The Pursuit Of The American Dream

Does being American mean that you’re an American citizen, or does it mean that you have the same rights and decisions as someone who is a successful American citizen? These decisions include choices you make in order to better yourself in life, whether it has to do with your choice in career, or what you want to do in life. Making decisions, and having choices comes with freedom, as a person, and that reflects on being an American everywhere in the world, even though you’ve never been in America. To be an American means that you have the freedom, and rights to do what you want, be who you are, and be/ become who you want. This right of having the freedom to do what you want, can be elaborated by someone’s life chances.

The "American Dream" is an idea that has always been different throughouttime. It changes in diverse forms and in the end involves success. The "American Dream" was a phrase used by the American people and peoplewanting to become American. It was always the idea that you can become a success. This is true in a partial way, but the true "American Dream" is that with somework and determination anyone can build themselves up in the economic classsystem.

"The American Dream is that any man or woman, despite of his or her background, can change their circumstances and rise as high as they are willing to work” (Fabrizio Moreira). For many years, men and women struggled to achieve the idealistic life of living on independent terms. Many characters in Of Mice and Men work in order to pursue and achieve the American Dream that consisted of having their own house and income. Characters in the book may use that dream to help the overcome their life struggles and personal problems. Of Mice and Men tells the story of two friends, George and Lennie, who find themselves on a ranch in pursuit of their dreams. Unfortunately for them, circumstances beyond their control cost Lennie and George their dream and much more. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck portrays how dreams create a false sense of hope in order to cover up the realities of life through George, Curley’s wife, and Candy.

The American Dream is something that should be for anyone who wants to achieve success, and prosperity through the hard work and determination. According to Webster Dictionary, immigration is the act of moving to another country which is not their native to live there permanently. Many people from all over the world are suffering from hunger, having a polluted country and suffering poverty before you want to be selfish think about all those people who wish to have one fourth of what we all have in America and to be part of the El Dorado where people do not suffer a lot as other countries. Several people from all over the world specially form third world countries that are in war try so hard to complete the Odyssey to the United States for a better life where their dreams can come true. Immigrants who make it to the United States face many discriminations which makes their life harder and difficult. Now those immigrants, how many call them are teachers, doctors, dentists, engineers, and many more occupations and their contributions have a great impact in United Sates. Not only does Mexicans try to come to America to complete their dream come for example also Canadians, Syrians, Cubans and Indians as many other more. Every year more and more immigrants are coming in to United States. The immigrants who crosses the boarder with the hope for a better life have come to be successful at achieving their American Dream and the United States is rapidly increasing their population due

The American dream is a subjective idea that can mean money and fame for some or just the idea of freedom to others. What we believe is our path to reach this dream determines whether or not we are blinded by corporations’ image of the “American Dream”. Corporation’s main goal is to subtly coerce consumers into believing in the corporate world’s idea of the “American Dream”. They accomplish this by placing consumer’s into general categories which depicts how they will consume and place them in a cycle of false-consciousness which ultimately leads to the circulation of money within the rich and the stunting of the poor’s “hope” and possibility to obtain a better life. The barrier that stops low class citizens from advancing creates a “new primitive” society in which everyone blindly participates in the “norm” and becomes stuck in time.

The United States of Inequality is an article that delves into the harsh realities we face in our country today, with regards to income inequality. Income inequality in the United States is at a rise. And the sobering factor is that so little is being done to address this issue. According to a new study by researchers at the Economic Policy Institute, forces of rising inequality are operating at an all-time high throughout the United States. The study, “which measures income inequality by state, metro area and county, shows that inequality has risen in every state since the 1970s.” It also shows that rising inequality is deep-rooted.  “Recessions in recent decades have temporarily slowed income growth among the top 1 percent, but they have not altered the basic pattern in which the rich have gotten much richer while nearly everyone else has seen income stagnate or decline (Tritch, "The United States of Inequality", 2016).” In all, the top 1 percent in the United States captured 85.1 percent of total income growth from 2009 to 2013. In 2013, the 1.6 million families in the top 1 percent made 25.3 times as much on average as the 161 million families in the bottom 99 percent.

