The Destruction Of The American Dream In The United States

America still to this day holds on to the idea of the “American Dream”. This is rather surprising in today’s society and the ups and downs that the nation is facing. The dream in the past was more about freedom and equality. Moving through the decades, this dream has morphed into something quite different. Instead of what America means for all of its inhabitants, the nation has become more individualized. Society has moved to interpret the dream of what America can do for the one. Instead of the unified nation, America has been known for in the past, a shift has started creating an inconsistency in who can realize the dream. The myth of the “American Dream” has been hugely affected by increased materialism, the gap in economic status, and the fantasy of “rags to riches” idea.

From the birth of America, to America today, the driving force and the heart of America has always been the “American Dream.” The “American Dream” is a goal for the majority of people who live in the realms of the Americanized world. I believe that the “American Dream” is controlling my own destiny, becoming successful, and living free. Examples of this dream are things like television, automobiles, supermarkets, malls, Internet, planes, trains, etc. The “American Dream” is success, freedom, and being able to control your own destiny.

The American Dream was a well thought idea during the creation of the Declaration of Independence; in fact, the original belief of the American Dream was that all Americans could pursue “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (McQuade and Atwan). Furthermore, today the American Dream is an ideal thought to the overall strive for success. According to Kimberly Amadeo, a well-known author, she elaborated in her article What is the American Dream Today “… a focus on more of what really matters, such as creating a meaningful life, contributing to community and society, valuing nature, and spending time with friends and family” (Kimberly Amadeo). Creating the American Dream, controlling decisions, and building a life that can carry out success

The idea of the ‘American Dream’ motivates workers without giving them any actual gratification; individuals are led to believe that success is inevitable and thus abstain from carrying out the necessary work to achieve their long term goals, preventing lower class individuals from entering positions of power. The American Dream is the concept that anyone, regardless of wealth or status can achieve success in America. George

As the phenomenal politician Bernie Sanders once said, “For many, the American dream has become a nightmare.” In the novel The Great Gatsby, written by Scott Fitzgerald, the “American Dream” plays a crucial role in the plot. Gatsby devotes his life to accomplish his American Dream which consists of wealth and Daisy’s love. But is the American Dream actually what it seems to be? Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald utilizes the symbolic value of the Valley of Ashes, East Egg, and the significance of the color yellow to constantly establish that opulence and the American Dream is deceiving as it leads to moral and societal corruption.

What is American Dream? What does it mean to you? What does it mean to me? Although we all have the same ideology of what the definition of what the American Dream is, we can all come up with a different meaning, each one more personal to ourselves than to others. As we will see with the help of three different authors, regardless of age, race, sexuality, religion, or social status, we could possibly agree on the idea of the American Dream falling short and being a false sense of reality for many Americans to this day.

When the phrase “American Dream” is uttered, it is typically associated with having money or striving to have money. The dream of much of the public is to have money and to be able to purchase anything they desire whenever they want. For some, this dream is not about money, but it is about having the opportunity to better his or herself and his or her loved ones. In either case, there are certain circumstances and obstacles that make this dream increasingly difficult to attain. Some would even be willing to argue, the American dream is unattainable. “American Dream” is defined as the concept of every citizen of the United States having an equal opportunity to achieve success and happiness through hard work, sacrifices, and risk-taking (Fontinelle);

The American Dream: Is is fact or fiction? In the United States’ Declaration of Independence, our founding fathers set forth the idea of an American Dream by providing us with the recognizable phrase “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”. The green light at the end of Daisy Buchanan’s dock symbolizes Jay Gatsby’s “Pursuit of Happiness” in the novel, The Great Gatsby, set in the 1920s on Long Island, New York. The American Dream can be defined as “the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible for everyone. The American Dream is achieved through sacrifice, risk-taking, and hard work, not by chance” (Fontinelle, Amy). At the birth of our country in 1776, our founding fathers introduced the American Dream as a personal desire to pursue happiness; however, the pursuit of happiness was not intended to promote self-indulgence, rather to act as a catalyst to encourage an entrepreneurial spirit. As our country has changed, the idea of the American Dream, in some cases, has evolved into the pursuit of one’s own indulgences such as material gain regardless of the consequences.

