is the american dream still attainable essay

The 'American Dream' has always been elusive. Is it still worth fighting for?

Was the American Dream ever real? Or was it a mirage?

With so many young people burdened by student loan debt and questioning whether they'll ever be able to afford a home, it's a question worth asking. It's a question worth mulling over when older Americans are working longer – not because they’re bored, but because grocery bills are busting their budgets, their children need support deep into adulthood, and the pensions that once knit together a financial safety net are for many a long-ago memory .

A series of stories by USA TODAY reporters reveals how ephemeral and tenuous the so-called American Dream has become, and also how a younger generation is setting its own terms for what constitutes a life of financial stability and fulfillment.

Child care more expensive than college in many states

The realities are stark.

Learn more: Best personal loans

A first-time homebuyer would need an income of roughly $64,500 a year to buy a so-called starter home, according to Redfin. That’s 13% more than what was needed just a year ago, and what's necessary to purchase a smaller property that typically sold for $243,000 in June – a record high.

Among millennials, student loans make up 36% of their debt, the highest of any generation. In 28 states, child care is more expensive than the cost for a student to attend a public college in their home state, according to lending platform NetCredit.com.

And it’s expected to cost a middle-income, married couple, $233,610 to raise a child born in 2015 through their 17 th birthday, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

It’s no wonder 65% of Gen Zers and nearly 3 in 4 millennials say they feel their financial starting point is far behind where previous generations were at the same age, according to an online poll of more than 2,000 U.S. adults conducted exclusively for USA TODAY by The Harris Poll. And two-thirds of Americans agree that younger people are dealing with difficulties that earlier generations didn’t have to.

“They're telling us they can't buy into that American Dream the way that their parents and grandparents thought about it ‒ because it's not attainable,” said The Harris Poll CEO John Gerzema. 

Segregation, urban renewal, made the American Dream hard to attain

Of course, dreams, by their very definition, are aspirational with no assurance they can become reality. They shimmer in the distance, or in our imaginations.

One person may feel they've missed the mark if they don't become a multimillionaire. For others, a comfortable home, a family and a little extra cash in the bank is more than enough.

Whatever the nuances, the American Dream is fundamental to the American identity, and there is little doubt that some iteration of it loomed large for the 967,500 people who became American citizens last fiscal year, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

My mother was an immigrant. Though she grew up in an affluent family in her native Guyana, she says she and her peers would read American magazines, watch Hollywood epics and imagine that the streets here were paved with gold. When she came to the U.S. to attend college and graduate school, brushes with racism tarnished the fantasy. But she, together with my father, forged a good life, and when she officially became a U.S. citizen in the early 1970s, the photos at the celebration show her smiling, triumphant and proud.

Yet the American Dream has always been hazy, its contours in the eye of the beholder. Depending on who you were, and from where you came, the ladder up was often missing a few rungs, and many had to pull themselves up with no ladder at all.

Maybe your piece of the American Dream was bulldozed for a freeway, like the many Black and brown residents whose homes were demolished in the 1950s and ’60s in the name of urban renewal. Maybe it was denied because you loved someone of the same gender and weren’t allowed to marry. Or perhaps your dream languished because pay inequities based on your being a woman or a person of color made it difficult to build and hold onto generational wealth.

Despite the odds, the dream wasn’t impossible. Among Black Americans, 38% owned a home in 1960, though that was far below the 65% of white Americans who had property. But the hurdles that had to be overcome were arduous. Redlining denied loans to those who were trying to buy homes in minority neighborhoods. Segregation and housing discrimination were rampant. Owning the place where you lived, a cornerstone of the American ideal, was a pillar that was hard won.

The Fair Housing Act passed in 1968 made redlining illegal. But still today, lawsuits have found that appraisers assign lower values to homes owned by Black people compared with their white counterparts. The gap between white home-owning households and those that are Black (73% vs. 44%) is greater now than it was in 1960, according to the Urban Institute.    

It's also very hard to get ahead when you don't earn enough. Women are paid 82 cents for every dollar earned on average by a man, according to an analysis by the Pew Research Center. Black and Hispanic women (70% and 65% respectively) are paid even less.

And while the ability to obtain an abortion legally in the wake of the Roe vs. Wade decision being overturned raised the likelihood of women finishing college by nearly 20%, the Supreme Court decision in June 2022 that took away that federal protection now puts the economic stability and advancement of millions of women in jeopardy.    

Forging a new American Dream

I know from my own conversations with Generation Zers that many resent having to clean up a mess largely caused by their elders. Still, the future belongs to the young.

Maybe a generation that has had to face the grimmest of realities, from a once-in-a-century pandemic to a relentless plague of gun violence to a democracy in stunning decline, no longer has the optimism to dream at all. They are fighting for survival, to reshape a world they did not make, and so they don’t have time to wish and wonder.

Or perhaps they are curating a different sort of dream.

Members of Gen Z save more and also spend more on what they truly care about. That’s a worthy change. Debt, while often necessary, can be suffocating, so if you must take it on, why not make sure it’s for what gives your life purpose and joy?

Buy a house to have an abode to call your own, or a haven that frees you from the whims of a landlord, not just so you can keep up with the proverbial Joneses. Choose college if it’s a building block for your desired career. But if an apprenticeship will get you where you want to go, that should be fine too.

And while raising a family can give you contentment that’s hard to convey, if you don’t want a spouse and 2.5 kids, it’s too significant a responsibility to take on just because society says you should.      

In a piece written by USA TODAY reporters Bailey Schulz and Kathleen Wong, Matt Marino, a 27-year-old teacher in New York City said that while his peers see owning their own house as “impossible,’’ they would also prefer to have “more freedom,’’ such as being able to do work that they love. 

How liberating it must be to care less about status than about having a life where you have the bandwidth to truly enjoy the fruits of your labor.

How gratifying that the ability to breathe fresh air and preserve the Earth means more to many young adults than a bottomless pile of material possessions. 

Whatever version of the American Dream you aspire to, if that vision is to be preserved, all of us, across generations, must commit to making it a real possibility for all.

Is the American Dream still possible? How younger workers are redefining success

How much does it cost to raise a child? College may no longer be the biggest expense.

That’s not easy when too many continue to view financial insecurity as a mark of personal failure. It’s a tall task when some believe certain Americans, based on their gender, race, sexual identity, or immigration status, are less worthy of opportunity, comfort and freedom, than others.

But one can dream.  

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Student Opinion

Do You Think the American Dream Is Real?

By Jeremy Engle

• Feb. 12, 2019

What does the American dream mean to you? A house with a white picket fence? Lavish wealth? A life better than your parents’?

Do you think you will be able to achieve the American dream?

