Social Control and the American Dream

The American Dream, by definition, is the traditional social ideals of the United States, such as equality, democracy, and material prosperity. To an individual, this means that they are born equal to everyone around them; that they have the same opportunity as the person next to them to work hard in order to achieve their goals. Basically, the American Dream leads people to pursue success in life. This success could be measured in any way the individual wants. However, what most people measure success in is economic prosperity and stability, as well as the ability to sustain their own needs in life.
In my opinion, the American Dream is unachievable. This has been my opinion from the beginning of this course. The only thing that has changed from the beginning of the semester is that I am more convinced now that the American Dream isn’t a reality in modern times. The reason I believe this is that, in America, there is a huge gap in the control of power and money between the upper class bourgeoisies and the lower class proletariats. The lower class consists of the majority of the population. There are two main groups that could fit under the title of the lower class. One includes people who are impoverished and are not able to support themselves with the basic human necessities, such as food and a home. Others are considered to be part of working class America, those who hold jobs that pay just enough to make ends meet. The upper classes that control a majority of the power consist of a very small amount of the people, less than five percent of the general population. They are referred to as the power elite. These include high-powered government officials and politicians, high ranked military personnel, and corporations. They all hold some factor that gives them the ability to control society, whether it be the government and their ability to control the law as well as the military, or corporations and their high economic standings and control over a majority