The American Dream is a concept that is essentially older than the United States, dating back to the seventeenth century. It was then when people began to come up with hopes and aspirations for the newly discovered, unexplored continent. The “American Dream” is in essence the idea in that puts forward the notion that all people can succeed through hard work, that all people have the right to the pursuit of happiness, and be successful. The definition of the American Dream has been expanded upon and redefined over time. The concept of the American Dream has always been debated and put under criticism. There are many that believe the structure of American Society belies the idealistic goal of the American Dream. It points out examples of

Many years ago today, the United States of America was the prime example of prosperity and opportunity. It established America with the idea that its citizens would be guaranteed life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Today, it is true that people have liberties and are free to pursue happiness. However, in recent years, in the worst recession since the Great Depression. Unemployment, growing economy inequality, and medical care have skyrocketed. Despite the odds, the American Dream is still a goal that many people strive for and hope to reach. In fact, an essay written by Brandon King, The American Dream: Dead, Alive or on Hold? He says, “the American dream is a dream in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with the opportunity for each according to his/her ability and achievement…” (King 610-611). Therefore, the problem with the American Dream lies not within the dream itself, but within the means people pursue to attain this dream.

The Roaring Twenties is when the Americans, especially wealthy people, are being so wasteful on spending money and are addicted to alcohol and drugs. During that time, many people have hopes for the American Dream. The American Dream is a belief that a better life could be achieved through hard work. Different people have different understandings of American Dream and different ways to pursue their dream. Some key ideas of the American Dream are equality, rights, opportunities and the pursuit of happiness. In the book The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald reveals the American Dream is an unattainable illusion and the materialism led to the corruption of the American Dream in the Roaring Twenties. Gatsby, Daisy and Myrtle all have been fail to achieve their dreams in the book and destroy by the American Dream.

The American Dream can be understood by many people to mean many different things. Even with various meanings, to the greater part of people, it is to be happy, wealthy and successful in life; however money does not always led to happiness. You can always buy things that satisfy your want, when you have large amount of money. This stuff will make you happy for a short amount of time, but after the consumer may become uninterested with having everything he/she could possibly ever want. This is just one of the ways the characters in the novel, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald are by the deceptive representation of the American Dream. The accurate meaning of the American Dream is missing from the characters like Jay Gatsby, Tom Buchanans, Myrtle Wilson, and Daisy Buchanans in the novel, and leads them to the disgrace of their life to acquire its illusionary purpose.

The United States of America is the most powerful and wealthy country in the world. The varieties of class, individuality, religion, and race are a few of the enrichments within the "melting pot" of our society. The blend of these numerous diversities is the crucial ingredient to our modern nation. Even though America has been formed upon these diversities, its inhabitants- the "average American"- have a single thing in common; a single idea; a single goal; the American Dream. The Dream consists of a seemingly simple concept; success. Americans dream of a successful marriage, family, successful job, and own a Victorian-style home with a white picket fence and an oak tree with a swing tire in the front yard. The

The quote of American society is that its the “best country in the world”. They're free, they can do what they want. Others view them as having it all, being the best of the best. They have it all figured out. Or so they used to. This nation is run buy the working class. They control the nation although it may seem like the government does. This nation is powered by the workforce. They go to work and provide for themselves and their family. Driven by the thought of the American dream. In other words the opprotunitty to make as much money as they physically can. To buy and sell what they please. But what is at work in their economy to derail the production of this once prosperous country. What is at work to destroy the American Dream.

What is the “American Dream”? The American Dream has always been characterized by a thriving job market, opportunities for advancement, stability, etc. It is “the pursuit of individual achievement without consideration for moral or legal restrictions” (Angulski, 2013). This idea dates back as far as 1630 to the puritan colonists. It was first established within a sermon given by John Winthrop while sailing to Massachusetts. This sermon set into motion the ideals that we have adapted today enveloping the “American Dream”. From then on Americans put their faith in the theory that if you work hard and do the right thing you will manifest your goals and eventually attain success and comfortability. The dream of the time was to live in a land where there existed a right to religious freedom and opportunity. This ideal has stuck to this day, however the validity may is no longer intact. The American Dream is a mere afterthought within today’s society, overtaken by massive debt and loss of opportunity. The American Dream is the greatest asset we as a country possess, “the fact that people from across the world still want to come to America to fulfill their dreams, to join a society that they see as dynamic, exciting, and full of potential, is a testament to the great potential of America to improve lives and offer opportunity for all” (Ross, 2016).