In “ The American Dream Is Alive and Well ,” Samuel J. Abrams writes:

I am pleased to report that the American dream is alive and well for an overwhelming majority of Americans. This claim might sound far-fetched given the cultural climate in the United States today. Especially since President Trump took office, hardly a day goes by without a fresh tale of economic anxiety, political disunity or social struggle. Opportunities to achieve material success and social mobility through hard, honest work — which many people, including me, have assumed to be the core idea of the American dream — appear to be diminishing. But Americans, it turns out, have something else in mind when they talk about the American dream. And they believe that they are living it. Last year the American Enterprise Institute and I joined forces with the research center NORC at the University of Chicago and surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,411 Americans about their attitudes toward community and society. The center is renowned for offering “deep” samples of Americans, not just random ones, so that researchers can be confident that they are reaching Americans in all walks of life: rural, urban, exurban and so on. Our findings were released on Tuesday as an American Enterprise Institute report.

What our survey found about the American dream came as a surprise to me. When Americans were asked what makes the American dream a reality, they did not select as essential factors becoming wealthy, owning a home or having a successful career. Instead, 85 percent indicated that “to have freedom of choice in how to live” was essential to achieving the American dream. In addition, 83 percent indicated that “a good family life” was essential. The “traditional” factors (at least as I had understood them) were seen as less important. Only 16 percent said that to achieve the American dream, they believed it was essential to “become wealthy,” only 45 percent said it was essential “to have a better quality of life than your parents,” and just 49 percent said that “having a successful career” was key.

The Opinion piece continues:

The data also show that most Americans believe themselves to be achieving this version of the American dream, with 41 percent reporting that their families are already living the American dream and another 41 percent reporting that they are well on the way to doing so. Only 18 percent took the position that the American dream was out of reach for them

Collectively, 82 percent of Americans said they were optimistic about their future, and there was a fairly uniform positive outlook across the nation. Factors such as region, urbanity, partisanship and housing type (such as a single‐family detached home versus an apartment) barely affected these patterns, with all groups hovering around 80 percent. Even race and ethnicity, which are regularly cited as key factors in thwarting upward mobility, corresponded to no real differences in outlook: Eighty-one percent of non‐Hispanic whites; 80 percent of blacks, Hispanics and those of mixed race; and 85 percent of those with Asian heritage said that they had achieved or were on their way to achieving the American dream.

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

— What does the American dream mean to you? Did reading this article change your definition? Do you think your own dreams are different from those of your parents at your age? Your grandparents?

— Do you believe your family has achieved, or is on the way to achieving, the American dream? Why or why not? Do you think you will be able to achieve the American dream when you are older? What leads you to believe this?

— Do you think the American dream is available to all Americans or are there boundaries and obstacles for some? If yes, what are they?

— The article concludes:

What conclusions should we draw from this research? I think the findings suggest that Americans would be well served to focus less intently on the nastiness of our partisan politics and the material temptations of our consumer culture, and to focus more on the communities they are part of and exercising their freedom to live as they wish. After all, that is what most of us seem to think is what really matters — and it’s in reach for almost all of us.

Do you agree? What other conclusions might be drawn? Does this article make you more optimistic about this country and your future?

— Is the American dream a useful concept? Is it helpful in measuring our own or our country’s health and success? Do you believe it is, or has ever been, an ideal worth striving for? Is there any drawback to continuing to use the concept even as its meaning evolves?

Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

103 American Dream Essay Topics & Examples

If you’re in need of American dream topics for an essay, research paper, or discussion, this article is for you. Our experts have prepared some ideas and writing tips that you will find below.

📃 10 Tips for Writing American Dream Essays

🏆 best american dream essay topics & essay examples, 👍 catchy american dream topics, ❓ american dream research questions.

The American dream is an interesting topic that one can discuss from various perspectives. If you need to write an essay on the American dream, you should understand this concept clearly.

You can choose to present the American dream as a miracle that one cannot reach or depict a free and wealthy nation. In any case, the American dream essay is a good opportunity to reflect on the concept and learn more about it.

There are many topics you can choose from while writing your essay. Here are some examples of the American dream essay topics we can suggest:

• The true meaning of the American dream
• The image of the American dream in the Great Gatsby
• Is the American dream still relevant in today’s society?
• The role of the American dream: Discussion
• Americans’ beliefs and values: The American dream
• Can we achieve the American dream?
• The American dream in today’s world and society

Remember that you do not have to select one of the American dream essay titles and can come up with your own one. Once you have selected the topic, start working on your essay. Here are ten useful tips that will help you to write an outstanding paper:

• Start working on your essay ahead of time. You will need some time to study the issue, write the paper, and correct possible errors.
• Do preliminary research on the issue you want to discuss. The more information you know about the question, the better. We advise you to rely on credible sources exclusively and avoid using Wikipedia or similar websites.
• Check out the American dream essay examples online if you are not sure that the selected problem is relevant. Avoid copying the information you will find and only use it as guidance.
• Write an outline for your essay. Think of how you can organize your paper and choose titles for each of the sections. Remember that you should include an introductory paragraph and a concluding section along with body paragraphs.
• Remember that you should present the American dream essay thesis clearly. You can put it in the last sentence of your introductory paragraph.
• Your essay should be engaging for the audience. Help your reader to know something new about the issue and include some interesting facts that may not know about. Avoid overly complex sentences and structures.
• Make your essay personal, if it is possible. Do not focus on your opinion solely but provide your perspectives on the issue or discuss your concern about it. You can talk about your experiences with the American dream, too.
• Provide statistical data if you can. For example, you can find the results of surveys about people’s perspectives on the American dream.
• The concluding paragraph is an important section of the paper. Present the thesis and all of your arguments once again and provide recommendations, if necessary. Remember that this paragraph should not include new information or in-text citations.
• Do not send your paper to your professor right away. Check it several times to make sure that there are no grammatical mistakes in it. If you have time, you can put the paper away for several days and revise it later with “fresh” eyes.

Feel free to find an essay sample in our collection and get some ideas for your outstanding paper!

