Another quality that unites all Americans is its past. Monuments like the Lincoln Memorial, historical landmarks, like war battlefields, and federal holidays such as the 4th of July are just some models of a time or place that all Americans can share. Or like the time I visited the nation’s capital, Washington D.C. which was filled with pride and joy for the nation. These things remind Americans of the struggle our country endured to gain freedom and the
My Le Professor McNeil English 1101-113 6 October 2012 Paper 1 “Final Draft” The drive for a perfect lifestyle falsely pulls many people to America. Everyone views America as a place for freedom and prosperity. They come in search of the American dream but many just find a life full of greed. The American dream is known as a belief of gaining the flawless way of life through hard work and dedication. Each person has a unique take on what they believe the American dream is, but every person’s American dream has a goal of success and happiness.
Twenge says, “reality TV is very popular, and it is supposed to how ‘real life’ and real behavior without the façade of fictionalized dialogue and story lines. But because reality TV stars are so narcissistic, it’s really a showcase for narcissistic behavior” (pg 7).
The Great Depression changed and effected Americans and the economy. Millions of Americans lost their jobs and homes. The economy went though a lot of failure of meeting financial obligation in banking and in trading. Because of this Europe and many other nations were set back from many of our abilities to help with their broken economies as well.The unemployment in the Depression was very scary. The Depression started with the market crash of 1929.
The American Dream can be achieved in different aspects by different people. Wealth is one ideal that everyone wishes they had and are constantly trying to achieve. Ideally people believe that if they get a job then the wealth will just fall into their lap. This is an unrealistic idea and Gatsby learned that the hard way. Gatsby worked extremely hard to gain his wealth and it all payed off in the end.
People struggle determining what the American Dream is. No one can clearly define what the American dream is but can only describe what it means to them. Many say the American Dream is coming to America to have the many opportunities and live their lives in riches. Others demonstrate that the American Dream is being treated fairly and equally, no matter what race, color skin, and family they come from. Those who are blessed enough to be born in a life of wealth and comfortable livelihood may not be able to grasp the meaning of the American Dream, but others who struggle in life and are restrained by the opportunities that did not come their way, tend to understand what the American Dream is.
Rawls’ piece, “California: A Place, a People, a Dream,” he also explains to us that California is not what everyone hypes it up to be, that California is a mixture of both the good and bad. Rawls also states “opportunity and success – these promises are at the heart of the California Dream” (23). The main reason many people go to California is for the exact reason Rawls stated. The opportunity is here, albeit in the technology business such as Silicon Valley, or in the entertainment industry such as Hollywood. The opportunity comes in different forms depending on the person.
The collapse of the housing market and unemployment caused the most damage. Between 1991 to 1992 unemployment had gone back up to 2.6 million. Negative equity meant home owner were paying mortgages far higher than their homes were worth. Many people could simply not keep up with the increased prices and resulted in them losing their homes due to the bank repossessing them. The recession hit close to home for the Tories, effecting the middle class not just the working class of the industrial north.
This also means that if you are poor or you could not find out to make some money it is your own problem. It is the opportunity and freedom for all citizens to achieve their goals and become famous and rich if only they work hard enough. Even though the American Dream is different from person to person it has changed through time. The first settlers from Europe hoped for freedom of religion. It was mostly the poor people who used all their money on getting to America because they wanted to start a new life – to start from scratch and to have a life with
Meanwhile, to make matters worse, State funding is down twenty-two percent over the same time period. Severe Cuts in State funding and drastic spikes in cost have caused the disastrous situation that many Americans have found themselves in recently. (Coy,