The Reality Of The American Dream Essay
Jasmine Bartlett
February 25,2013
TR 9:30-10:50 COMP2
Professor A. Westbrook The Reality of the American Dream
The American Dream is a national philosophy of the United States, a set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility achieved through hard work. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931 he stated “life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth. This definition of the American Dream is a naïve statement because equal opportunity, equality, and anti- greed are dreamlike in today’s society. The American …show more content…
dream is not realistic due to lack of opportunity, greed, and inequality.
The meaning of the "American Dream" has changed over the course of history, and includes both personal components (such as home ownership and upward mobility) and a global vision. Historically the Dream originated in the mystique regarding frontier life. As the Royal Governor of Virginia noted in 1774, the Americans "for ever imagine the Lands further off are still better than those upon which they are already settled". He added that, "if they attained Paradise, they would move on if they heard of a better place farther west", Stated by Nancy Sathre-Vogel in her In pursuit of the American Dream article.
The beliefs today imply that Americans can achieve success through hard work. According to The American Dream, this includes the opportunity for one 's children to grow up and receive a good education and career without artificial barriers. It is the opportunity to make individual choices without the prior restrictions that limited people according to their class, caste, religion, race, or ethnicity. Immigrants to the United States sponsored ethnic newspapers in their own language; the editors typically promoted the American Dream.
Equal opportunity is a stipulation that all people should be treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers or prejudices or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified (Roemer).
The statement “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” over through the true meaning of equal opportunity. For example when applying for jobs, school or joining organizations people are asked if they know someone who’s associated with the company or organization. Most likely, the applicant with connections would get the position even if the other applicants are more qualified. It is also stated that getting a degree is a necessary experience and comes in handy when you least expect it. But what knowledge you have in the field you study most times only takes you so far. It’s the relationships you develop along the way that help get to where you need to go with that well-earned knowledge.
In my case I was not born to a well-connected family so while in college I’ll need to do a lot of favors, internships, and community service to gain connections. So, when I graduate I’ll have a greater chance of employment or a positive direction. In addition in today’s society for most jobs you are required college experience or a college degree which is not fair because everyone doesn’t aspire to go to
college.
To add, the American Dream is farfetched due to inequality and greed. In conflict to popular wisdom, most people are basically descent. Most people want to do well in their lives, to be useful, to make the world a better place. All other things being equal, most people will work for the good of society, their neighbors, and their loved ones. Of course, all things are not equal. It pays to behave badly. Greedy, selfish, self-promoting people get more money and other rewards than those who behave honorably. This applies equally to everyone from plumbers to politicians. If everyone was given the same pay a lot of companies wouldn’t be relevant because greed influences people to work hard. The more inequality there is, the larger the incentives for greedy behavior become.
“For the first time in our history, we are less socially mobile than Europe. And economic inequality is manifestly real, dangerous and growing. The top 10 percent of Americans now account for half of the national income, compared to one-third a number of years ago. Journalist and author David Cay Johnston has given us a vivid measure: “The average increase in real income reported by the bottom 90 percent of earners in 2011, compared with 1966, if measured at one inch, would extend almost five miles for the top 1 percent of the top 1 percent.” ( Zuckerman ) Case in point, people will lie, cheat, and steal for promotions at big name companies or firms because of the thought of an abundance of money and stability.
In short, the illusion of the American dream is overshadowed by the American truth. Everyone being afforded the same ventures and equal opportunity is surreal. People pull one another down all for money. Others get overlooked because they aren’t well connected to the right connections and many people are prisoners to poverty. The American Dream will never be nothing more than a dream.
Work Cited
Emily S. Rosenberg, Spreading the American Dream: American Economic and Cultural Expansion 1890–1945 (1982) pp 22–23
Nevin, Allan. James Truslow Adams, Historian of the American Dream. . Chicago : University of Illinois, 1931. 315. Print.
Roemer, John, 1998, Equality of Opportunity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Library of Congress. American Memory. "What is the American Dream?", lesson plan
Zuckerman , Mortimer , ed. "Solving America’s Inequality Puzzle." www.usnews.com. U.S. News & World Report , 28 march 2014. Web. 9 Apr 2014. .