• Essay on the American Dream: Positive and Negative Aspects The American dream is one of the most revered ideals of the nation and it has become a part of the American national identity.
• Michelle Obama American Dream Speech Analysis – Michelle’s purpose was to introduce her husband as man who was more concerned about the common citizens’ concerns and who was willing and able to help everyone to realize his/her American dream because he himself […]
• The American Dream by Edward Albee Play Analysis The American Dream play is an apologue of how American life has turned awry under the pretext of the American Dream.
• American Dream: “Fences” by August Wilson The American dream makes it clear through its guarantee of the freedom and equality with the promise of prosperity and success as per the ability or personal achievements of every American citizen.”Fences” reveals the obstacles […]
• American Dream in “The Pursuit of Happiness” Film In America today, there is a general belief that every individual is unique, and should have equal access to the American dream of life “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.
• The Tortilla Curtain: American Dream – Characters, Summary & Analysis The cultural difference between the two families is introduced by the author as a theme describing the role of gender in the community.
• American Dream After World War I People lost vision of what this dream was supposed to mean and it became a dream, not of the vestal and industrious, but of the corrupt coterie, hence corrupting the dream itself.
• The American Dream in The Great Gatsby After spending some time in this neighborhood, Nick finally attends Gatsby’s exuberant parties only to realize that Gatsby organizes these parties to impress Daisy, Nick’s cousin, and wife to Tom.
• American Dream and Socialism in the Book “The Jungle” by Sinclair The main idea of the book lies in upholding the Marxist belief of the inevitable collapse of capitalism and the accession of the proletariat, or industrial working class.
• Portrayal of the American Dream in the 20th Century Theatre However, different analysts criticized the use of the amelting pot’ in the play to show the pursuit of the American dream terming it as unrealistic in the sense that the term amelting’ creates a picture […]
• Willy Loman and the American Dream As a result of his boasting, a great deal of what his family knows about Willy is based upon the image he feels he must portray of himself in order to bring himself in line […]
• Femininity and the American Dream in Works of Chopin, Gilman, and Williams Even though the general understanding of the American dream was advertised to everyone, the idea was more applicable to the male members of the American society, which is reflected in Chopin’s “The Story of an […]
• Is the American Dream Still Alive? The American Dream can be defined as a summation of national values entrenched in the culture of the United States. In this regard, the minority groups in the United States are often on the receiving […]
• Meritocracy and the American Dream In the perception of such people, the American Dream is directly connected to meritocracy, i.e.a judgment on people on their individual abilities rather than the connections of the families, and in that regard such perception […]
• Whitman, Hughes, and the American Dream Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes, two prominent figures of American poetry of the past, are of them.”I Hear America Singing,” “I, Too,” “Harlem,” and “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” are the emotional responses to the […]
• The American Dream in Arthur Miller’s Plays Willy has a distorted vision of the American Dream, and he has such blind faith in this inaccurate vision that it leads to his mental disturbance when he is not able to accept how the […]
• American Dream of Early Settlers He did not tell the settlers of the difficulties they were going to face in moving from Europe to the land of honey that is America.
• The Corrupted American Dream and Its Significance in “The Great Gatsby” The development of the American dream and its impact on the society of the United States is a pertinent topic of discussion for various authors.
• The Dilemmas of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby is a story of a young man in the early twentieth century who seems to know what he wants in the way of that dream and what to do to achieve it.
• The American Dream, Social Status and Hierarchies The persistence of social status and hierarchies in modern-day America undermines the possibility of realizing Winthrop’s ideal community as a goal for the current American Dream, considering his argument of wouldivinely ordained’ holds no traction […]
• The American Dream and Its Roots The tension between the ideals of the American Dream as espoused by the Puritans and the realities of American life has been a recurrent theme in American history.
• Tensions in the American Dream The imbalance can lead to debates and discussions about the meaning and purpose of the American Dream, as well as a conflict between the ideals of freedom and agency and the desire for a more […]
• Support of the American Dream Act of 2001 In contrast to many supporters of the American Dream Act, some individuals claim that the policy promotes the entrance of illegal immigrants.
• The Possibility of Realizing the American Dream Thus, according to the author, the American dream is only a fantasy. Returning to the ideas of Krugman, Cox and Alm, and Dalmia, it seems necessary to highlight some aspects.
• The American Dream: Meaning and Myth Initially, the existence of this myth set a very high pace and performance for the American economy because it was the only way to achieve the desired level of prosperity.
• Reflection on the American Dream Concept The vision of the American Dream can be different for individuals, and people create their interpretations according to their specific experiences.
• Reaching the American Dream From Scratch For example, the experience of a person coming to the United States from Haiti is one of poverty, under-resourced communities, and a complete disillusion with the promise of a good life.
• The American Dream Based on “Re Jane” by Patricia Park The main difference is that Jane had a chance to live her dreams in New York than in Seoul. Nina is an example of Jane’s friends who want her to succeed and understand the flaws […]
• The American Dream in Boyle’s The Tortilla Curtain The personal experience of the characters can be explained by their varying life conditions and, hence, are linked to the notion of the American Dream, which can be achieved by everyone while the efforts differ.
• Fitzgerald’s ‘The Great Gatsby’, Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ and the American Dream “The America Dream’ is a longstanding common belief of the American population that in the United States, people are free to realize the full potential of their labor and their talents and every person in […]
• Color Adjustment: False Image of American Dream The documentary tells the story of white, well-dressed people advertising the American dream, completely ignoring that the U.S.is not only a country of the white race.
• The American Dream: Franklin’s and Douglass’s Perception The objective of this paper, therefore, is to discuss the topic of the American dream and how both Franklin and Douglass, each exemplify this dream.
• The American Dream and Success One of the most pertinent topics associated with the American Dream is taking the courage to act and seize the opportunity.
• The Concept of American Dream: Examples of Columbus and Bradstreet Bradstreet’s other dream was to be able to secure a position in the ‘New world’ and still be seen as a woman who cares for her family.
• Racial Wealth Gap and the American Dream The speaker evaluates the accumulative wealth of Blacks, Hispanics, and Whites in America and arrives to the conclusion that race plays a role in financial burdens that many people of color experience.
• American Dreams: The United States Since 1945 Although the major idea of the book is a critical one, the author’s intention does not concern analyzing approaches to the American social evolution in order to define the most adequate one.
• History of Achieving the American Dream James Truslow Adams who wrote the book “The Epic of America” defined the American dream as “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity […]
• The American Dream in the 21st Century It is the labor of these people that allowed the country to afford to build its industry and set up a base for fulfilling the American Dream.
• The American Dream: Defining the Great Society For instance, the Medicare bill was for the elderly and the poor, human rights for the oppressed, and antipoverty laws that set a stage for growth in the society.
• American Literature and the American Dream The difference in how the dream is defined lies in how one sees the shape and color of the concoction, whether the texture is just right for the shape of the taste buds assessing the […]
• American Dream and Reality for Minorities The topic of our concern is the reality that is faced by women, blacks, and war veterans who are associated with the American army.
