The American Dream: How Hard To Become Successful

What is the American dream? 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." - James Truslow Adams. The American dream can be defined in many different ways. Thus being, can people achieve their American dream? Many people could achieve the American dream through self determination and perseverance, but the American dream could be unachievable when facing financial obstacles or the costs of college.

The American Dream: Happiness The key to achieving the American dream is to live life happy. No matter if it is happiness with money, love, freedom, or safety all people deserve the American dream. Everyone has their own way of pursuing an "American dream". Many immigrants have come to America to pursue that dream.

The American dream is a term used in a lot of ways. Although research has shown that American dream can’t be attainable by most people, closer examination shows that it can be attainable by the following reasons. As Daniel J. Mitchell stated in New York Times im January 1st, 2015 “The United States is not a perfect country, but the American Dream is still a reality.” By that he meant that even with America’s Grow rate, poverty, unemployment rate in the past years and still going Americans can still chase their American dreams If we look at the history and the definition it shows that infact it is possible to attain it.

In his article, Removing the Stigma of Past Incarceration: Ban the Box, Bill Mosley explains it is “understandable that many employers may believe it is their best interest to avoid hiring ex-convicts. But it is also in the interest of society at large to reintegrate ex-convicts into society and to stop adding to the large underclass of former prisoners with minimal prospects of earning an honest living.” Mosley acknowledges the discomfort an employer may experience knowing one of their employees have a criminal history, however he supports his opinion by immediately explaining the most effective medium of reducing the number of former prisoners in society is to integrate them into the working force. His purport in this piece of text is to accentuate the importance society as a whole has in terms of eliminating criminal discrimination. In addition to Mosley’s argument, Daryl V. Atkinson and Kathleen Lockwood, in their article The Benefits of Ban the Box, claim that “hiring people with criminal records facilitates public safety by reducing recidivism rates.”

The struggles to reach the American Dream are poverty, education, and language barriers. Poverty can cause struggles to reaching the American Dream due to the loss of money. Education that is not completed can also get in the way of the American Dream. Thirdly, if you are not able to the American language, it's difficult to even try to achieve the American Dream.

The American Dream means having the chance to live your dreams and committing yourself to the country that grants you so many opportunities. The American Dream is a reality; no matter who you are or what you do the dream never leaves. Some citizens struggle to accept that the dream is still there because of modern society and how it contributes to things such as financial instability.

Over time, the American Dream has changed drastically. It used to be working harder to earn a better place in life. It was working hard order to earn a better place in life, as it should be. However, in today 's society for most Americans the Dream is earning that higher place in life while hardly working to truly achieve it. The American Dream seems to have different interpretations in the different types of people, for Americans, they believe in earning a lot while not working hard for it, for many immigrants, they still believe in working for what they desire.

Since the beginning of time in the United States, the idea of the American Dream has had a heavy influence on society. According to Document C, American Dream is defined as earning enough money to be happy, obtaining a worry-free lifestyle, and running in a high social circle. While working Americans still hold on to the hope of the American Dream, individuals from other countries often move to the United States with the hope that they too may have a piece of the pie. Despite the novelty and allure of the American Dream, it is nothing more than false hope.

Many drug offenders are often forced into the drug business because of economic reasons, resulting from the increased difficulty of finding jobs after prison, due to the felony that is attached to their name. Employers are often discouraged from hiring a person that has committed a felony, because of the uncertainty in their behavior. A study done by the Urban Institute, found that only 45% of all Americans that had been to prison, had a job within a year of being released. It was even lower for drug offenders, as only 25% of all drug offenders in the United States were able to find a job once released (McVay). It’s hard enough finding a well paying job because of the current state of the economy in the United States.

Everyone has a dream. Although these dreams aren’t the ones you have while sleeping, they are the ones that drive you, challenge you and keep you fighting for the reality that they will become true. They are the dreams that you will work hard for. Martin Luther King Jr. even died while fighting for his dream to become a reality. They are the ones you hope will one day become a reality. They are the dreams of a better education, better wages, better living conditions, equality, and they are the dreams of a better life. So then what exactly does the “American Dream” mean to people, how are these dreams achieved by those who are not native to our country, why do some people make it while others fail and who does the “The American Dream” really belong to?

Many civil rights groups agreed with this question and attempted to make changes by creating a national campaign called Ban the Box. Ban the Box is a campaign whose goal is to persuade employers to remove the felony box from their applications to give ex-convicts a fair chance at acquiring a job ("Moving Forward Together: Forging a Future That Works for All Workers"). Although this may seem scary to an employer, which is understandable, it can potentially end the endless negative feedback loop, and help people move

The American Dream is a set of ideas which includes each person’s opportunity to follow their dream of achieving a future and own happiness. The meaning of success in one or other way is to be rich. Everyone wants to improve their future, America is where everyone can equally get opportunities to improve ones’ future. America gives people an opportunity to dream of bettering their lives. Many people move to America dreaming of a better future, because no matter the race, everyone is given equal opportunities.

Impossible Dreams The meaning of the American Dream can be seen as ”A uniquely American vision of the country consisting of three central ideas. The American dream consists of a belief in America as the new Eden- a land of beauty, bounty, and unlimited promise; a feeling of optimism, created by ever expanding opportunity; and a confidence in the triumph of the individual.” Using this definition of the so called “American dream”, it seems to be a great representation of it at first, until you realize it includes everyone as the individual. From the beginning of the Civil war to the end of the War to End All Wars, the American Dream wasn’t possible due to the treatment of the Native Americans, the inequality between women and men, and the false promises given to the immigrants coming to our country in their time of need.

It can be difficult for past criminals to survive and make a living once they are out of jail (Alexander 2011). One of the first things a person is faced with is the amount of debt they have accrued while in jail. For example, current or former inmates are required to pay any program fees, restitution, child support, and any other fees in order to regain licenses or voting rights (Alexander 2011; Lobuglio and Piehl 2015). They are also forced to check the box indicating to employers that they have been convicted of a felony, making the application process stops there, regardless of what crime the person committed (Alexander 2011; Lobuglio and Piehl 2015). As if those set backs are not enough, former inmates are usually denied any government assistance including food stamps or government housing, forcing felons to stay with family members or desperately try to find somewhere they are allowed (Alexander 2011).

American Dream James Truslow Adams, in his book which was written in 1931 and called “ The Epic of America” wrote about American dream, that American dream is about being richer and living in better life. Also that American dream is more materialistic, that people work a lot of hours to gain things which they want to have. Such as luxury cars, big houses. They want to be wealthy, rich and have all expensive things and live in a world of money and wealth.