Disadvantages Of The American Dream

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The American dream is that everyone has an opportunity for prosperity and success as long as they work hard to achieve it. In this ideal all men are created equal, and has an equal chance to succeed. Many people desire success and prosperity in their lives, but many struggle to achieve it. Based on this ideal the lower and working class is considered lazy and at fault for their situations. With this view the people in the different social classes are viewed very differently. The ideals of the American dream are not as accurate as one would hope, and hard work does not always pay off.
While people are responsible for their own actions it is not always their fault for being in difficult situations. The statement that “...each individual is
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This gives these children disadvantages to the kids whose parents can afford it. Sports can help children learn important life skills such as teamwork, working with adults, leadership, and more. It is also observed by Annette Lareau that many middle class families raise their children under concerted cultivation which is enrolling children in many activities, actively fostering their child 's skills and opinions, using reasoning and negotiations, and training the child. This way of raising a child gives them a sense of entitlement, and allows them to have an advantage in institutional setting. These children are not afraid to speak to authority, and make demands to benefit themselves. She observed in lower class …show more content…
“Many Americans believe this country is fundamentally open. They assume the society is best understood as a collection of individuals. They believe that people who demonstrate hard work, effort, and talent are likely to achieve upward mobility” (Lareau, p. 235). I agree that people who demonstrate hard work are more likely to succeed more than those who do not, but people who work hard do not always succeed. People who work hard starting out in any social class will do better than their peers who do not as long as their abilities allow them too. Lower class individuals who work hard may not move up a class because of all the challenges they face, but they are more likely to do better than those within their social class who do not work as hard. With enough motivation they could work more than one job to save up and pay for a job training program that allows them to work in something that pays higher than minimum wage. For example, with hard work Tyrec from the book managed to attend training program for $500 that allowed him to get paid higher than minimum wage. If hard work is not enough to be able to pay for a training program it would at least increase chances of being promoted to manager in a place like grocery stores. This collection of individuals idea is not true because their social class does affect their opportunities to

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