February 25,2013
TR 9:30-10:50 COMP2
Professor A. Westbrook The Reality of the American Dream
The American Dream is a national philosophy of the United States, a set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility achieved through hard work. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931 he stated “life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth. This definition of the American Dream is a naïve statement because equal opportunity, equality, and anti- greed are dreamlike in today’s society. The American …show more content…
dream is not realistic due to lack of opportunity, greed, and inequality.
The meaning of the "American Dream" has changed over the course of history, and includes both personal components (such as home ownership and upward mobility) and a global vision. Historically the Dream originated in the mystique regarding frontier life. As the Royal Governor of Virginia noted in 1774, the Americans "for ever imagine the Lands further off are still better than those upon which they are already settled". He added that, "if they attained Paradise, they would move on if they heard of a better place farther west", Stated by Nancy Sathre-Vogel in her In pursuit of the American Dream article.
The beliefs today imply that Americans can achieve success through hard work. According to The American Dream, this includes the opportunity for one 's children to grow up and receive a good education and career without artificial barriers. It is the opportunity to make individual choices without the prior restrictions that limited people according to their class, caste, religion, race, or ethnicity. Immigrants to the United States sponsored ethnic newspapers in their own language; the editors typically promoted the American Dream.
Equal opportunity is a stipulation that all people should be treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers or prejudices or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified (Roemer).
The statement “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” over through the true meaning of equal opportunity. For example when applying for jobs, school or joining organizations people are asked if they know someone who’s associated with the company or organization. Most likely, the applicant with connections would get the position even if the other applicants are more qualified. It is also stated that getting a degree is a necessary experience and comes in handy when you least expect it. But what knowledge you have in the field you study most times only takes you so far. It’s the relationships you develop along the way that help get to where you need to go with that well-earned knowledge.
In my case I was not born to a well-connected family so while in college I’ll need to do a lot of favors, internships, and community service to gain connections. So, when I graduate I’ll have a greater chance of employment or a positive direction. In addition in today’s society for most jobs you are required college experience or a college degree which is not fair because everyone doesn’t aspire to go to
college.
To add, the American Dream is farfetched due to inequality and greed. In conflict to popular wisdom, most people are basically descent. Most people want to do well in their lives, to be useful, to make the world a better place. All other things being equal, most people will work for the good of society, their neighbors, and their loved ones. Of course, all things are not equal. It pays to behave badly. Greedy, selfish, self-promoting people get more money and other rewards than those who behave honorably. This applies equally to everyone from plumbers to politicians. If everyone was given the same pay a lot of companies wouldn’t be relevant because greed influences people to work hard. The more inequality there is, the larger the incentives for greedy behavior become.
“For the first time in our history, we are less socially mobile than Europe. And economic inequality is manifestly real, dangerous and growing. The top 10 percent of Americans now account for half of the national income, compared to one-third a number of years ago. Journalist and author David Cay Johnston has given us a vivid measure: “The average increase in real income reported by the bottom 90 percent of earners in 2011, compared with 1966, if measured at one inch, would extend almost five miles for the top 1 percent of the top 1 percent.” ( Zuckerman ) Case in point, people will lie, cheat, and steal for promotions at big name companies or firms because of the thought of an abundance of money and stability.
In short, the illusion of the American dream is overshadowed by the American truth. Everyone being afforded the same ventures and equal opportunity is surreal. People pull one another down all for money. Others get overlooked because they aren’t well connected to the right connections and many people are prisoners to poverty. The American Dream will never be nothing more than a dream.
Work Cited
Emily S. Rosenberg, Spreading the American Dream: American Economic and Cultural Expansion 1890–1945 (1982) pp 22–23
Nevin, Allan. James Truslow Adams, Historian of the American Dream. . Chicago : University of Illinois, 1931. 315. Print.
Roemer, John, 1998, Equality of Opportunity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Library of Congress. American Memory. "What is the American Dream?", lesson plan
Zuckerman , Mortimer , ed. "Solving America’s Inequality Puzzle." www.usnews.com. U.S. News & World Report , 28 march 2014. Web. 9 Apr 2014. .