California Pursuit Of Life
Around the world, there are many countries, states, cities, and communities that live in poverty and cannot do much based on their surroundings and resources. Many people travel over to California in order to seek positive opportunities that will allow them to build a new life and succeed in their future. In the book California Dreams and Realities by Jack Solomon and Sonia Maasik, there are different selections which describe reasons on why people look to California as “the pursuit of life” such as jobs, land, and luxury. However, there are deeper reasons and symbols that give California the image of a great place. Freedom, wealth, and experience make California the start of great opportunities and live up to the ideal “dream life” that it
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is known to be. It is learned through history that as time passed by many people lived through racism, sexism, or didn’t have the power to make decisions for themselves. The importance of ones freedom is not only ethical but it also gives a sense of not having a limit of who you want to be. In the selection A New Perspective on the Dream by Denise S. Spooner, she mentions that “Southern California in the postwar years represented a place where their lives could be different, where they would be free to express their individuality as openly or privately as they wished” (42). This here shows that many immigrants wanted to come to the Midwest in order to escape a judgmental life, and build a life of freedom to be comfortable with whom they were. Many would say that having freedom is a “privilege”, but for migrants that lived elsewhere and were seeking to travel over to California looked at it as one of the best “opportunities” that California had to offer. In Proofs by Richard Rodriguez, he wrote “For attribution, mama says she is grateful for America. This Country has been so good to her family. They have been here for ten years and look already they have this nice house” (66). The migration from Mexico to California allowed her the freedom of being able to work and raise her family in a nice home. The idea of being free from judgment based on norms, from other races that looked down each other, or even to escape to a “dream life” is definitely an opportunity to seek without hesitation to move forward in life. In order to move forward in this “dream life” it was very important to seek out for fortune, luckily, California has many opportunities for people to have their own assets and wealth.
The slogan “The Pursuit of Life” basically refers to a quest of living and a search of someone’s well being. Many migrants came to California in search for wealth and property, for example, “The Spanish settlers of the eighteenth century, as well as the American infiltrators and gold rushers of the mid-nineteenth century, identified California with risk, danger, excitement, and the chance for acquiring fortune” (Spooner 45). The fact that California was known to have gold made it an opportunity for many settlers to come over to California to create a new life and search for as much wealth as they could find. People would go above and beyond limits in order to take care of family and to be somewhat content with their life. In the selection Proofs, Rodriguez shows that “People went back and forth. People came up for work. People went back home, to mama or wife or village. The poor had mobility” (69). California had enough opportunities to where people would travel back and forth in search for wealth to take home to their families to make sure they are living well
off. There are many people that go through life and experience many things that shape them into who they are as a person. Having to come to California as a migrant gave them the experience of knowing how to survive and make a living for themselves and their families. “In the fifties, Mexican men were contracted to work in America as braceros, farm workers” (Rodriguez 65). This relates to today in California, many opportunities are given to minorities for a minimum wage that allows them to live day by day. The experience that these people may go through may not be the best, however because they came to California they most likely are living better off than they would be. Traveling to California, many people are able to experience all the positive aspects of “Sunshine, oranges, beaches, Hollywood—the pursuit of life defined by these images has long been though to have been the primary motivation for the migration of millions of Americans to southern California from the late 1800s through the twentieth century” (Spooner 40). Being able to experience the weather, food, and different places that California has to offer is an opportunity that can lead to self-improvement based on whether people allow these experiences and opportunities to shape them in a positive way. California is one of the most popular states that people always choose to come to because of how much it is advertised as the “dream life” All the expectations that people have raised the bar to for California is really lived up to because of the opportunities it has to offer such as education, careers, and life. Based on the above selections, it proves that California lived up to the expectations that were set and believed. There may be many obstacles that people go through by living in California but an obstacle can always be overcome, unlike the opportunities that are offered can always be used for self-improvement.
is known to be. It is learned through history that as time passed by many people lived through racism, sexism, or didn’t have the power to make decisions for themselves. The importance of ones freedom is not only ethical but it also gives a sense of not having a limit of who you want to be. In the selection A New Perspective on the Dream by Denise S. Spooner, she mentions that “Southern California in the postwar years represented a place where their lives could be different, where they would be free to express their individuality as openly or privately as they wished” (42). This here shows that many immigrants wanted to come to the Midwest in order to escape a judgmental life, and build a life of freedom to be comfortable with whom they were. Many would say that having freedom is a “privilege”, but for migrants that lived elsewhere and were seeking to travel over to California looked at it as one of the best “opportunities” that California had to offer. In Proofs by Richard Rodriguez, he wrote “For attribution, mama says she is grateful for America. This Country has been so good to her family. They have been here for ten years and look already they have this nice house” (66). The migration from Mexico to California allowed her the freedom of being able to work and raise her family in a nice home. The idea of being free from judgment based on norms, from other races that looked down each other, or even to escape to a “dream life” is definitely an opportunity to seek without hesitation to move forward in life. In order to move forward in this “dream life” it was very important to seek out for fortune, luckily, California has many opportunities for people to have their own assets and wealth.
The slogan “The Pursuit of Life” basically refers to a quest of living and a search of someone’s well being. Many migrants came to California in search for wealth and property, for example, “The Spanish settlers of the eighteenth century, as well as the American infiltrators and gold rushers of the mid-nineteenth century, identified California with risk, danger, excitement, and the chance for acquiring fortune” (Spooner 45). The fact that California was known to have gold made it an opportunity for many settlers to come over to California to create a new life and search for as much wealth as they could find. People would go above and beyond limits in order to take care of family and to be somewhat content with their life. In the selection Proofs, Rodriguez shows that “People went back and forth. People came up for work. People went back home, to mama or wife or village. The poor had mobility” (69). California had enough opportunities to where people would travel back and forth in search for wealth to take home to their families to make sure they are living well
off. There are many people that go through life and experience many things that shape them into who they are as a person. Having to come to California as a migrant gave them the experience of knowing how to survive and make a living for themselves and their families. “In the fifties, Mexican men were contracted to work in America as braceros, farm workers” (Rodriguez 65). This relates to today in California, many opportunities are given to minorities for a minimum wage that allows them to live day by day. The experience that these people may go through may not be the best, however because they came to California they most likely are living better off than they would be. Traveling to California, many people are able to experience all the positive aspects of “Sunshine, oranges, beaches, Hollywood—the pursuit of life defined by these images has long been though to have been the primary motivation for the migration of millions of Americans to southern California from the late 1800s through the twentieth century” (Spooner 40). Being able to experience the weather, food, and different places that California has to offer is an opportunity that can lead to self-improvement based on whether people allow these experiences and opportunities to shape them in a positive way. California is one of the most popular states that people always choose to come to because of how much it is advertised as the “dream life” All the expectations that people have raised the bar to for California is really lived up to because of the opportunities it has to offer such as education, careers, and life. Based on the above selections, it proves that California lived up to the expectations that were set and believed. There may be many obstacles that people go through by living in California but an obstacle can always be overcome, unlike the opportunities that are offered can always be used for self-improvement.