• Richard Rodriguez’s Opinion on Migration and the American Dream American seems to refer only to the citizen of the United States and does not include the rest of the people in the continent!
• American Dream Is Not a Myth The paper is based on the argument, a simplified definition of the American dream: the American dream can be defined as “the achievement of economic and social advancement through hard work and determination”.
• The Immigrant Experience and the Failure of the American Dream The fates of the heroes of the book amaze with their tragedy, and this is the story of slaves of wage labor.
• Tycoons and Their American Dream The American Dream as Rockefeller, Carnegie, Morgan, and others saw it and forged it to be seen by others contributed meaningfully to the values of the American people and the priorities of a nation.
• Theater Exam: American Dream and Family Legacy To start the discussion on the concept of American Dream, I would like to focus on Willy, the main character of the Death of a Salesman.
• Is the American Dream Still Alive? The topic of discussion in this setting would be the American dream and the factors associated with the quest. They would talk about the cost of living, the cost of education, and the fact that […]
• American Dream in Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” The play Death of a salesman is indeed an anatomy of the American dream especially because the plot of the story revolves around some of the basic material gains that individuals in the American society […]
• “American Dream” of English and Chinese Immigrants My family decided to move to the US from England because of the low wages in our town. My intentions were to explore the new opportunities of the West and to earn more money than […]
• The American Dream and Working Conditions In fact, it might be said that it is due to their efforts that the American Dream still exists as a piece of reality.
• American Dream and Equity of Outcome and Opportunity The American dream is one of the most famous declarations of the world and the American subsequent governments have kept the dream alive for the last hundred years.
• Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream This is one of the drawbacks that should be taken into account by the viewers who want to get a better idea about the causes of the problems described in the movie.
• American Dream in Hansberry’s and Miller’s Tragedies Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” and Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” tell the stories about how people can perceive and be affected by the idea of the American Dream, how they choose wrong dreams […]
• Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream – Movie Analysis It can be taken as the national ethos of the citizens of the USA. The basis of the American society is broken and it is not united anymore.
• Music Talent Shows and the American Dream Talent search shows, like American Idol and The Voice, have suffered a lot of criticism for different reasons. Stanley says the main reason for this cynicism is the failure of such shows to focus on […]
• Michelle Obama’s Remarks on American Dream She added that the main goal was to secure the blessings of liberty and to bring about the fulfillment of the promise of equality.
• The American Dream’s Concept The American economy is also likely to improve as a result of realizing the American dream 2013 since most of the residents are likely to indulge in productive activities as stipulated in the American dream […]
• The Concept of Progress or the Pursuit of the American Dream The concept of progress or the pursuit of the American Dream since 1930s has been a matter of concern for many immigrants who believe that they can achieve much in the US than in their […]
• The Book American Dream by Jason DeParle From the name of the book, it is clear that the cardinal theme of the book is the American dream. This is contrary to the fact that she was pregnant and in a crack house.
• The Definition of the Great American Dream: Hearing Opportunity Knock Although the concept of the American Dream is very recognizable, its essence is very hard to nail down, since it incorporates a number of social, economical and financial principles; largely, the American Dream is the […]
• The American Dream Negative Sides and Benefits The United States is thought of as the land of opportunity and there are many people who want to live “The American Dream”.
• Role of Money in the American Dream’s Concept Many people lack the meaning of the American dream because they are always looking forward to find opportunity and fail to realize that the opportunity to succeed is always around them in the work they […]
• The Reality of American Dream The government encouraged the immigration of the population whose labor and skills were required in the United States. The housing in the urban was overcrowded with very unsanitary conditions, and some of the immigrants did […]
• Social Status Anxiety and the American Dream The pain of a loss and the status anxiety that came with being inferior to other students at Harvard instigated the urge to revenge and brought a desire to achieve success.
• Francis Scott Fitzgerald & His American Dream In the novel “Tender is the Night,” Fitzgerald describes the society in Riviera where he and his family had moved to live after his misfortune of late inheritance.
• American Dream: Is It Still There? It is a dream for immigrants from the Middle East to be in America; a country where discrimination is history and where no one will prevent them from achieving their dreams in life.
• The American Dream: Walt Disney’s Cinderella and Ron Howard’s Cinderella Man This is attributed to the fact that the original ideas and the fundamental principals that founded the dream are quickly fading away given the changing fortunes of the average American.
• The Death of the American Dream It is the moral decay that leads to the loss of freedom, the very essence of the founding of the American dream.
• American Dream and Unfulfilling Reality Living the American dream is the ultimate dream for most of the American citizens and those aspiring to acquire American citizenship.
• Inequality and the American Dream It is only after the poor workers are assured of their jobs that the American model can be said to be successful.
• A Response to the Article “Inequality and the American Dream” It has drawn my attention that other world countries embrace the “American model” since the super power has enormous wealth and its economic development is marked by up-to-date juggernauts of globalization and technology.
• In Pursuit of the American Dream: An Analysis of Willa Cather’s O Pioneers The experiences of the characters in the novel portray the endeavors of the early immigrants’ pursuit of the American dream. The instinct to forgo the comforts, which a home country offers by default and then […]
• Fitzgerald’s American Dream in The Great Gatsby & Winter Dreams To my mind, Winter Dream is a perfect example of the American Dream, since the main hero, Dexter, implemented each point of it, he was persistent and very hard-working, he was a very sensible and […]
• How Did Ben Franklin Exemplify the American Dream?
• Does Fitzgerald Condemn the American Dream in “The Great Gatsby”?
• How Do Benjamin Franklin and Frederick Douglass Represent the American Dream?
• Has America Lost Its Potential to Achieve the American Dream?
• How Has Disney’s Social Power Influenced the Vision of the American Dream?
• Does the American Dream Really Exist?
• How Does the Great Gatsby Portray the Death of the American Dream?
• What Does “The Great Gatsby” Have to Say About the Condition of the American Dream in the 1920s?
• How Does One Achieve the American Dream?
• What Are the Greatest Obstacles of Full Access to the American Dream?
• How Has the American Dream Been Translated Into Popular Film?
• What Does the American Dream Mean to an Immigrant?
• How Does Arthur Miller Through “Death of a Salesman” Deal With the Theme of the American Dream?
• What Must Everyone Know About the American Dream?
• How Has the American Dream Changed Over Time?
• What Is Infamous About the American Dream?
• How Does Millar Portray His Views of the American Dream Using Willy Loman?
• When Did American Dream Start?
• How Has the Media Changed the American Dream?
• Who Would Think the American Dream Isn’t Possible?
• How Does Steinbeck Present the American Dream in “Of Mice and Men”?
• Why Will Equal Pay Help Women Achieve the American Dream?
• How Might the Disadvantage of Immigration Affect the Chances of Having That American Dream?
• Why Is the American Dream Equally Given and Registered To All Citizens?
• How Does Extreme Inequality Make the American Dream Inaccessible?
• Why Is the American Dream Still Alive in the United States?
• How Are Millennials Redefining the American Dream?
• Why Is the American Dream Unattainable?
• How Does Society Influence the Idea of the American Dream?
• Why Must the United States Renew Opportunities to Achieve the American Dream to Reform Immigration Policy?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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What is the American Dream in 2020 … if there is one?