The American Dream: Is it fact or fiction? In the United States’ Declaration of Independence, the founding fathers set forth the idea of an American Dream by providing the American people with the recognizable phrase “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” (USHistory.org). 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 (Fitzgerald, F. Scott). The American Dream is 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

In the Documentary, “Inequality for All”, scholar Robert Reich forces viewers to dissect our Nation’s wealth distribution model and the shattering effects it has on income equality. Reich begins his argument with a staggering piece of evidence that was shocking to learn that the upper 1% of the nation, the wealthy portion, makes up over half of the national income. This means that the remaining 99% of the population of the United States makes up less than half of the income in our nation. This is a gigantic gap that almost seems unfixable in a day where wages are decreasing and expenses keep rising. He identifies that the middle class is rapidly sinking and no longer has the purchasing power to keep the economy stable.

The American Dream is a concept that has been wielded in American Literature since its beginnings. The ‘American Dream’ ideal follows the life of an ordinary man wanting to achieve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The original goal of the American dream was to pursue freedom and a greater good, but throughout time the goals have shifted to accumulating wealth and high social status. Deplorable moral and social values have evolved from a materialistic pursuit of happiness. In “Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity”, Roland Marchand describes a man that he believed to be the prime example of a 1920’s man. Marchand writes, “Not only did he flourish in the fast-paced, modern urban milieu of skyscrapers, taxi

Many human resource departments do not acknowledge resumes anymore. In fact, many of the companies offer survival jobs instead of the jobs applicants actually apply to, therefore causing downsizing. I know many may think what is a survival job? A survival job is any job an applicant can obtain in order to put food on their tables. Housekeeping, taxi driving or car detailing, to name a few, are survival jobs that offer minimum wage or tips and no source of benefits.

Acclaimed writer and professor of English literature, Azar Nafisi said “The negative side of the American Dream comes when people pursue success at any cost, which in turn destroys the vision and the dream”. The American Dream is the “ideology that states that if people work really hard and are determined to achieve their financial goals, they will attain financial success” (Tyson). The Marxist belief that the American Dream is a restrained belief system is widely evident in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The means by which some people pursue this dream ultimately results in the destruction of the dream itself. This is explored through the narcissist attitudes of the individuals who are living the American Dream, the alternatives the proletariat population uses to obtain the dream and the widespread evidence of the unachievability of the dream itself

“The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.” (brainyquote.com/quotes/albert_schweitzer). Service and compassion are American qualities that are vital to a person’s inalienable right to pursue happiness as set out in the Constitution. Yet when society lacks these basic behaviors, the American Dream is unattainable. John Steinbeck’s classic novel, Of Mice and Men, incorporates various characters which create sympathy in readers, characters such as Lennie, Curley’s wife, and Crooks.

The American Dream is something not only citizens of the United States strive to attain, but an ideal that immigrants and citizens of other countries come to America in search for. Many people, including immigrants associate the American dream with success and good opportunities such as having a well-paying job, owning a home, doing better in life than parents, as well as upward social mobility. The American dream, being a national ethos of the United States, is supposed to represent equal opportunity for everyone, regardless of race, skin color, or social class, to achieve success and prosperity through hard work in a society with few barriers. All of this is rooted in the Declaration of

To what extent is the American Dream a reality, a promise, or an illusion? Readers can infer what the American Dream means through extensive reading of American literature. “The Great Gatsby”, “I Hear America Singing”, “Of Mice and Men” and, ” I Have a Dream” all show how the American Dream is either a reality, a promise, or a dream and I will tell you what I think of each.

The American Dream has always been a dream, not a guarantee. Since our parents’ time, education prices have shot through the roof, and prospects of a satisfactory job out of college have sunk below the surface. However most people who have attained the Dream agree that Americans can eventually earn an education and financial independence with hard work, focus, and some luck (Luhby).