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Wyatt Dilley

Tamara Davis

English Comp 2 MWF 9:30

March 31, 2017

The American Dream is Still Alive and Well

The American Dream has been around for ages. People have been chasing the American

Dream ever since the western days. People have moved from many different countries to come to

the United States to chase the American Dream. Many people believe the American Dream does

not exist anymore, and some people even believe it was never there in the first place.

The American Dream has always been around. Many of the early settlers that moved here

with the colonies were chasing the American Dream, they just did not know it yet. The American

Dream is always evolving. For example, the American Dream back then could have been owning

some land, and having some cattle and farm animals to go along with it. Some people believed

that was their own American Dream. Today, The American Dream for most people is to have

enough money to pay for everything and still have quite a bit of money to spend on materialistic

things; such as cars, fancy clothes, and phones that just keep getting faster and smarter by the

day. It all depends on how people look at The American Dream. I personally do not believe it is

all about money. It is about family, being happy, and working for everything in life.

Many journalists will say, The American Dream doesnt exist. Or, The American

Dream never existed! That is just their opinion and we are all entitled to one. It does not matter

if someone was born into a wealthy family or a not so wealthy family. In the U.S., someone
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born in the lowest economic bracket has about a 8% chance of making it to the top (Peters 3).

Peters may have data about only eight percent of the people born in the lower bracket making it

to the top, but who said they had to make it to the top to achieve the American Dream? Not

everyone has to have money to achieve the American Dream. Many big-name products were

introduced by entrepreneurs who grew up with little to nothing. If a few of these people did not

chase their American Dream there would not be Apple, Starbucks, Walmart, or countless other

businesses that have been successful (Tobak 5). Everyone must work for what they have in this

world. Privileged or not if people do not work towards their American Dream, they will never

achieve it.

Many people have different opinions on the American Dream. Some believe it exists and

some do not believe it exists at all. If the American Dream did not exist why did all these

immigrants move to America? They moved here for a better chance at living the life they wanted

to live. That is The American Dream, living the life that people imagine them living and

achieving it. The key word there is achieving. Many seem to think that the American Dream is a

promise- a guaranteed outcome for a life of hard work. Thats nonsense. First and foremost, it is

an ideal (Tobak 4). This is where people get the American Dream all mixed up. They think that

if they come to American they will be able to achieve the American Dream, that the dream is just

a given. People are totally wrong about the American Dream. People think it is all about money

and being rich, which there is nothing wrong with that if that is their American Dream. People

must work to achieve their American Dream no matter what dream they pursue, it is not just

handed to you. Steve Tobak once said While the American Dream is an egalitarian ideal- equal

rights and opportunity for all- it is, in reality, a function of ability and achievement (Tobak 3).

Tobak is saying that the American Dream has always been there to achieve. People just need to
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work for it and want to achieve it. If these people work hard and are willing to put their best

effort towards living the life they want to live then anything is possible. That to me is The

American Dream.

Many researchers have been working to find a way to see if the kids today are doing

better than their parents. The way they have figured out to tell is by looking at how much tax

money people must pay. For example, the Per-Capita is twice as high now compared to what it

used to be, so this means that the increase should allow most children to be living better than

their parents (Leonhardt 5). Even though the economy is not as booming as it used to be it is still

in perfectly good shape to go out and make a name for yourself, no matter your background or

where you come from. Many psychologists say that peoples happiness is heavily dependent on

where they stand in life (Leonhardt 4). Which this is very true, if people are not content with

where they are in life then they get stressed. They start to doubt themselves. Set goals, work for

those goals and achieve them. People need to find their happiness and work towards it every day.

The American Dream is a controversial topic today. Many people believe it never existed,

and then there are people who believe The American Dream is alive and well. The American

Dream is not set out on a table. The American Dream is different for everyone. Everyone wants

to live their life a different way, and if that is the way they want to live and they achieve it, I

would say that person achieved their American Dream. It is not all about the money, The

American Dream to me is to love my wife and family with everything I have and provide for

them. One day I will get to achieve my American Dream. Now, what is your American Dream?
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Annotated Bibliographies

Peters, Adele. "The American Dream Is Dead: Here's Where It Went." Fast Company.
Fast Company, 13 Mar. 2017. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.

This article compares the U.S.s Mobility to Denmarks mobility. The author is saying that
Americans are working harder for less money. Adele Peters is a staff writer at Co. Exist who
focuses on sustainable design. She is a reliable writer. She has worked at many prestigious
companies. The source is from the place she works at Co. Exist. Co. Exist write about the
economy in the U.S. This source is biased, it talks about how the American Dream is dead and
why. This source will benefit my paper because it helps people who believe the American Dream
is dead. It will help me show you how she is wrong.

Leonhardt, David. "The American Dream, Quantified at Last." The New York Times. The
New York Times, 08 Dec. 2016. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.

This article talks about how they finally found a way to see if families are earning than their
parents. How they did it was looking at taxes and the amount the families had to pay. David
Leonhardt is an American journalist that works for The New York Times. The source comes from
the prestigious New York Times. This source to me is not biased he hits on strong points about
the American Dream and weakness within the American Dream. This source will benefit my
paper with all the statistics about the taxes families had to pay.

Luke, /. Jim. "Death of the American Dream." EconProph. N.p., 30 Jan. 2017. Web. 24
Mar. 2017.

This article talks about what the American Dream is and why it is just a myth that brought the
U.S. together. He talks about the many different forms of the American Dream there is. Jim
Luke is a collage professor at Lansing Community College. I do not know much about this
source but the content seems good. This article is biased. It just talks badly about the American
Dream and how it never existed. Since I do not know much about this source I do not know if I
will use any of the material from it.

Tobak, Steve. "The American Dream Is Alive and Well." Fox Business. Fox Business, 22
Aug. 2016. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.

This article talks about how the people get The American Dream mixed up with the American
Promise. The American Promise is not a real thing. You must work hard to achieve your own
goals. The author Steve Tobak is a writer for fox business. He is an entrepreneur. The source
comes from the news station called Fox Business. The source is biased, it talks about how
anyone can achieve their American Dream with hard work and consistency. This source is
reliable to me. There were some very good poits in this article that will be in my paper.
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Works Cited

Peters, Adele. "The American Dream Is Dead: Here's Where It Went." Fast Company.
Fast Company, 13 Mar. 2017. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.

Leonhardt, David. "The American Dream, Quantified at Last." The New York Times. The
New York Times, 08 Dec. 2016. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.

Tobak, Steve. "The American Dream Is Alive and Well." Fox Business. Fox Business, 22
Aug. 2016. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.