Plus, startups are at the highest rate in 13 years, watch the rising international covid-19 numbers, gaming has grown during the pandemic, and more..

As the presidential candidates debate tonight, you may be watching through the filter of who most closely matches your idea of what the American Dream looks like today.

This essay by Governing Magazine senior editor Alan Ehrenhalt gives us something to consider — and maybe even report about — between now and Election Day. He writes:

The phrase “American Dream” was first used in 1931 by the historian James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America. It meant, he wrote, “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone.” Better and richer and fuller in what way? He didn’t say. Maybe in the middle of the Depression it seemed obvious. It doesn’t seem quite so obvious now. What’s clearly true is that the American Dream has meant vastly different things to people in different times and places — if it has any sort of genuine meaning at all.

As a boomer, my understanding of the American Dream had something to do with owning a home with clean drinking water and maybe even air conditioning and being more financially secure than my parents were in rural Kentucky.

Photojournalist Ian Brown traveled 80,000 miles in a pickup truck to visit all 50 states over 12 years and documented that our dreams are as varied as we are. Some people dream grand dreams, others dare to dream to live to adulthood and be spared from the violence around them.

There is some data on this issue. Gallup regularly asks about that dream and whether it is attainable. Women generally see such a “dream” as unattainable, while men say it is.

YouGov heard from 14,000 people in their poll that asked about whether people believe in the American Dream, which it defined this way:

The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible for everyone. The American Dream is generally thought to be achieved through sacrifice, risk-taking, and hard work, rather than by chance.

YouGov’s polling this year still showed a majority of the 14,000 people who participated said it is possible to attain the “American Dream.” Young Americans and Black Americans are far less likely to think such a dream is attainable. One in six Black Americans say they don’t believe there is such a dream.

Business startups are at the highest rate in 13 years

Perhaps another version of the American Dream is to own your own business. Even in a pandemic, and even as thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of businesses will not survive over the next year, the Census Bureau says there have been 3.2 million requests for employer identification numbers, which is what a business needs to get started. Compare that to 2.7 million in the same period in 2019.

(From Census.gov )

And you will notice from this map that some of the states that had the highest COVID-19 rates also have the biggest growth in new business applications. You can get individual state data here .

Watch the rising international COVID-19 numbers

Spain, France, the United Kingdom , Israel , Germany and several South American countries are all seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases, a trend that foretells what the U.S. may see soon. France just imposed new restrictions in 12 cities including Paris. The bans include big wedding gatherings and festivals, and museums have strict limits on crowd size. Some medical groups are pressing for “drastic measures” to avoid a second wave.

Gaming has grown during COVID

People shop near a Super Mario figure on display at Nintendo’s official store in the Shibuya district of Tokyo. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

If there is a growth industry during this pandemic, besides toilet paper and hand sanitizer, it is the gaming industry. Just as an example, Axios points out:

Nintendo reported a whopping 428% increase in profits last quarter, driven largely by monster sales of its Nintendo Switch hardware product and its hit game “Animal Crossing. ” The Japanese company made $1.37 billion in profit for the second quarter, smashing analyst estimates.

Electronic Arts and others also reported great earnings reports this summer.

NBCLX produced a story about how games like “Animal Crossing,” which unfolds over weeks and even months of play, is perfect for a pandemic. It not only helps players pass time but connects players with others.

The NPD Group , which monitors marketing, says the increase in gaming runs across all platforms. Its research (involving a survey of 5,000 gamers) shows at least a third of all game players are playing more than they did before the pandemic. And, mostly, they are still using the same devices that they did before the COVID-19 outbreak.

Three out of every four, or 244 million, people in the U.S. play video games, an increase of 32 million people since 2018; and multi-device usage has increased, with 65% of gamers using more than one device vs. 59% in 2018, according to 2020 Gamer Segmentation Report, the most recent study from The NPD Group . According to the report, gamers average 14 hours per week playing video games, up from the 12 hours per week in 2018, when NPD issued its last gamer segmentation report. Thirty-nine percent of U.S. gamers are Light Players who play less than five hours per week, a decline of 8% from 2018. Moderate Players, gamers who play between five and 15 hours per week, make up 32% of the gaming community in the U.S., a 2% increase over 2018. Heavy Players play more than 15 hours per week and make up 29% of U.S. gamers, a 6% increase over 2018.

Nielsen research pegs the increase in gaming even higher and the demand seems to be strong enough to sustain even as pro sports and college sports are coming back to life.

Did you READ that tweet before you retweeted?

Twitter is trying to encourage people to read before retweeting. How’s that for a new concept. I often find that I will post some big thumbsucker of a story and within seconds it is being retweeted or bashed when it is not possible for anybody to have read it that fast.

Twitter tested out a prompt that asked people if they read the story and found that prompt encouraged a 40% increase in people reading before tweeting.

Mashable explains what’s next with this experiment to fight fake news on Twitter.

Young people were the most-infected age group this summer

Seniors who are infected by COVID-19 get most of our attention, but new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data says , this summer, young people made up the single biggest age group of COVID-infected Americans.

Early in the pandemic, COVID-19 incidence was highest among older adults. But then the demographics shifted. The CDC says :

During June–August 2020, COVID-19 incidence was highest in persons aged 20–29 years, who accounted for more than 20% of all confirmed cases. Younger adults likely contribute to community transmission of COVID-19.

The study found that as the COVID-19 cases among young people increased, especially in Southern states, they likely spread the virus to older people. The same localities that saw an increase in coronavirus cases in younger populations measured an increase of cases in people over age 60 a week or two later. The young people seemed to be the source.

The CDC says this does not necessarily point out to reckless youthful behavior. Younger people may work at jobs that expose them to more vulnerability such as restaurants, bars, grocery stores and delivery services. And, the CDC says, it is also probably true that younger people are more likely to be less careful to keep socially distanced. Younger people are also less likely to show symptoms so they may unknowingly be spreading the virus.

Conspiracy rumors find an audience

A study by the Annenberg Public Policy Center found that COVID-19 conspiracy theories have found significant audiences. The just-published study found that conspiracy rumors are so widely believed that they get in the way of controlling the coronavirus. The study found:

More than 1 in 4 people (28%) in March reported believing that the Chinese government created the coronavirus as a bioweapon, a proportion that increased to 37% in July. Nearly 1 in 4 (24%) believed in March that some in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, are exaggerating the danger posed by the virus in order to damage Donald Trump’s presidency, which increased to 32% in July. Nearly 1 in 7 (15%) believed that the pharma industry created the virus to increase sales of drugs and vaccines, which edged up to 17% in July. In July, among those who were most likely to believe in the COVID-19 conspiracies, 62% reported wearing a mask every day that they went outside of the home and had exposure to others — compared with 95% of those who did not believe in the conspiracies. In other words, those who did not believe in the conspiracies were 1.5 times more likely to wear a mask every day outside of the home when they were in contact with others than the people who most strongly believed in the conspiracies.

Poynter’s PolitiFact team is constantly fact-checking COVID-19 claims . We have all of those fact checks in one place.

(Screenshot, PolitiFact)

Fact-checkers of all sorts have joined forces through the International Fact-Checking Network’s #CoronaVirusFacts Alliance to share and translate their reporting to try to address the public’s confusion. IFCN shares some interesting international science and health fact-checking projects:

SciCheck focuses on science and health claims, generally made by U.S. politicians, that have the potential to affect policy decisions.

