The American Dream: Is It Still Attainable? What is the American dream? Some would say a successful career. Some would say a life of fulfillment and happiness. Some might even say equality and acceptance for all Americans. But what it is really‚ and how must an individual go about attaining it? I believe the American dream is defined by the personal desires of the one striving and working for it. Our rights as Americans are clearly stated in the Declaration of Independence: Life‚ liberty and the
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People across America and the world hear their whole lives about the American Dream. I interpret the Dream as freedom to say‚ do‚ belief‚ and live as you want. Oversees they believe the same as I said previously‚ but they would add that the Dream also consists of helping their family survive. There are many different type of ethnicities that try to get into the United States‚ but we as a country set levels of how many of a certain ethnicity are allowed into our country. The current quota of immigrants
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most youth and working class citizens about how they view the future you’d get bitterness and uncertainty rather than hope and joy and in their voices. The American dream has constructed and enforced an idealized concept due to the emotional and physical barriers in the economy‚ politics‚ and it’s portrayal in the media. The American dream is a national ethos of the United States. In the colonial days‚ it was easier to hold the right of freedom of speech without holding the fear of being censored
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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
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HIST101A David Brooks TA: Essay #1 The pursuit of happiness is the American dream that every person in this country is driven to achieve. To succeed‚ this dream may take a few years of luck‚ or a lifetime of hard work. No matter what happens in this journey‚ the learning experience of gaining that happiness is what will be remembered the most. Benjamin Franklin once said‚ “Happiness consists more in the small conveniences of pleasures that occur every day‚ than in great pieces of good fortune
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lack the essentials to be on an equal level with the rest of society. Many theories have been applied to the issue of poverty with controversy over how and if the poverty problem should be addressed. Inequality‚ homelessness‚ and the idea of the American dream also has an influence on poverty. A theory of poverty promoted in 1959 by Oscar Lewis is the idea of a culture of poverty theory. The culture of poverty theory is an entrenched attitude that can develop among poor communities and lead the poor
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The American Dream in the 1960s “You have to forget about what other people say‚ when you’re supposed to die‚ or when you’re supposed to be loving. You have to forget about all these things. You have to go on and be crazy. Craziness is like heaven‚” said Jimi Hendrix (Haugen 55) . Jimi Hendrix along with many other Americans wanted to live a life full of peace‚ freedom‚ and happiness. One thing was certain‚ America changed in the 1960s and along with it‚ so did the American Dream. The American Dream
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John Smith and William Bradford were both leaders of the colonies they established. Although their personalities and the way they did things differed‚ they both had the same ambition. The intentions these two fair men shared was to help their colony survive. " a country that may have the prerogative over the most pleasant places known‚ for large and pleasant navigable rivers‚ heaven and earth never agreed better to frame a place for man’s habitation " -- Captain John Smith‚ 1612. Captain John Smith
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Robertson‚ Kristen English 103 sec 4027 March 16‚ 2011 Debunking the American Dream “For unto everyone that hath shall be given‚ and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.” – Matthew 25:29. Malcolm Gladwell uses this scripture from the gospel of Matthew to introduce the phenomenon of the “Matthew Effect” in his book‚ Outliers. He defines an “outlier” as “men and women who do things out of the ordinary” (Gladwell 17). In his search
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The American Dream Final Exam By: Uday Govindswamy Period 2 The idea of the “American Dream” was first used in the book The Epic of America‚ written by James Truslow Adams‚ in 1931. Adams stated that the American Dream is‚ “the dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone‚ with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement…(31) “. The key elements of the American Dream include: access to a college education‚ owning a home‚ enjoying political
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