The American Dream : The Development Of The American Dream

Despite working hard to achieve the American Dream and to have a prosperous and successful life in America the rising costs of college and housing as well as lower pay in some states creates debt for many Americans. Although other people around the world come to America to reach the American dream, but are halted by all of the costs that reside to become a part of it.

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

The American dream, an idea that is inextricably linked with liberal democratic principles, is based on the notion that on American soil, every person has equal access to opportunity and fair treatment under the law. America has been, and continues to be a primary destination for millions of immigrants from around the globe because it promises hope, freedom, and most important, a fair chance; migration to America has been predicated on the belief that with hard work and determination, success will eventually come. However, today, whenever the American dream is uttered, a negative connotation too often appears to be attached to it. There’s a certain attitude of pessimism as those who speak of it attempt to argue that the dream is dead,

The forty-first president of the United States, George W. H. Bush, once said, “The American Dream means giving it your all, trying your hardest, accomplishing something…” As the years fly by, so does the American Dream. With busy lives, many Americans tend to forget the purpose of the American Dream. Failing to make ends meet, not being able to afford the new iPhone and the lack of success that is not America’s fault. People create their successes and failures based on what they desire. Through a person creating their own definition, not quitting once things go wrong, and creating opportunities the American Dream still floods the streets of America today.

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.

For years upon years, we have heard the concept of an “American Dream” repeatedly. In school, at home, and there’s probably several who have mused about it on their own during their time by themselves. It seems that, also, several have concluded that the Dream is dead: gone, disappeared, poof into thin air. Some argue that it’s nothing but a pack of lies our predecessors were fed to believe that perhaps America had a better future lingering just around the corner, or that it’s changed much from what it was ‘back in the day’. The American Dream has remained unchanged since the Great Depression, but the nation we are today may slowly be killing it. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the Dream is to have that equal opportunity for success, the same as in Bobby Jindal’s and Ellen Powell’s articles, but it seems that inequality may be killing the American Dream.

The American Dream is possible, but it’s constantly becoming less available to many Americans. As inferred by David Wallechinsky in his essay, “Is the American Dream Still Possible,” the American Dream has progressively gotten more difficult to achieve for many. In this essay, Wallechinsky describes what he views as the American Dream and provides evidence of why it’s not achievable. As stated in the text, “Almost two-thirds say they live from paycheck to paycheck, and 47% say that no matter how hard they work, they cannot get ahead. More than a third worry about job loss” (65). Wallechinsky not only provides a widespread belief that the American Dream isn’t possible, he supports it with evidence by providing data from the Mark Clements Research Inc. Survey that states the poverty many americans

The American Dream is indefinable. There is no one set of words or characteristics that the entire population assigns directly to its definition. With the American population consisting of people of various races, ethnicities, ages, classes, and genders, it seems trivial to even attempt to attribute a single definition to the concept of the American Dream. It is this inability however, to be confined within one single meaning, that allows for the American Dream to govern the desires and goals of the large and diverse American population. And, regardless of all of the heterogeneity within society, the American Dream is generally a goal of all American peoples. In examining this idea, I began to think about the specific meanings attributed to the American Dream for different types of individuals. I broadly outlined the American Dream for myself, to represent the belief in hard work as a pathway to success and raising oneself in society. Consequently, this higher position in society allows for the possession of increased amounts of power. My definition however, neglects to take into account the certain other societal constructs that could possibly have a decisive role in how to both define and achieve the American Dream for the wide variety of people who pursue it.

Research conducted by Sandra L. Hanson and John Zogby concerning shifting attitudes toward the American Dream states, “lack of thrift, effort, ability, motivation, and self-control are the most popular explanations for poverty among Americans” (Hanson 571). Such explanations demonstrate the growing issues that help to create the darkness of the American Dream. In placing such an emphasis on achieving success, the American Dream belittles those unable to achieve it and allows no room for failure. Though some individuals may work hard their entire lives, they may never find the material success that others such as Ben or Charley do. Even in the case of characters who have worked their entire life, such as Willy, the lack of tangible, material success creates a false idea that they did not do enough or did not work hard enough. Concerning Willy’s career and life, Ben states, “What are you building? Lay your hand on it. Where is it?” (Miller 1271). This statement pushes the misconstrued idea that whatever success one has achieved needs to be tangible and seen, which is not always the case. It can be argued that by the end of his life, Willy had found success. Linda’s proclamation that they were “free and clear” after having finally paid off the mortgage furthers this argument (Miller 1298). Out of debt, and with the comfort of a devoted wife and loving sons, Willy had achieved a life that many can only dream. However, because he and others do not recognize love and happiness as

