The American Dream In 'The Epic Of America'

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What is the American Dream? The American Dream has many different meanings, everyone has a different perspective of it. While some see it as wealth, financial security, freedom and even family, others see it as the pursuit of opportunity, a good job, or owning a home. The American Dream is alive, but only some can achieve it. People believe just because they come from a rough background defines how successful they can really be. The American Dream can be achievable by anyone who feels like they can do it, and not only because of how much money they have or how well known are known. As long as you’re truly happy with not only yourself but with the way you’re living your life. In the book, “The Epic of America” by James Truslow stated that “that …show more content…
The rich are more debt free while other have no choice. As Joshua Freedman and Sherle R. Schwenninger observed in a paper for the New America Foundation, “American households… have become dependent on debt to maintain their standard of living in the face of stagnant wages.” Nowadays you have to be rich to get a college education; that is, unless you want to begin your career with a mountain of debt. Once you get out of college, you’ll quickly discover that the gap between spending and income is greatest for people under 25 years of age.” Many people are in debt and their salary don’t seem to keep up with their expenses and the only ones who seem to not be worried about that are the richer. We can all agree that college can be a hassle and a lot to handle, while college isn’t for everyone, the people that decide it’s the right path for them expect a well paying job in the end. Paying for college will probably be the toughest parts of getting the degree you want but there are many alternatives on how to pay for it and are a great help, such as scholarships whether it’s in academics or for sports, grants, FAFSA, saving money, budgeting, or getting a part time job. Some might argue that it still will put you in debt because you will need loans but if you really want it do it to be your own kind of successful. Everyone has their own meaning of the word successful and what it means to them, and it’s all on …show more content…
The components of the dream, can be different for each person, especially for those who are migrating to this country. One example would be about my family personally. My grandmother from my dad’s side came into this country from Mexico, in hopes of finding a better life and economic opportunities. However the better life was not for her but was for her children. She gave up everything she knew back at home in order to secure that her sons could live the American Dream here. While they all went to school for a short matter of time at the age of 15, 16, they later dropped out and worked in the fields, it made them work harder knowing they feared every single day whether they would get deported or not that day. Working so many hours in the hot sun or freezing sun all just to make sure my grandma was given what she needed. Although it might not be the best paying job, it definitely isn’t the worst and they seem to make it work, they were fortunate enough to be able to have a home they called theres. There are many Americans in this country who don’t want immigrants to have the opportunities they do. They get discriminated for whatever reason and get told things such as they don’t belong here. Despite all the obstacles, these immigrants believe in the American Dream and will find a way to achieve it, regardless

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