What is the American Dream

What is the American dream? The concept of the American dream is something that is explored and explained to us throughout our childhood all the way to adulthood. It is a concept taught to us in order to show us the value of hard work. It is a concept that is supposed to instill the ideal that in order to be successful, we have to make sacrifices and that achieving this dream is not an easy task. To be able to delve further into the depths of what the American dream is we have to answer three questions. First, we need to explore what we are told the American dream is. What we are told creates the foundation of our understanding of this abstract concept known as the American dream. Second, we have to answer what the American dream is to us. I will attempt to do this in an open-minded, unbiased, way. Finally after looking at what we are told the American dream is and what we think it is we finally have to tackle the crux of the issue and attempt to determine what needs to be done for the American dream to be realized. What I remember being told as I grew up was that the American dream is an idea that if you work hard and try your best you will be able to accomplish whatever you set your mind to. It is an idealistic view of society that includes yourself, your spouse, kids, a dog, and a house on the corner with a white picket fence. It is the idea that America is the land of opportunity and with enough try we can do anything we set our mind to. There were several examples given to us about how people would rise from poverty, how they would overcome their situations and accomplish great things. They accomplished these feats through hard work, sweat equity, and determination. Success is both a journey and a destination in some ways. Your accomplishments you achieve along the way to your ultimate goal will provide you with enough success to make you want to continue on this journey. While this does give justice to what teachers, preachers, and civic