The American Dream Dead Analysis

Goff is correct when she says the American Dream is dead. Well, at least the classic, ideal picture of what has been called the american dream. Across generations, Americans shared the belief that hard work would bring opportunity and a better life. America wasn't perfect, but we invested in our kids and put in place policies to build a strong middle class. We don't do that anymore, and the result is clear (Warren, de Balsio). Although, in the past, people have valued, or have been taught to value, materialistic things like houses and cars, that has began to change. Like many modern people, the American Dream is less attainable than in the past generations, based on the six figure salary we must make in order to live that dream. If something
is unattainable, it is not much of a realistic dream. The fictional and material American Dream is clearly dead, and living alone to try an attempt to make the dream come true, seems silly and lonesome.
Thankfully, the American Dream is beginning to evolve by diminishing the priority to value the classic and more outdated standards of success. The Dream should revolve around happiness and valuing human life, that’s it, regardless of the amount of money or children someone has. Perhaps, we will all come to our sense soon, and realize what our own personal American Dream is, and start working towards a realistic and attainable goal.
In this modern world, society has laid out a path for every person to follow in order to become successful and accomplish that classic goal of ‘The American Dream’. The path begins at school, then to college, hopefully that education is enough to get a high paying job to buy a house for a future
family. Regardless of whether a person doesn’t want a home, or hates kids, or doesn’t want to go to college, society says that you need these things in order to attain full success in America. On top of all the pressure to succeed, the classic version of the American Dream gets very expensive, and every step on that path just piles up more and more debt. The dream has become reachable for a very select few, the higher classes in this country gain more success as the middle and lower classes see it drifting further and further away. The rich get richer, while everyone else falls behind. The game is rigged, and the people who rigged it want it to stay that way (Warren, de Blasio). Most people these days are unable to keep up with the mounting piles of debt, so they fall behind and are never able to accomplish the classic ‘American Dream’, which at one time in history was much more attainable. As the times begin to shift and society continues to evolve, the idealistic ‘Dream’ has began to lose popularity and is slowly shifting from being the norm. Less and less people can afford it, less have ‘traditional’ families, more college alternatives and shifting priorities are all contributing factors to the changing American Dream. People are realizing that the classic things society had told us to want and need are not actually what we want and need to live happy and fulfilled lives.
Personally, as time goes on, my own version of the American Dream continues to shift and evolve.
Not too long ago, the dream to me was being successful, which means having money. I figured, in order to be successful, money and wealth were not only necessary, but the primary factor. That isn’t too far from society’s classic version, which relies on money for each step of the path; school, a house, kids, etc. As I grew however, so did my view on the American Dream. My own version has become more realistic as I have become not only more knowledgeable about what I truly need, but also about what I truly want and what could make me happy. Although money and having financial success is helpful in creating a comfortable life without having to worry about debt, living a healthy and fulfilled life should be all that matters to one’s dream, not materialistic things like houses and
cars.
As society and people grow and evolve, so do the ideas of success and The American Dream. In a modern society that is beginning to realize that the classic idea of the dream is getting harder and harder to accomplish (if one even wants the things it entails), the American Dream is changing and becoming more and more broad. All that one should focus on in life is being healthy, happy and fulfilled, whatever that means to the individual. As people of the modern world and my generation grow and develop, so do our ideas and priorities, thus evolving society’s concept of The American Dream.