Tobias Ellis

Adrienne Cassel

Eng 1201

8 December 2017

The American Dream: Is it valid?

The phrase The American Dream is used loosely in todays society. People simply ask

the question, what is the American Dream, and dont take into consideration all of the factors

that go into it. For instance, why is it even called the American Dream? Why does it have to be

American? Is it really a dream? More importantly, after thinking over and discussing the

American Dream and what it means, why does it mean that? Although there are many different

opinions surrounding this terms validity, it continues to exist. The specific topic at hand

however, discusses how the phrase, American Dream, is corrupt by looking at people who are

born into money versus people who are not born into money, or in poverty.

The scientific definition of the term American Dream describes it to be an idea that

conveys equality of freedom and opportunity between each and every american (Merriam-

Webster). Some significant discussions that have been brought up about this topic include:

materialism and its connection to the american dream, effects on children, and how the level of

struggle throughout life to rise in economic status can contribute to individual's idea of the

American Dream. Materialism refers to the realization that physical items are more highly

significant than anything else (Merriam-Webster). This is one of the most important things to

consider when tackling the target question.

Materialism is a commonly used term when the idea of the American Dream comes up.

Whether people are born into money or without money can heavily determine if they are more or
less materialistic which in turn can affect their view of the American Dream. An article by Yoon

Sunyee explains that materialistic consumers who have achieved a higher economic status spend

less impulsively than consumers who have achieved a lower economic status who spend more

impulsively (KADA). This shows how the American Dream is corrupt because people not born

into money feel as though they have to look or feel like they have it whereas, people with money

dont need to, allowing for them to focus their money in other areas. This example can also be

found in the book, The Great Gatsby. The storyline follows a man not born of money whose

main goal is to learn all about the Great Gatsby, a wealthy man born of money. The hundreds of

people below Gatsby constantly try to finds ways to get up to his level by buying overpriced

clothes, attending his parties regularly, and plotting on each other while Gatsby himself, is

concerned with things that do not concern money, such as love.

Another way that the American Dream is corrupt has to do with children. The

Opportunity Nation says that a certain number of youth are disconnected from the world because

of the fact that they are born into poverty (Opportunity Nation). Many adolescents are not given

the opportunity to live a satisfactory life that could possibly give them the same aspirations of

children who are born into money. These impoverished children often hold goals that do not

even meet their full potential. For example, a child born poor might seek the achievement of

being able to pay bills comfortably while a child born into money possibly has goals to do bigger

and better things with all the money they already have. This is also shown in the film, A Raisin in

the Sun. There is a poor African American family with members of all different ages ranging

from adolescent to elderly. The youngest son is one of the main focuses in the family seeing as

all of the adults would rather him have a better life than them but they cannot provide that

considering their situation. The head of the household, a mother and grandmother, has one big
goal of moving her entire family into a new home to make their future feel brighter. In contrast,

the richer, more well of white community that the family moves into would rather them not

move there showing that they are less worried about little things like purchasing a home and

more focused on how good looking they can make their community. They even go to the extent

to offer a payment to the family so that they can leave.

On the other hand, there are plenty others who continue to fuel the idea of the American

Dream. Specifically, many government officials in office feel this way. Democrats, Republicans

and Independents feel strongly that there is a fair chance for everyone to reach their goals but for

different reasons. Data collected by Kaitlyn McAuliffe of IPSOS shows that many more

republicans and Independents vote that hard work is more important when it comes to discussing

the American Dream. For Democrats, they vote that it is based on equality no matter the religion

or ethnicity.

The chart shows the percentage between Democrats, Republicans and Independents over whether

the American Dream has more to do with hard work or if its equality no matter ethnicity or

religion. It is clearly shown that a majority of these members agree, if you work hard you can

make it anywhere or do anything. This is important because knowing each partys view on the
government and its impact on peoples dreams can help determine if the American Dream is

reasonable.

It can be said that the American Dream is corrupt as discussed by many different sources.

Organizations like the Opportunity Nation and articles like the Keeping the American Dream

Alive show that there is a huge gap between the American Dream of children born into money

and the ones born without money. Also, films like A Raisin in the Sun and books like The Great

Gatsby show that children in particular, are affected heavily by the difference of opportunity in

America starting at the beginning of their lives. Even with all of these examples there are still

many that still believe in the American Dream. There are multiple common beliefs that there are

differences in the perception of the term depending on a persons early family economic status

but, the question still stands; what does the term really mean?

Works Cited

A Raisin in the Sun. Directed by Kenny Leon, American Broadcasting Company, 2008.

David, Patty, et al. "Generation X and Its Evolving Experience with the American

Dream." Generations, vol. 4, no. 3, 2017, pp. 77-83.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Trumpism. Ipsos Ideas Spotlight, spotlight.ipsos-

na.com/index.php/news/life-liberty-and-the-pursuit-of-trumpism/.

Sunyee, Yoon and Hyeongmin Christian Kim. "Keeping the American Dream Alive: The

Interactive Effect of Perceived Economic Mobility and Materialism on Impulsive

Spending." Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), vol. 53, no. 5, Oct. 2016, pp. 759-772.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.1509/jmr.15.0053.

The Problem: The American Dream Is at Risk. Opportunity Nation,

opportunitynation.org/the-problem/.

West, Clare, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby. Oxford University Press, 2013.