Lonely and afraid. Looking towards the distance to be presented with nothing but despair. The government, the people, all against you in this fight to happiness. It is the American Dream. The dream was successfully followed by the financially struggling citizens for years, leading them to a “richer and fuller land” until recently. This dream has now become a nightmare. To the men and women living below the poverty line, the American Dream is rarely achievable, and as time progresses, the Dream is furthering away from the grasp of the poor. This difficulty in achieving -- “a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” -- is due to one of the growing challenges in America ; income inequality. This suppresses not only a full education, but the ability to climb up the social ladder in society.

The American dream can be defined as the promise of living in America with opportunities for all, regardless of social class, and according to their ability and effort (Schnell, 2010). Proponents of the American dream believe that there is equal opportunity for all in the American society to achieve success. Success is not pegged on social status, race, or creed, but rather on an individual’s own efforts. The definition of the American dream has unique interpretations to different people. The most common meaning is that of a life of abundance and prosperity, characterized by economic rewards that enable one to live a middle class life of comfort. Here, success is measured by material possessions such as beautiful homes, cars, a high

The “American Dream” has always been this country’s greatest and most successful form of propaganda. The notion of the “American Dream” has bred entitlement since the term was coined by James Truslow Adams during the 1930s. Many Americans have, and still feel, entitled to achieving the “American Dream” even though this phrase has never been attainable for all members of American society. Despite Adams hoping the “American Dream” would transcend “birth or position” allowing anyone to attain the Dream, obviously this has not been possible for everyone living in the U.S. The wage gap between men and women easily makes attaining the Dream difficult, since the social order still does not pay women for the same jobs as men. Additionally, the racism which systematically pervades all of our institutions makes the Dream merely a dream for black people, as institutions are systematized to hinder the growth of Black Americans. White Americans face only the challenge of individual wealth. Owning a home is often impossible as these institutions have implemented ways to hinder the growth of non-white Americans.

The American Dream is the idea that every American should have equal opportunities to achieve success and happiness through hard work, determination and initiative. The American dream is based on the opportunity for success, the capacity to rise to a higher social or economic status, and prosperity earned through hard work. Nowadays, our interpretation of the American Dream includes the opportunity to pursue a career without artificial barriers, opportunity for home ownership, opportunity for one’s children to receive a good education and opportunity without restrictions limited to a person’s socioeconomic class, religion, race, or ethnicity. Today, it is commonly believed that under capitalism, the ideals of the American Dream are fully met. Why, then, is there such a wide divide between the rich and the poor in America? Between men and women? Capitalism may have once stood for equality and prosperity for all, but unfortunately the sentiment no longer applies in our society today. There are serious shortcomings that exist in our system that are widely overlooked and even ignored.

America has long been known as “The Land of the Free”, “Home of the Brave”, and has established that “All men are created equal.”(US Declaration of Independence 1776) Although all of these things are what made America a choice place to live; she has not been without her flaws. One of the major flaws that stands in the path of the American dream today is the inequality of the sexes. Women are treated so unjustly when it comes to economic and social equality, women are not given the same opportunities as their male counterparts; but women should take a stand today to guarantee equality in the future . The question that lingers in the hearts of all Americans is: is the American dream still alive today? Or has it simply become too unobtainable that it has vanished from our eyes?

The American Dream is a concept I’ve already written several papers on and have spent a lot of time thinking about. Up until this point it seems to have changed only slightly and in ways that align with the times (integrating technology, less emphasis on being independently wealthy). Now it seems like people are split in their idea of what the American Dream is and I believe that the level of impact the 2008 recession had on an individual is what determines how a person pictures their ideal future.