The Impossible American Dream

958 Words2 Pages

The American Dream is known to be a hope for a better, richer, happier life for all citizens of every class. For almost all Americans, this entails earning a college degree, gaining a good job, buying a house, and starting a family. Although this seems wonderful, a large amount of the American population believes that the Dream has changed immensely because of increased prices in today’s society, the price of tuition being highly unaffordable, as well as the unemployment rate skyrocketing and weaker job growth. While some American citizens believe it has changed, others believe that the American Dream has not changed, but point out it is harder to obtain.

There are multiple factors that make the American Dream come true. Researchers show that almost all American citizens believe the American Dream is still what it was when it first came about. The mindset of the American Dream is not necessarily changing. What are changing are the factors that make the American Dream come true. With prices changing drastically since 1966, to tuition being unaffordable, and unemployment rising and weaker job growth, most of the population believe it takes a lot more work to achieve this Dream than it did back in Generation X.

In 1931 when the American Dream arose, Americans believed that the harder one worked, the more one would prosper (Meacham, 2012). In other words, they strongly believed that the American Dream was gaining a better, richer, happier life. Today, the American Dream is still hoping to earn a college degree, get a good job, buy a house, and start a family, but according to MetLife’s fifth annual survey, 41% of the respondents said it was about personal fulfillment, while most American’s say it is out of reach for many (White, ...

... middle of paper ...

... the American Dream goes, it will ALWAYS be there for most American citizens. However, whether or not we can achieve the American Dream will be the true battle.

Works Cited

Foroohar, R. (2011). What Ever Happened to Upward Mobility? (Cover story). Time, 178(19), 26-34.

Hacker, A., & Dreifus, C. (2010). Are Colleges Worth the Price of Admission? Some Are. Chronicle Of Higher Education, 56(40), A25-A26.

Hicken, M. (2013). Average cost to raise a kid: $241,080. CNNMoney. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com.

Home prices rise at fastest pace since 2006 (2013). CBSNews. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com.

Meacham, J. (2012). Keeping the Dream Alive. (Cover story). Times, 180(1), 26-39.

White, M.C. (2011). American Dream Deferred: We now embrace more modest, personal goals. Times. Retrieved from http://www.business.time.com.

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