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The American Dream : The Ideas Of The American Dream

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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. A quick disclaimer - I’m only 19 and was born in 1998 so am not technically a millennial. That said, the majority of the people I’m friends with are. I was also greatly impacted by the Great Recession. I was in sixth grade in 2008. At the time of the crash, I lived with my mom, her husband, and their two kids who are younger than me. At the time of the crash, and until only a little over a year ago, I thought we sold our house and that the following divorce was for outside reasons and that living with my grandmother was just what was normal when this stuff happened. When I was graduating high school, the old house came up in conversation and then I learned that what had actually happened was that we were foreclosed on and the emotional stress paired with the financial strain is what lead to my mother's divorce. In this circumstance, moving in with my grandma was the obvious choice. Going through it once opened my eyes to some of the struggles you face while being homeowners,

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