Le Détecteur de Rumeurs (The Rumor Detector) comes from Quebec-based news agency Agence Science-Presse.

Science Vs makes dense studies fun and easy to consume.

Metafact uses crowdsourcing to fact check. 10,000 people have contributed observations so far.

Comprueba (Verify), a project of Peruvian health news site Salud con Lupa (Health With a Magnifying Glass), is one of the most recent additions to the science and health fact-checking space.

Another COVID-19 outbreak is linked to a choir practice

I thought we had already made it clear that choir practice in this pandemic is a bad idea. But it seems that a choir in Spain didn’t get the message. 30 members of a 41-member gospel choir just got infected after they came together to practice before a local festival.

You know that saying “Once in a Blue Moon?” It is going to happen.

This is one of those “so 2020” things. October will see not just one full moon, but two in one month, something that is referred to as a “blue moon.” It happens about every two and a half years because the lunar cycle and our calendar do not sync up perfectly. The cool part is the blue moon/full moon will happen on Halloween, which should produce plenty of 2020 weirdness.

The way we live now

CNN correspondent Ed Lavandera spotted this Dallas duplex that may be symbolic of America on the day of the first presidential debate.

Seen in Dallas. A Duplex Divided. Not sure the old adage “Good fences make good neighbors” applies here. #Election2020 pic.twitter.com/QACZywz5T9 — ed lavandera (@edlavaCNN) September 25, 2020

We’ll be back tomorrow with a new edition of Covering COVID-19. Sign up here  to get it delivered right to your inbox.

Al Tompkins is senior faculty at Poynter. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter, @atompkins.

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The American dream still possible, but more difficult to achieve, students discover

WUSTL students in an interdisciplinary course this semester called “Economic Realities of the American Dream” were urged to consider the meaning of the American Dream and explored pathways to achieving it, including overall economic growth and rising standards of living, equality of opportunity, economic mobility and the availability and creation of jobs that will adequately provide for individuals and families.

In 1931, James Truslow Adams first defined the “American Dream” by writing that “life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” regardless of social status or birth circumstance.

In a modern society struggling to loose the grip of a lengthy economic recession, is this dream really attainable?

The dream may still be possible, though much more difficult to achieve, say a renowned macroeconomist and one of America’s foremost experts on poverty, co-teachers of a course on the American Dream this semester at Washington University in St. Louis.

“The American Dream is really at the heart and soul of this country,” says Mark R. Rank, PhD , the Herbert S. Hadley Professor of Social Welfare at the Brown School and author of One Nation, Underprivileged: Why American Poverty Affects Us All.

“It’s the idea of what we stand for and what we represent — the idea of being able to pursue what you are really passionate about and to have a good life,” he says.

The interdisciplinary course, “Economic Realities of the American Dream,” came out of a long friendship between Rank and his co-teacher Steven Fazzari.

“I’ve read Mark’s books and being an economist they really got me thinking about perspectives on the realities of economic life in this country and how we formulate those ideas into this concept of an American Dream,” says Fazzari, PhD , professor of economics in Arts & Sciences.

He says the class has focused on three main components — the freedom to pursue what people want to do to reach their potential, the ability to have a secure and comfortable life and a sense of hope and optimism about the future.

“Many people think the American Dream is owning a home,” Fazzari says. “That may be one way to reach economic security and a sense of hope for the future but maybe it’s more of a pathway to the dream than a component of the dream itself.”

Students in the course examined the meaning of the American Dream and explored pathways to achieving it, including overall economic growth and rising standards of living, equality of opportunity, economic mobility and the availability and creation of jobs that will adequately provide for individuals and families.

“I decided to take this course because I wanted to experience the interdisciplinary approach that both professors provide,” says Doug Griesenauer, second-year master’s of social work student. “My view of the American Dream changed dramatically throughout the course. When it began, I understood it as more of an ephemeral idea, a concept that everyone really knew but you couldn’t pin down.

“Through discussions with both professors, we have been able to give substance to that idea and really understand what made the American Dream such an aspiring thing.”

Students participated in group projects and discussions from a variety of perspectives, including economics, sociology, social work and others.

“I’ve worked a lot with Professor Fazarri on Keynesian macroeconomics but living in St. Louis has gotten me really interested in issues of poverty and social justice,” says Madeleine Dapp, a junior mathematics and economics major in Arts & Sciences.

“I saw this course as a good opportunity to combine those two perspectives,” she says. “After I graduate, I’m hoping to work in agricultural policy. I think this class has really allowed me to more closely examine the problems that prevent people from accessing the American Dream, whether it’s problems with nutrition or something more economic.”

The interdisciplinary nature of the course has been its strong suit, Rank says.

“We have students from economics, social work and several other social sciences,” he says. “Having that mix in the classroom is really dynamic and provides a lot of interesting feedback, questions and discussions that help advance all of our thinking.”

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Essays About The American Dream: 7 Interesting Topics to Discuss

American Dream has main themes: hard work and equal opportunity create a better life over time. Discover essays about the American dream topics in this article.

The concept of the American dream includes many ideas, including those outlined in the Declaration of Independence: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Professional writers, high school students, and many people have worked to outline the meaning of the American dream in essays and research papers.

Many United States citizens operate under the assumption that working hard can elevate their financial and social status. Many people in American society grapple with whether the idea of the American dream is an attainable reality for those born into less-fortunate circumstances. While some argue that social mobility—meaning changes in social class based on effort and hard work—are at the core of the American dream, others argue that those who are born into a preferable situation may have an easier time achieving the dream, disputing the notion of an equal playing field.

Here, we’ll discuss 7 interesting essay topics on the American Dream that you can use in your next essay.

For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers

1. Is The American Dream Still Alive?

2. the american dream is still alive: these people are proof, 3. the american dream defined, 4. the american dream in literature, 5. what does the american dream look like for immigrants, 6. how has the american dream changed over time, the final word on essays about the american dream, what literary works discuss the american dream, what should be considered when writing an essay on the american dream’s existence.

A topic of much debate, it can be tough to figure out whether the American Dream continues to exist as it did half a century ago. Many people question whether the American Dream is a reality for that outside of the American family depicted in 1950s television and print ads—largely white, upper-middle-class families.

Suppose you decide to write about whether the American Dream still exists. In that case, you’ll want to consider the inflation of the cost of a college education that has made it impossible for many students to work and pay their way through college, resulting in debt that feels impossible upon graduation. Rather than a fresh start in life, many graduates face low-paying jobs that make it difficult to handle daily living costs while also paying back high-interest student loans.

As you write about why the American Dream is currently a struggle for many, include success stories that show how the American Dream is still being achieved by many. You may want to touch on how the traditional idea of the American dream is changing with time. You can do this by highlighting studies that explain how successful Americans today feel regarding the American Dream and how the tenants of a successful life are changing for many people. 

