No matter the person’s ethnicity, skin color, or cultural background, it was believed that living in America, achieving one’s dreams could become a reality. This is the American Dream; the idea “in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement”. However, in these modern times of political conflict and economic turmoil, America does not provide access to the American Dream anymore. There is a lack of equal opportunity for all people, the reductions in financial benefits for all workers, and the rising gap between the socioeconomic classes. So is the american dream still possible today?
Some people may believe that America does provide access to the American Dream. Allowing equal opportunity for all people, or that if a person tries hard enough, they can achieve their goals and aspirations. Those goals mostly being to make lots of money and live comfortably. So at a young age children are pushed in their “early years to try to better” themselves “and get a social position”. However, what has not been considered is the extremely low percentage of people that are not able to break away from their original social class. Yes, it is true that some people were able to go from rags to riches. But nonetheless, there is still not enough fairness of equal opportunity for the majority of people to escape poverty.
Although everyone can apply for the same jobs without fear of discrimination, and colleges, no longer practice segregation, there is still a lack of fairness and equal financial opportunity among us. However, America claims that “opportunity is real, and life is free.” But what about “the Negro bearing slavery’s scars, or the red man driven from the land”? Ironically, America was created from the suffering of others. Yet they created a dream of fairness and equal opportunity? Traditionally, the American Dream believed that with hard work, citizens can have a better life for themselves and their families. But what about the “the man who never got ahead, the poorest worker bartered through the years, or the worker sold to the machine”? These average citizens, although at a disadvantage, still dreamt that basic dream. As a result of the differences in opportunities, they never got the chance to pursue that basic dream. With financial differences, opportunities are different. If the American Dream is supposed to be attainable for everyone, then why are there so many hurdles that Americans constantly have to jump over?
With the American Dream, it’s thought that hardworking citizens can be able to pay their bills without worry, provide a better life for their children, and still have enough money left over for retirement. However, there is a growing uneasiness among the American people. In reality, “many average Americans are struggling” because of “rising costs, declining wages, credit card debt and diminished benefits, with little left over to save for retirement”. Due to being unable to save enough money for a lasting retirement plan. This also means that if an emergency occurred, they would have to go into debt in order to compensate for it. Similarly, student debt has only been increasing over the years.
Fueled by the justification of the student receiving a higher education. In addition, there are declining wages and sometimes workers being put on furlough. With these daily financial struggles, Americans are forced to “live from paycheck to paycheck, and 47% say that no matter how hard they work, they cannot get ahead”. If the American Dream is supposed to be affordable for everyone, then why are expenses rising but not wages?
