American Dream: An Immigrant's Perspective

The American Dream: An Immigrant's Perspective

First popularized in 1931 in James Truslow Adam's book The Epic of America, the notion of the American Dream was revisited by President Obama in his second Inaugural Address last January 21, 2013. President Obama used soaring language to reaffirm America's commitment to the dream of equality in opportunity with his statement: We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American; she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own.
In Tuslow's original words, the American dream is: that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller…show more content…
Some of the elements of this dream include getting a college education for one's self, sending one's child to college, owning a home, financial security, liberty and happiness. From parents' perspective, this dream means their children will achieve greater things and will live a better life than them. From an employee’s perspective, it means working hard and possessing the required work ethics leads to the possibility of becoming successful. Therefore, anyone who comes from a middle to low-income family but works hard and demonstrates a good attitude towards work has the ability to succeed and has the same life chances as anyone who was born with a silver spoon. This should be the case for everyone regardless of age, color and…show more content…
"For Young Immigrant, American Dream Still Shines." Tampa Bay Times. 2 Apr. 2010. Web. 2 July 2013.
Lefcourt, Dave. "The Rich Get Richer, the Poor Get Poorer, While the Middle Class Gets Decimated" Economy In Crisis. 10 Oct. 2011. Web. 3 July 2013.
Mills, Karen. "Immigrant Entrepreneurs Make Our Economy Stronger; Create Good American Jobs" SBA.gov. 2013. Web. 11 July 2013
Orchowski, Margaret Sands. Immigration and the American Dream: Battling the Political Hype and Hysteria. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008. Print.
Samuelson, Robert. "We Don't Need Guest Workers" The Washington Post. 22 Mar. 2006. Web. 5 July 2013.
Singh, Kumar. "Young, Jobless and Indian – Given the Lack of Viable Employment Opportunities, a Large Number of Indians Opt for Self-employment." Breakfastnews. 12 Jan. 2012. Web. 2 July 2013.
Sinha, Pravin. Combating Youth Unemployment in India. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Mar. 2013. Web. 5 July 2013.
Thoma, Mark. "The American Dream Has Become a Myth". Economist's View. 2 Oct. 2012. Web. 2 July 2013.
Wadhwa, Vivek. "Are Indians the Model Immigrants?" Bloomberg Businessweek. 13 Sept. 2006. Web. 4 July 2013.
Watanabe, Teresa. "Filipino Teachers Exchange Homeland for Jobs in America." Los Angeles Times. 18 Mar. 2009. Web. 3 July