Want to show your audience that the American Dream is still alive and well? Highlighting the stories of people who have achieved success in their lives can be a great way to convey proof of the existence of the American Dream to others. 

As you write your essay, it’s important to share how the definition of the American dream has changed over time. Today, many people feel that the American dream has more to do with a sense of belonging and community than making a certain amount of money or living in a certain type of home. Research shows that across the United States of America, people generally shared a positive feeling about the possibility of achieving the American dream. Most felt that they either had achieved the dream or were on their way to achieving it.

As you write your essay on proof of the existence of the American Dream, be sure to highlight people from different backgrounds, sharing the different challenges they’ve faced throughout their lives. You’ll want to show how Americans achieve success despite challenges and different starting points and how they’ve enjoyed their success (despite having different definitions of what it means to achieve the American Dream).

In years past, the definition of the American Dream was clear: rising above circumstances, developing a successful financial portfolio, owning a home, and having kids in a successful marriage. Today, however, many people define the American Dream differently. In an essay on defining the American dream, it’s important to consider viewpoints from different cultures and how a person’s socioeconomic starting point affects their view of what it means to have “made it” in America. 

When defining the American Dream, you may want to touch on how social and economic issues in America have made the American Dream a more realistic possibility for some groups than others. Social programs, discrimination, and civil rights issues have made it tougher for some minority groups to climb above the standing they were born into, making it harder to achieve financial stability and other aspects of the American dream.

In your essay about defining the American Dream, you may also want to touch on the importance of being able to take risks. This can be easier for people whose parents and other relatives can provide a safety net. People who are dependent on their savings to support new business ventures may find it harder to take risks, making it more difficult to achieve the American dream. 

When defining the American Dream, be sure to touch on how the Dream can be different for different people and how one person’s financial stability might not be the same as someone else’s. If possible, include anecdotal quotes and stories to help your reader connect to the way you’re defining the American Dream.

Many pieces of classic American literature work to show what the American Dream means to various groups of people. In writing an essay about the American Dream in literature, you’ll want to discuss several different classic works, including The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. 

When discussing the theme of the American Dream in literature, there are a few different approaches that you can take to show your readers how the American Dream has changed in novels over time. You may want to work through a timeline showing how the American Dream has changed or talk about how real-life social and economic issues have been reflected in the way that authors discuss the American Dream. 

When writing about the American Dream, you may also want to touch on how each author’s social standing affected their view of the American Dream and whether the achievement of the Dream was feasible at the time. Authors born into difficult circumstances may have a different view of the American Dream than authors born into a more affluent lifestyle. 

Growing student debt, a lack of high-paying jobs, and increasing living costs have made it difficult for people to keep their faith in the American dream. Economic research shows that many first- and second-generation Americans experience economic mobility upward in immigrant families, but this mobility eventually stalls in future generations. According to some researchers, t’s possible that first- and second-generation immigrants feel more of a push to be a success story in an attempt to erase the negative connotations that some American citizens have with the word “immigrant.”

People who are new to the United States face different challenges than people who have lived in the country for their entire lives. Writing an essay about how the American Dream is different for people born in other countries can enlighten many of your readers about how the Dream is different for people in different circumstances.

The American Dream has not remained stagnant over the years, and what people once believed to be the American Dream is something that many Americans no longer want. Writing an essay about how the American dream has changed over time can be an interesting way to explore how the ideals of America have changed over the years. 

The wealth gap has changed over time in the United States, making it increasingly difficult for people born into a lower socioeconomic status to build their wealth and achieve the American dream. Research shows that more than 40% of people born into the lowest part of the income ladder in the United States stay there as adults. Talking about how economic challenges in the United States have made it difficult for many people to go through college or start businesses can be a jumping-off point to discussing changes in the American Dream. 

For many people, the ideals associated with the American dream—marriage, family, kids, a job that provides financial stability—are no longer as desirable. Some people don’t desire to get married, and it’s more acceptable in society to stay single. Some people have no desire to have kids, and some people prefer to work in the gig economy rather than going to a 9-5 job every day. Discussing these changes in American society and how they relate to changes in the American Dream can help your reader see how the Dream has changed over time.

In the eyes of many, the American dream is often associated with homeownership. Skyrocketing mortgage rates in the U.S. make it hard for many people to afford a home, relegating them to rent or living with family members. If you decide to talk about the difficulties of becoming a homeowner in today’s economy, do your research on the latest mortgage news. Many people who once qualified for mortgages struggle to get approved due to skyrocketing interest rates. Including recent financial news can help help your readers connect recent events with the reality of the American Dream.

Opinions on the American dream differ, and when writing about the topic, it’s important to keep your audience in mind. While some people have experienced at least part of the American dream, others have struggled despite hard work due to an unequal playing field from the start.

FAQs About Essays About The American Dream

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller is well-known for their takes on the American dream.

When writing a persuasive or argumentive essay on the American dream, it’s important to consider social mobility, interest rates, homeownership rates, the cost of education, and other factors that contribute to creating a lucrative financial life.

If you’re still stuck, check out our general resource of essay writing topics .

Amanda has an M.S.Ed degree from the University of Pennsylvania in School and Mental Health Counseling and is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer. She has experience writing magazine articles, newspaper articles, SEO-friendly web copy, and blog posts.

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In 2020, do people see the American Dream as attainable?  

The American Dream can be broadly defined as the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible for everyone. It’s generally thought to be achieved through sacrifice, risk-taking, and hard work, rather than by chance.

In 2020, do US adults see the American Dream as attainable? A poll of more than 14,000 people finds that just over half (54%) of US adults think the American Dream is attainable for them. About three in 10 (28%) believe it’s unattainable for them personally, while 9 percent reject the idea of the American Dream entirely.

There are some generational divides when it comes to perceptions about who can access the American Dream.

Millennials (46%) are less likely than both older and younger generations to say that they think the American Dream is within reach for them personally. Roughly half of Gen Z (52%) and Gen X (53%) thinks they can attain the American Dream. Baby Boomers (60%) are especially likely to view the American Dream as attainable.

Almost two in five (37%) people in the United States believe that the American Dream is less attainable today than it was for previous generations. Fewer (29%) believe it’s more attainable today than it was for prior generations, while 16 percent say it’s no more or less attainable now.

With regards to race, some groups are more likely to believe the American Dream is within their grasp.

Most Native Americans (57%), white Americans (56%), and Hispanic Americans (53%) see the American Dream as attainable. Half (50%) of Asian Americans say the same, while fewer (45%) Black Americans agree. Roughly one in six (17%) Black Americans say that there is no such thing as the American Dream.

Roughly half (51%) of US adults overall say that the American Dream is attainable for most people living in America. White Americans (56%) are 13 percentage points more likely than Black Americans (43%) to believe this to be true.

