled to hold on to their properties during the dark time in America where so much loss of wealth and security took place. These memories discourage many members of the generation from purchasing homes because they bring about a sense of uncertainty for how the state of the economy could affect their ability to

Set during the gruelling Great Depression of the 1930’s, John Steinbeck’s touching novella Of Mice and Men focuses on the working class of America and two men, George Milton and Lennie Small, as they work on a ranch in hopes of owning their own land. Set in the dusty town of Soledad, California, Steinbeck’s classic characters offer a parable about what it means to be human. George and Lennie's ambition of owning their own ranch, and the obstacles that stand in the way of that ambition, reveal the impossibility of the American Dream, while the loneliness and isolation of the members of the ranch offer a true insight into the nature of human existence, especially when the weaknesses of the characters cause them to destroy those more

For generations homeownership has been viewed as one of the cornerstones of the American dream. Nevertheless this American dream has almost exclusively been available to white Americans. However, over the past 25 years this dream has become a reality for more and more Americans as the rise of the subprime mortgage market has allowed the majority of Americans to become homeowners. In 2005, at the peak of the housing bubble, 69.2% of Americans seemed to have achieved the American dream of owning their homes. Three years later, the housing bubble popped and the American economy entered the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression. The downturn was largely caused by the implosion of the subprime mortgage market whose growth was driven, in part, by the belief that homeownership is a right that all Americans are entitled to as part of the American dream. The perpetuation of this belief is dangerous to the United States economy because homeownership has for so long been unobtainable for the majority of non-white Americans, as one of the only paths to this American dream for many minorities is through high-risk home loans that threaten the stability of the economy.

People from all over the world migrate to the Unites States of America in hopes of living out the “American Dream.” Most do not realize, however, that the “American Dream” is perhaps only meant to be lived out by stereotypical, hetersosexual, Caucasian Americans. Charlotte Perkins Gilman, a scholar, writer and a 25 year member of the American Sociologist Society, would argue that the “American Dream” in and of itself is extremely gendered.

Despite these outstanding issues, if one is lucky enough to be content with their current job situation, there are some prodigious benefits to buying a home at a younger age. Most Millennials that I know tend to go for apartment style living arrangements. Unfortunately, your money is going to your landlord, and not into any sort of investment. Buying a home as a young adult will leave you with a hopefully generous resale value, within a rising home market economy. Your money will I also believe that owning a home will have a great effect on your ability to handle personal responsibility and important decisions. These skills will easily translate to your job performance, making you more likely to shine to your employer, get that job promotion you having been thinking about, and raise your comfort of living.

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 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 American dream is something everyone has a different opinion of. It has changed over time and has been the topic of many songs, poems, and books. The American dream started out with immigrants coming over to America with the hope of new opportunities and a better life, which America had offered. America offered equal opportunity for everyone and the dream began. Although many Americans dreams differ because of personal experience, the American Dream is getting to the place where you are the happiest.

For the past few decades, the American Dream has been the acquisition of material objects, a perfect family, house in the suburbs with a white picket fence, and a secure job that brought financial security. This pursuit began after World War II, when the United States became the “land of opportunity” and for many people this “dream” became reality. However, as the United States economy grew tremendously, the American Dream transformed into greed and inequality. According to Nick Smith, the author of “Poverty, Money, and Happiness”, believes the American Dream is failing and the quest for individual wealth should not be a priority

“American Dream” has a long history, originally refers to the Puritan immigrants belief in freedom to create, dreams and desires. However, as in the new continent and the west in the process of development, the “American Dream” gradually evolved the yearning and pursuit of success, including the pursuit of wealth, class and love. In American, people always think, through your diligently work that you will be able to change their social status, live a life of rich people in the United States. But by the 1920s, the “American Dream” began to slowly become decadent, all the positive meanings are later replaced by hedonism, extravagance and waste. All the dream about the treasure, equal status and

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.

John’s ship finally arrived in New York and he was exhausted. He and his family had to come to America because of the potato famine that was happening back home in Ireland. The first thing he had to do was find a place to live at with his family; he realized that the decent houses and apartments were out of his budget. He only had money for the crowded and unhygienic apartments, if they could be called that. After John picked a “room” out, he went to go look for jobs. While he was out looking for work, he noticed people eyeing him strangely and signs saying “No Irish Need Apply”. The only type of jobs he could get were the low-paying ones. But he was desperate, so he took them. The workplace looked filthy and dangerous. John wondered if he would ever be able to move up in the economic ladder, he believed in the “American Dream”. Unfortunately, he never did because if he asked for a raise, he would be fired immediately because other immigrants would have taken the job with lower pay. This was the life of an Irish immigrant immigrating to America during the famine era. The Great Famine forced a countless number of Irish people to immigrate to the United States, where they suffered from poverty and discrimination. Despite all this, the Irish were able to assimilate and reshape American culture through politics and religion.

Is the American dream still achievable? Striving for wealth, power, and recognition has been one of the top americans priorities since the founding of the nation. Americans were raised to believe that hard work and effort secure their future of financially successful. However, the entrenched belief in the American dream has been undermined in recent decades. According to Carl Jung’s ideas and the documentary are suggested that the destruction of the dream is not a natural, inexorable occurrence, but the result of the choices made by people operating within certain belief systems and for self-enrichment. Although Carl Jung was not dispassionate, he was more intent on exploring the reasons why the American dream is dead. He mentioned that