The Ambiguous American Dream

English1010

Denise Kadilak

17 October 2014

The Ambiguous American Dream

The American Dream is usually described as having a big house, a beautiful family, and opportunities to achieve success in any endeavor. As Americans, people have always tried to obtain the American Dream. Most Americans believe that they are entitled to it, while others migrate here to seize the opportunity that has been promised. Either way, most of these individuals experience struggles and hardships rather than good fortune. Most often, those who are seeking the American Dream are pursuing a concept that they do not fully understand. Typically, the reason for this hardship is that the ideals of the American Dream have been changed so much since our forefathers wrote the Declaration of Independence. Today's modern lifestyle has turned the American Dream into an unrealistic goal.

Today's modern lifestyles deeply revolve around media figured to self-absorbed behavior of the reality TV stars. Their lifestyles promote the idea that people can be rich and famous for doing nothing of value. Considering the popularity of these shows their influence is deeply embedded in today's generation. It could be argued that these programs have caused Americans to believe that they can have everything they desire with little effort on their part. This lack of focus on goals and entitled personas has caused this country to go into a downward spiral.

The seed of the downward spiral is rooted in the greatest evil Americans face which is that these individuals live beyond their means. With credit cards and loans people are able to obtain objects that they normally could not afford. Most people who are struggling financially often buy expensive items like tablets, smartphones, and large flat screen TV's. On a daily basis these individuals purchase gourmet coffee from overpriced coffee shops. Greed and envy are the key factors in this type of behavior. In this day and age, many people try to show off, impress, or create jealousy in others for their personal gratification. As this occurs most Americans dig themselves into a hole of inescapable financial debt. This leads to repossession of the items that they have come to obtain leaving them desolate. These many individuals most likely believe that their American Dream had been stolen from them.

Perhaps if individuals accepted what they had instead of wanting the unobtainable, maybe then the American Dream could be more realistic. In the act of accepting one's own reality, people gain a certain kind of freedom to improve their lives through hard work and dedication. These people would be able to achieve and keep their American Dream with ease because then these individuals would have the knowledge to maintain the lifestyle they have come to earn. This requires people to start at the bottom and work their way up. It might mean working at a fast food franchise rather than a high paying office job. Most people would give up at a low level job, but