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Related: How America feels about the death penalty today

Methodology: Total sample size for question “How attainable is the American Dream for you personally?” was 14,078 US adults 18 and older, including 390 members of Generation Z (Born in 2000 or later), 4,019 Millennials (Born 1982-1999), 3,552 members of Generation X (Born 1965-1981), 5,240 Baby Boomers (Born 1946-1964), 10,217 White Americans, 1,271 Black Americans, 1,463 Hispanic Americans, 420 Asian Americans, and 154 Native Americans. Total sample size for the question “How attainable is the American Dream for most people living in the US?” was 14,234 US adults 18 and older. Total sample size for the question “Is the American Dream more or less attainable today than for prior generations?” was 14,028 US adults 18 and older. Respondents were provided a definition of the American Dream within the question text, which read, “The American Dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can attain their own version of success in a society where upward mobility is possible for everyone. The American Dream is generally thought to be achieved through sacrifice, risk-taking, and hard work, rather than by chance.” Results are weighted to be representative. For questions or crosstabs, please email [email protected] .

Image: Getty

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Is the American Dream still achievable?

Is it still possible to pursue a happy life with a stable job, a family, and wealth or success in life?

 “The American Dream is that 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. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” ― James Truslow Adams, The Epic of America. The American dream, to some families, might mean pursuing a happy life with a stable job, a family, and wealth or success in life. The American dream is made possible due to equal opportunity to all. To some people, this dream isn’t possible, it is just a dream. Although it’s not easy to achieve the American dream, with passion, hard work and dedication, it is very possible to achieve.

The American dream is the ideal that every us citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. The term was first used in 1932 by James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America, but even before the 1930’s, the mindset of the American dream was active. The Declaration of Independence only extended the American dream to white property owners. After time, laws were added to extend these rights to women, non property owners, and slaves. In this way, the American Dream changed the course of America itself. In the 1920s, the American Dream started morphing from the right to create a better life to the desire to acquire material things. From that point, the American dream adapted throughout time, making the next generation better than the one before.

There are a lot of Americans that do not believe in the American dream, or believe that it became unachievable. These people lacking faith, believe that factors such as discrimination and unequal opportunities provide barriers to one's chance of reaching this "American dream". While others believe anything is possible with determination and overcoming obstacles. Some believe that coming from nothing and becoming insanely successful is only a myth, many have lived it, one of them is Oprah Winfrey, one of the richest women in the world. Winfrey was an orphan raised by her grandma with little money. She has overcome child abuse, rape, weight gain, depression, failed romance, and other hardships to attain her success. Oprah Winfrey symbolizes the individual who by such means rises above the torment to become one of the wealthiest and most recognized public figures in the world.

Far fewer Americans say “becoming wealthy” is essential to the American dream than say the same about personal freedom and a good family life. Overall, 36% of U.S. adults say their family has achieved the American dream, while another 46% say they are “on their way” to achieving it, according to an August survey by Pew Research Center. People who say they have already achieved the American dream are generally older, and better-educated than those who say they are on their way to achieving the American dream and those who say it’s out of reach.

Whites (41%) are more likely than blacks (17%) or Hispanics (32%) to say they have achieved the American dream. But more blacks (62%) and Hispanics (51%) than whites (42%) say they are on their way to achieving it. Notably, there are no significant racial or ethnic differences in the shares who say the American dream is out of reach for their families. Millennials are wrong about the American dream, it’s not dead. Though fate, chance, and luck have a lot to do with one's success, so does willpower, the control of one’s behavior. It is in one's hands to shape life, seize opportunities, get an education, resist failure, set goals and ultimately become somebody.

The American dream is a dream made possible due to equal opportunity to all. If kids once living in poverty and in slums can becomes lawyers or doctors, if an immigrant can become California's governor, if handicapped kids can play basketball, if ordinary people can become extraordinary people, then the American Dream is possible.  

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Most think the ‘American dream’ is within reach for them

Despite persistently low levels of public satisfaction with the state of the nation, most Americans say they have achieved the “American dream” or are on their way to achieving it. Only about one-in-five (17%) say the American dream is “out of reach” for their family.

The American dream means different things to different people, however. Far fewer Americans say “becoming wealthy” is essential to the American dream than say the same about personal freedom and a good family life.

Overall, 36% of U.S. adults say their family has achieved the American dream, while another 46% say they are “on their way” to achieving it, according to an August survey by Pew Research Center . (The survey asked people about the “American dream,” as they define it.) People who say they have already achieved the American dream are generally older, more affluent and better-educated than those who say they are on their way to achieving the American dream and those who say it’s out of reach.

Whites (41%) are more likely than blacks (17%) or Hispanics (32%) to say they have achieved the American dream. But more blacks (62%) and Hispanics (51%) than whites (42%) say they are on their way to achieving it. Notably, there are no significant racial or ethnic differences in the shares who say the American dream is out of reach for their families.

The partisan differences in impressions of whether people have reached the American dream are relatively modest: 41% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say they have achieved it, compared with 32% of Democrats and Democratic leaners.

Freedom of choice, family widely viewed as essential elements of American dream

While people differ on the meaning of the American dream, very few – just 11% of the public – say “being wealthy” is essential to their own view of it.

By contrast, majorities say “freedom of choice in how to live” (77%), having a good family life (70%) and retiring comfortably (60%) are essential to their view of the American dream.

Smaller shares say making valuable community contributions (48%), owning a home (43%) and having a successful career (also 43%) are essential to their view of the American dream, but relatively few (no more than 9%) say these are not important to the American dream.

However, 40% say being wealthy is not important in their vision of the American dream, by far the highest share among the seven items asked about.

There are modest educational differences in attitudes about what is essential to the American dream. For example, 87% of those with at least a four-year college degree say freedom of choice in how to live is essential, as do 82% of those with some college experience. By comparison, a smaller majority (65%) of those with no more than a high school diploma say this.

And while 15% of those with a high school education or less say becoming wealthy is essential to the American dream, fewer of those with college experience say the same (8% of college graduates and 9% of those with some college experience).

Partisanship is not a major factor in these views. Across all items, there are modest or no partisan differences in views of what is essential to the American dream.

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Samantha Smith is a former research assistant at Pew Research Center

Most Americans Favor Legalizing Marijuana for Medical, Recreational Use

5 facts about americans and sports, by a wide margin, americans say football – not baseball – is ‘america’s sport’, among black adults, those with higher incomes are most likely to say they are happy, about 1 in 10 restaurants in the u.s. serve mexican food, most popular.

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Home — Essay Samples — Economics — American Dream — The American Dream Argumentative

The American Dream Argumentative

• Categories: American Dream Social Mobility

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Words: 565 |

Published: Mar 13, 2024

Words: 565 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

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The growing gap between the rich and the poor, the decline of social mobility, the persistence of systemic barriers to success, in conclusion.

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