The American Dream Is Not Achievable

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American Dream is Not Achievable As J.G. Ballard summarized, “No person can maximize the American Dream on minimum wage.”( n.d). This simple statement is unfortunately the truth for millions of Americans across the country. Moreover, the idea of the American Dream is inspired by promises of opportunity and equality for all, as long as you put in the work. However, citizens are not confident in these promises anymore, and are hesitant to pursue their American Dream for a copious amount of reasons. The concept of the American Dream has become such a cliche, that now the values it once stood for have now become meaningless. The American Dream no longer protects what it once symbolized based on the current state of economic insecurity, record low …show more content…

The American Dream is not attainable for all because of the economic instability that Americans report of because the economy has no financial security to protect its people, let alone give them room or time to cultivate their own American Dreams. Patriotism. Americans today are showing the lowest rates of patriotism compared to any other generation, where the people have no interest in pursuing or attaining the so-called American Dream. It is unrealistic to expect Americans to work towards a dream that they do not believe in nor wish to represent, and this summarizes the attitude Gen Z approaches the American Dream with today. From the New York Post, “Another survey from Democracy Fund’s voter study group found even more startling results. Three quarters of Gen Z say that the nation requires “significant change,” while two in three agree that “America is an unfair society.” (Scholtt, 2024, para 4). The component of …show more content…

The American Dream is founded on the belief that anyone, regardless of class, race or religion, can strive and work hard to achieve their biggest dreams; however, without equal opportunities across the field, one can not truly expect to fulfill their aspirations like the American Dream claims. Research completed by Marge Scherer and colleagues compared two different neighborhoods of opposite classes for ten years, and the differences in experiences, opportunities, and outcomes were wildly contrasting (2016). Essentially Scherer’s entire study concluded that despite what the American Dream likes to portray, an individual's beginning circumstances do in fact influence their life in every aspect, and it is impossible to make the broad statement that everyone in America has the opportunity to achieve the same dream when there are variables outside of anyone's control. It is important to realize that while America may not like to acknowledge the disadvantages that the lower class inherently faces, it is a very real factor that affects everything from early development, all the way to scholarship opportunities and career options later in life. From his book, Crain states, “Heavily concentrated in the public sector, minority and female workers have disproportionately suffered

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