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Post by lreinhardt230 on Jan 28, 2016 17:03:21 GMT
The main focus of "The American Dream" is social mobility for any American citizen. In past times, this mobility was very limited to a white man due the segregation of races and the lack of women's rights. In modern times, though, this mobility is gained much more easily. While complete equality is still not there and issues of unequal pay due to gender or race have arisen, an employer is not legally allowed to turn one away from a job due to their skin color or sex. Making the working class more broad and opening up opportunities
to all has made is more possible for a person to move up and down the class system. It is observed that the easiest way for one to do this is with a college degree, which can be difficult to obtain for the lower class. This is where loans and financial aid from the government comes in, to attempt to give each person a shot at moving up. Overall, The Amercian Dream is much more easily obtained in today's society, so it is not as much a dream, but a goal.
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Post by gabi.eglinton on Jan 28, 2016 22:14:09 GMT
Lauren, I agree that the "American Dream" is more achievable by today's standards. Social mobility is still a factor of the modern dream, but this concept seemed more glamorous in the past. The roaring twenties were a time of relatively new ideals. The dream was one ideal that promised equal opportunity for all, and enormous wealth once you did reach the top. However, people quickly realized that not everyone can be a CEO, and there are only so many high-ranking positions available. Today, people understand the reality: life is not fair, and there is always a chance of failure within each story of success. But that doesn't mean that the "American Dream" is dead, right? In what other ways has the dream changed between the past and the present? Which is better/more accurate?
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Post by jzhangx3 on Jan 30, 2016 18:37:21 GMT
While I do agree with what both of you are saying, I also believe that the American Dream is getting harder and harder to attain. The real American dream is about the opportunity to move up the social ladder through hard work, providing a better life for yourself and a better future for your children. A full time job--if one can find one--no longer offers the financial stability it used to. According to a Brookings Report from 2007, "the number of employed workers who work part-time but want full-time jobs has increased about 4.3 million, or more than 70 percent.”
Also, the gap between the poor class and the upper class is increasing faster than ever; in fact, the middle class is shrinking, and the price of education and healthcare has gone up, even with loans and financial aid.
Despite frequent references to the United States as a classless society, "about 62 percent of Americans (male and female) raised in the top fifth of incomes stay in the top two-fifths, and more than 60 percent born in the bottom fifth stay in the bottom two-fifths" according to research by the Economic Mobility Project of the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Maybe the American Dream is all it really sounds like--a dream.
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Post by Ms. McGettigan on Jan 30, 2016 19:53:22 GMT
Great discussion here, ladies- I look forward to more of you chiming in! Is the "American Dream" as we know it- that if you work hard, good things will come and you can achieve anything- a possibility anymore? Or are the facts brought up above evidence that it is not?
Think not only of your own experiences in life, but of others- is it possible for EVERYONE to achieve anything they want, through hard work? Or is it just that elusive "1%" that can achieve the dream? Or, is "the dream" different now than it was then?
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Post by aamornwichet on Jan 31, 2016 2:34:28 GMT
While I do agree with what both of you are saying, I also believe that the American Dream is getting harder and harder to attain. The real American dream is about the opportunity to move up the social ladder through hard work, providing a better life for yourself and a better future for your children. A full time job--if one can find one--no longer offers the financial stability it used to. According to a Brookings Report from 2007, "the number of employed workers who work part-time but want full-time jobs has increased about 4.3 million, or more than 70 percent.” Also, the gap between the poor class and the upper class is increasing faster than ever; in fact, the middle class is shrinking, and the price of education and healthcare has gone up, even with loans and financial aid. Despite frequent references to the United States as a classless society, "about 62 percent of Americans (male and female) raised in the top fifth of incomes stay in the top two-fifths, and more than 60 percent born in the bottom fifth stay in the bottom two-fifths" according to research by the Economic Mobility Project of the Pew Charitable Trusts. Maybe the American Dream is all it really sounds like--a dream. I very much disagree with this statement. While, yes the wealth gap is increasing, opportunities have not gone away. First off, because the Brookings report was from the year before the 2008 financial collapse (nearly 7 years ago) the statistic are not representative of today. Realize, that while the wealth gap is increasing the lowest income people in the United States are making far more than what they were making just 50 years ago. Opportunities are far more available today than they were at the time that The Great Gatsby was written. When Gatsby was written, you and I would not have been able to even get jobs in certain sectors. People of color, (also women) back then were reduced to low wage jobs and had restrictions on many rights we today we take for granted. I mean seriously women couldn't even vote until 1920 and Colored people were legally allowed to be educated less until 1954! Now there are governors and senators and PRESIDENT of color. There are women CEOs and millionaires of all creeds. Seriously look at the little mixed race boy from a single mother in Hawaii who is now POTUS and tell me the American Dream is impossible! Nowadays opportunities are available for people of all color, social standings and genders, anybody with internet access and the motivation can do and learn what ever they want. Want to learn to code, build a solar panel, apply for a job, speak directly to your senator, congress(wo)man, or get help to succeed in school so you can get that job you want? The internet can get you there. So I realize that the American Dream isn't perfect. There is still a long way to go until there are equal opportunities for every person to succeed, regardless of who they are. But DO NOT tell me that it is impossible to achieve the American dream and DO NOT tell me the American Dream is " harder to attain" because the American dream is undeniably more obtainable than in any other time in our history. |
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Post by emsykes on Feb 1, 2016 16:46:27 GMT
Great discussion here, ladies- I look forward to more of you chiming in! Is the "American Dream" as we know it- that if you work hard, good things will come and you can achieve anything- a possibility anymore? Or are the facts brought up above evidence that it is not? Think not only of your own experiences in life, but of others- is it possible for EVERYONE to achieve anything they want, through hard work? Or is it just that elusive "1%" that can achieve the dream? Or, is "the dream" different now than it was then? |
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Post by lreinhardt230 on Feb 2, 2016 3:07:56 GMT
I agree with you Emily, that is more applicable to all of our nation. While music on the radio or TV shows talk about gaining wealth and out-classing others, that is not the most important goal in our society. Yes, every individual wants to be successful, but what success is can be open for interpretation. Overall the flashy, materialistic goals of the 1920s are dimmed down in today's society. Things like family, health, and education are much more important now.
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Post by danvolpone on Feb 7, 2016 3:17:34 GMT
It's important to keep in mind that the American Dream has always been an unlikely one. When people got rich off of gold and oil, very few were actually successful. While some got very wealthy, most left without finding anything at all. In The Great Gatsby, all of the characters who had wealth were born into it except for Gatsby, who got his wealth illegally. So while the American Dream is difficult to realize now, it was also difficult before. While it was true that anyone could get rich in America, most of the people who got rich got there through the luck of striking oil or gold.
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Post by tatummcp on Feb 8, 2016 17:35:54 GMT
Lauren, I think your point that the American Dream no longer being a dream, but a goal is interesting. To many people and in most cases the words dream and goal are synonymous, but in this case they have two separate meanings. Here, goal means it is more accessible while dream means "I wish" and "if only." I agree with everything you said so it would be pointless to repeat everything that was already said in the discussion, but I really like they way you said everything about the dream changing into a goal.
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