The California Dream

Los Angeles has always been considered the city of dreams by many people across the United States, and the world. Many people flock to the city yearly to make their own dreams come true. Whether it is to get their big break in the entertainment industry, attend one of the many Universities, or find work in the many different companies that Los Angles has become home to. However, when people do move here, they find out that achieving those dreams may not be as easy they may have come to believe. In city with a population of nearly 4 million people live, competition for these opportunities is fierce. They begin to realize that their dream may not be as easily achieved as they had hope. They start accepting work anywhere they can find it to make ends meet. Unfortunately, this is not a new development for Los Angeles. The city has always advertised itself in a way to lure people to come to Los Angeles. To grow as a metropolis, Los Angeles needed people to help them build. The city has always done what it deemed necessary to bring people, to accomplish this goal.

From the early stages of American literature the dream of success has always been around, even at the very beginning. It has gone on the journey of merely surviving in small amounts of the literature from the native people to thriving in a growing society and being in everything. The dream to myself is becoming wealthy and being successful in everything I do. Today I believe that the dream has become different for everyone, every person has a different dream, a different way they want their life to go.

California, a state loved for its fabulous warm weather and vast doors of opportunities. The state captivates people by its beauty, but also the chance to a prosperous future. A quality of lifestyle CA promises, its vast landscapes, a place where big industries have grown, and Hollywood where the brightest stars shine. These are a few points that make California great. There are plenty who immigrate to this state, most seeking that long cherish dream. A dream fueled by desire in order to surpass current limitations and reach individual happiness. The state of California welcomes everyone with open arms, for those seeking California as their new home. James J. Rawls, a history professor at Diablo Valley College; discusses the beauty of California, but in “California-A place, A people, A dream” he also demonstrates the dark truth of CA hides, which he calls California paradoxes (Rawls). Here is where the paradox of growth comes into play on his writing. This has led to many problems over CA long course of history.

Throughout life everybody has heard the line “Follow your dreams!” This simple sentence has inspired many. This idea of creating a dream and chasing it has inspired the American Dream. The American Dream is different for everybody. It could be getting married, creating a business, or being a hero. It turns out the American Dream is not for everybody. There is always something standing in the way of the American Dream. Race, social status, and the individual are standing in the way between the person and the American Dream.

The California Dream? More like a California Miracle. James Rawls, writer of the article “California: A Place, A People, A Dream” is an optimist who believes there is still hope for the California Dream (Rawls 14). The article was written 1984. It is not applicable to today’s self-destructive California. With the population of over 38 million people, California is barely holding itself together at this point. Even “investment” in the young Californians’ education is too costly for the government. And with less people pursuing education, this leads to less degrees. Fewer degrees translates to a lower employment rate. A lower employment rate means a weaker economy. California is in the midst of a very self-destructive chain that will eventually lead to California’s end. The California Dream is now a California Miracle (Johnson-Ahorlu, Alvarez, and Hurtado 24). It is too late for attempting to revive the California Dream, as now California is in self-destruction due to overpopulation and California being unable to support so many people educationally.

Americans have created this idea of accomplishment and nationalism known as the American Dream. This Dream has become a way for Americans to push themselves to work harder so that they can reach this goal, this Dream. In his epistolary memoir Between the World and Me, author Ta-Nehisi Coates explains that “The Dream is treehouses and the Cub Scouts. The Dream smells like peppermint but tastes like strawberry shortcake” (11). The problem with this so called American Dream, though, is that not all Americans can attain that Dream. Coates shows the reader that the American Dream is only attainable for this group of “Dreamers,” that the American Dream is about privilege. America has only kept the Dream in the view of the Dreamers, meaning that not all Americans can or will be able to attain the Dream in their life time.

“Outside the evening was still warm, and the Bradfords were walking arm in arm. As he watched the couple the room went dark, and he spun around. Shoba had turned the lights off. She came back to the table and sat down, and after a moment Shukumar joined her. They wept together, for the things they now knew.” (Pg.22)

The “American Dream” has always been seen as climbing the ladder of success. Over a hundred years ago, for immigrants, success was making it to America. For following generations, it was men working hard and women being diligent homemakers. In more recent generations, success meant both males and females getting a college education. But now, success looks different. Success is the pursuit of your own happiness - whatever form that takes. For some, it is status and money. In order to be happy they need to feel fulfilled by those two things. Others view travelling and enjoying their youth and freedom as happiness, and therefore successful. These views of success and the “American Dream” are now in terms of experience, not the ability to provide for your family. These differing goals showcase what people value now compared to in past generations.

