Who Still Believes In The American Dream?
Today, many people are in search of the American Dream; freedom, equality, and opportunity. The American Dream is an opportunity and objective that drives people to push their own limits to lead successful lives and live the dreams that they imagined for themselves. Every citizen of the United States of America has the opportunity for achievement no matter what challenge. The term “ The American Dream” has a millions of interpretations, but one of the most famous ones would be, “ Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (Declaration of Independence 1) which is the dream that most Americans strive for. The American Dream is freedom, opportunity and satisfaction of needs and wants. Every individual is different in this case with no person being exactly alike.
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Some Americans have different goals.
In an article by Chris Arnade titled, “Who Still Believes in the American Dream?” Arnade speaks of his experience in interviewing a cluster of kids playing in the streets. He describes the kid’s idea of the american dream saying there was,“A rapid-fire succession of desires for wealth and fame, obtained via the NBA, NFL, and hip-hop.” I feel these are the most common dreams that Americans have. Us as Americans love the idea of a rags to riches stories. The American Dream to most is starting low on the economic or social level, and working hard towards wealth and fame. Having money, a car, a big house, and nice clothes symbolizes the American dream. On the other hand there are some Americans that dream too small. In another article by Marianne Cooper called “The Downsizing of the American Dream” she states that American’s “Lacking the resources needed to stay afloat in the new economy, these young people were no longer setting their sights on the very things that have long symbolized the American dream: a home, a job, a family.” This shows another side to the story. Other American’s live in a very small town or are raised in a poor area are sometimes forced to dream
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Sadly, there are people who gave up on the dream altogether. Most of them believe that the American dream is just that, a dream. Among the quotes from Arnade a man says “The American dream is long gone. Long, long gone. Politicians have ruined it, broken our values, sold out to folks with money who only care about themselves. Nobody cares about anyone who works with their hands anymore. We got to get this country straight again, before it all keeps sliding down into hell.” This quote shows that the dream is slowly dying. The dream is not dying just from Americans themselves, but from selfish, greedy, and smug people. These people seemingly only take the money from Americans and live that dream for them. Another person from the article also states “The American dream is dead, because we don’t have any values anymore. People only care about possessions, about things, about money, not happiness.” As I mentioned earlier people are dreaming of only wealth and fame. We are forgetting about happiness and family and slowly progressing into a more selfish era.
On the other hand, a couple of people are still keeping the idea of “pursuit of happiness” alive. Others from Arnade’s article have a more lively idea of the American Dream saying the dream is to “To have a family, to give them a proper home, and to be able to provide them a proper education.” This is a more considerate idea of the dream. It is more kind and not as selfish of a dream as some of us others. Another person later on says ““I am living the American dream. I have a job, a family, and my son goes to a great school, and if he works hard enough, he can have any job he wants.” This shows that some of the dreams we have is not about ourselves, but others. This American I quoted is living the dream just by giving his son the opportunity to live any dream he wants. He gains happiness just by giving his son the same opportunity he was given.
To me the American Dream can be the best of both worlds. We can have riches and fame without forgetting our family and having real happiness. I can have the car I want, the house I want, and anything else. I can do all of this and also keep happiness and positivity in mind when living this dream. Every once in awhile we can remember just being given the opportunities is the American Dream. Even being in our current position with enough positivity and having true happiness can cause a person to be given a taste of the true sense of the American Dream.
Some Americans have different goals.
In an article by Chris Arnade titled, “Who Still Believes in the American Dream?” Arnade speaks of his experience in interviewing a cluster of kids playing in the streets. He describes the kid’s idea of the american dream saying there was,“A rapid-fire succession of desires for wealth and fame, obtained via the NBA, NFL, and hip-hop.” I feel these are the most common dreams that Americans have. Us as Americans love the idea of a rags to riches stories. The American Dream to most is starting low on the economic or social level, and working hard towards wealth and fame. Having money, a car, a big house, and nice clothes symbolizes the American dream. On the other hand there are some Americans that dream too small. In another article by Marianne Cooper called “The Downsizing of the American Dream” she states that American’s “Lacking the resources needed to stay afloat in the new economy, these young people were no longer setting their sights on the very things that have long symbolized the American dream: a home, a job, a family.” This shows another side to the story. Other American’s live in a very small town or are raised in a poor area are sometimes forced to dream
small.
Sadly, there are people who gave up on the dream altogether. Most of them believe that the American dream is just that, a dream. Among the quotes from Arnade a man says “The American dream is long gone. Long, long gone. Politicians have ruined it, broken our values, sold out to folks with money who only care about themselves. Nobody cares about anyone who works with their hands anymore. We got to get this country straight again, before it all keeps sliding down into hell.” This quote shows that the dream is slowly dying. The dream is not dying just from Americans themselves, but from selfish, greedy, and smug people. These people seemingly only take the money from Americans and live that dream for them. Another person from the article also states “The American dream is dead, because we don’t have any values anymore. People only care about possessions, about things, about money, not happiness.” As I mentioned earlier people are dreaming of only wealth and fame. We are forgetting about happiness and family and slowly progressing into a more selfish era.
On the other hand, a couple of people are still keeping the idea of “pursuit of happiness” alive. Others from Arnade’s article have a more lively idea of the American Dream saying the dream is to “To have a family, to give them a proper home, and to be able to provide them a proper education.” This is a more considerate idea of the dream. It is more kind and not as selfish of a dream as some of us others. Another person later on says ““I am living the American dream. I have a job, a family, and my son goes to a great school, and if he works hard enough, he can have any job he wants.” This shows that some of the dreams we have is not about ourselves, but others. This American I quoted is living the dream just by giving his son the opportunity to live any dream he wants. He gains happiness just by giving his son the same opportunity he was given.
To me the American Dream can be the best of both worlds. We can have riches and fame without forgetting our family and having real happiness. I can have the car I want, the house I want, and anything else. I can do all of this and also keep happiness and positivity in mind when living this dream. Every once in awhile we can remember just being given the opportunities is the American Dream. Even being in our current position with enough positivity and having true happiness can cause a person to be given a taste of the true sense of the American Dream.