The American Dream from the Perspective of a Navy Seal

“And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ’We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.”

     One of the aspects of the American Dream is the pursuit of wealth by means of hard work and determination. In his book,

It’s time to get rid of the idea of the “American Dream” we once cherished. The "American Dream" has strayed so far from the true, original meaning and has instead become a convoluted, argumentative point for politicians to use in their speeches. No one can openly oppose it because it captures our faith in advancement as a nation. Opposing it would be unpatriotic no matter how unrealistic it truly is. That is the exact reason this phrase has survived all odds, it provides hope for those without. It is what drives us all, whether we know it or not, even though its nothing but an unreachable dream.

The American Dream has long been considered the ideal that represents everything the United States stands for: hard work, determination, and reward. However, it can mean many different things to many different people. It is simultaneously the beacon that lures immigrants to this country and a forgotten myth to some native-born citizens (many who take it for granted each and every day). The story of Barack Obama’s family represents one of the most archetypical scenarios of the American Dream. His father moved to the United States in hope of a better life for himself and his children, a goal which he undoubtedly achieved (his son would go on to be the first United States president with African heritage) (Obama). This serves as evidence that the American Dream was attainable through hard work and resilience in the past. However, could Barack Obama Sr.’s inspiring story be a possibility in the modern world? Although it is true that the American Dream is significantly harder for many to accomplish due to rising competition in our modern society, its core philosophy is still very much in existence.

David Kamp's 2009 Vanity Fair article "Rethinking the American Dream" focuses on the general perception of the ‘American Dream’ and how it has evolved throughout our nation’s history. It clearly states that as the average American household's lifestyle has become more and more consumer-oriented, the original spirit that invigorated and united its people from the age of western expansion to the Great Depression has begun to fade. The dream has been dampened as the vision of "success" has become more focused on gaining material/getting rich quick, rather than working hard all throughout one’s life to attain what they want and desire.

In her 1961 essay “What Has Happened to the American Dream?”, Eleanor Roosevelt stated that “no single individual and no single group has an exclusive claim to the American dream...but we have all a vision of what it is, not merely as a hope and an aspiration, but as a way of life, which we can come ever closer to attaining its ideal form if we keep our belief in its essential value”. The belief of pursuing the American dream is one that has been instilled since the formation of the country itself, and with those beliefs come those who pursue it. Unfortunately, achieving this dream is not without difficulty, and those who realize the true obstacles in front of them turn to other ways to sustain themselves in this nation. Not everyone has an equal opportunity to pursue the American dream because of social exclusion, the government prioritizing the wrong issues, and economic gaps, which has thus led to organized crime, however some say that all citizens do have the equal opportunity.

“We talk about the American Dream, and want to tell the world about the American Dream, but what is the dream, in most cases, but the dream of material things? I sometimes think that the United States for this reason is the greatest failure the world has ever seen.”

American poet Archibald Macleish once stated, “There are those who will say that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is the American Dream.”  The concept of the American dream is the potential for hard-working individuals to prosper and conquer one's goal where they weren’t able to in other places. The novel, “The Great Gatsby” by Scott Fitzgerald and the short story, “Negocios by Junot Diaz refer to characters that are dedicated to overcoming poverty and achieving what they believed was the American dream. The main characters in each text, Papi and Gatsby are making their life’s mission to better themselves for love and affluence. Both characters are allied in the idea that they are trying to pursue the American dream, but while Gatsby personifies this desire through Daisy and wealth, Papi epitomizes the aspiration of economic stability by coming to the United States.

“Let me start off with I’m a third generation American. My family came here from Germany. They were very successful in this country and made a very comfortable living. They worked hard for what they had. They never took a penny from the government and would have been ashamed to accept money they did not learn. I think the typical American Dream is to have a healthy family and be able to have enough money to live comfortably. My American Dream is to make everything fair in this country. If you work all your adult life, you pay taxes on your earning, and then when you retire, you pay taxes on the money you contributed to your retirement account, your investments, and your social security. If I had chosen not to work I could have gotten food stamps, monthly money supplements, free medical insurance, government housing, and a free college education. On top of all that, I could have stayed home with my children and not had to put them in daycare. Plus all the said free not earned commodities, I would not have to had paid one penny in taxes for all that. There was a time in my adulthood I could have lived better with the government supporting me than I was able to make working 40 hours a week. The reason I worked is because I knew to get ahead in the business world I had to get experience and knowledge that you can’t get any other way. I wouldn’t have gotten that knowledge and experience living off the government. More

The American Dream is truly alive for some, but to others it seems unattainable. For Bob Migalani and his family it happened. His family came over from India for a better chance. It may have took them years but they saved enough money to buy a Dairy Queen franchise. It was still hard work for many years it was a struggle, but they stuck to it and made it through. “There are no guarantees in American, only better chances,” Bob Migalani. With this quote Migalani was explaining the american dream as attainable through hard work

Behind any reality lies a dream. The American Dream is an ever evolving concept, that every person has an equivalent chance at being successful and content. It has become a conflicting idea with people disagreeing over the possibility of actually attaining it. There are those who take a pessimistic outlook and refuse to believe that there’s more to life than what they set out to accomplish. They live in a negative dream-like state where there own cynicism prevents them from reaching and achieving their dream.

An individual’s life is full of personal and professional controversies, I believe there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to the question of fulfillment of one’s desires. However, answering it accurately is critical in making intelligent career choices and finding your success in life. Today, many people, including myself, immigrate to the United States of America in search of the American Dream; freedom, equality, and the opportunity to achieve their personal goals in life. However, the American dream has changed drastically, and is no longer associated only with happiness but rather refers to the dollar sign directly. Many argue that the more money you make, the happier you will be, however, on the other hand some people still stick with the famous expression “more money more problems”. From a reality perspective the statement itself is flawed and those following this chant are sure in for a big surprise. They say you should learn to be realistic

Since I was a little girl, I always knew I had potential to do great things. I've always been good in school, but not maxed out my full potential. As I got older I learned more about what the "American Dream" is. Too many people say its money, the more money you make the better off you are. I have learned that money isn’t always the answer. The true meaning of the “American Dream is really success and happiness in any thing you do. But how do you really achieve that goal? Now a day’s education is the key to success. When I turned eight teen I made up my mind I was just going to graduate and work. I wasn't interested in college at all. I was tired

The American Dream has been a talked about topic ever since America was created. But how achievable is it for an average American citizen? The Old Man and The sea, The Jungle, Of Mice and Men, and A Raisin in the Sun all show that the American Dream is possible if one has the right mindset and takes advantage of opportunities.

We are a nation of imaginative thinking. A concept I realized living through the past presidential election. It’s not a bad quality in a nation to have hope, in fact Bell Hooks once said “Hope is essential to any political struggle for radical change when the overall social climate promotes disillusionment and despair.”. But, for a country to be so do delusionally focused on a distant American Dream can cause poor judgment. The American Dream is no longer alive because we are told unless we live a certain lifestyle we are not entitled to go towards the progression of this dream, we are conditioned to stay at this low level in life and be content, and the term equal opportunity has taken a different definition. The American Dream to me is the