Yes, technically the American Dream is still possible. The American Dream is still alive and obtainable. Many people have a definition of what the American Dream that is obtainable in their minds. People all have unique individual lives. There is not ‚one’ Dream. We all adapt our dreams so one day they will not be seen as dreams anymore and we could possibly achieve them. But will this moment ever happen? Is it only a pipe dream or can it actually reach reality?

America has always been considered a melting pot. Today, it is filled with people of many different backgrounds and is more diverse than ever before. Mostly all of these people are in search of a better life or strive to accomplish “The American Dream”. Although, there is an underlying factor that restricts these dreams from becoming a reality. In society, mainstream today requires people to be and act like the “ideal American” to fully succeed in this world. There is a bias in society that if someone does not fit the perfect description of an American they will not be the best at any job or goal they want to achieve. The mainstream that is active in America today has created norms that people must fulfill in order to have a fair chance at succeeding. In Sherry Turkle’s passage “The Flight From Conversation” she elaborates on how technology distracts us from living a full life and working toward personal goals. This passage relates to In “Covering: Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights” by Kenji Yoshino because he explains how mainstream pressures people to be someone they aren’t, which also distracts them from their personal goals because they have a new role to fill. He explains how the mainstream today as forced people to cover up stigmas to be presented as normal and how assimilation has never been lost in American society, even when culture had shifted to “celebrate diversity”. Defining others has become a routine to ultimately decide if a person can succeed in this world

In a documentary film, Kelly and Tony are a young couple who are second generation immigrants from Laos. Kelly became pregnant after graduating from high school, and she and Tony struggled as they took on the adult responsibilities that parenting their young son, Andrew, required. Furthermore, Tony wanted Kelly to stay home and take care of the baby and help his parents after they moved into Tony’s parents’ house. On the other hand, Kelly had the dream of continuing her education and attending college, but their circumstances with the baby wouldn’t allow her to pursue that goal. Tony didn’t seem to understand the picture Kelly had in her mind of living the “American dream”, what living the American dream meant to her or the goals that were important to her in achieving that dream. Kelly has no support from anyone to help her pursue her dream. Laotians are seemed very much entrenched in their traditions and culture, but younger generation are fast becoming adapted to the American way of life.

“They had spent a year in France, for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together.” (Fitzgerald 17) Since the 1920s, the United States of America was a symbol of prosperity and freedom in which everybody wanted to experience. Historical events, like the two waves of immigration at Angel and Ellis Island, proved that America was the homeland for successful dreams. Yet, this ideology called the American Dream has been watered down by the racism and division that our country sees today. Therefore, many believe that the American Dream fails to exist any longer, however this is false. Despite the social issues immigrants encounter today, the American Dream has evolved from one large spectrum to a person’s own wants because it no longer excludes people based on social status, wealth, or race; it’s no longer an unanimous idea; and it has become a personal goal as compared to the upper class that tries to redefine it.

The American Dream is something all Americans strive to achieve. Since the beginning of time you hear stories about people immigrating to America. The reason they came to America was because of the new land to build a life on. Advertisements in other countries portrayed America as a perfect country and that the roads were paved in gold. Immigrants took ships to America to be apart of this golden world and experience all the golden opportunities they have heard about. All of the immigrants wanted to live the American dream. The American dream is usually defined as living in America and being successful, a more accurate definition is living in America and having a house, a job, a family, a way of transportation, and to live freely.

The American dream is something that Americans have believed for a long time. It is defined as, by James Truslow Adams, “not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position”. The American dream is not true for some immigrants and the lower class citizens of the United States because though they work hard they still are not able to be successful in the “social order” of the American dream.

The intention of the American Dream was for people to be able to improve their quality of life, which has many factors. But instead of focusing on the advancement of pleasure and one’s own goals, the original hope of the Dream, people tend to strive for the accumulation of wealth and status. Although the Dream can have different meanings for each person, the misunderstanding of its purpose has led to today's warped view of the idea.