A land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. Sounds familiar? Americans are motivated by this saying, known as the American dream, which was first used by James Truslow Adams in 1931; however, it is too good to be true. While relatively few diligent and opportunistic individuals achieve the dream, to the majority of Americans, the American dream is a quixotic endeavor. Luck, greed, and arrogance, with a byproduct of false hope, all serve as hindrances.
There is much debate regarding the attainability of the American dream. The growing wealth gap in the US is one cause of insurmountable difficulties faced by the majority of Americans. In 2014, the Washington Times reported that “the top wealthiest 1% of Americans hold 40% of the nation’s wealth; the bottom 80%, by contrast, hold 7%” (Emily Badger). This leads to disparities in working hours and payments. For example, the average employee works a shocking 240 hours to make the amount that the average CEO makes in just an hour. Luck plays a great role in the probability of achieving the American dream because the fate of being born into wealth or not impacts one’s future conditions. Pure effort does not account for the wage differences and working hours among …show more content…
This avaricious behavior has led to the kind of wealth imbalance that is the American income gap: to focus completely on what will bring in more money, regardless of the consequences. When one is unlucky in being born in poverty, along with less help due to the money-driven affluent Americans, the American dream is unattainable. There are notable exceptions to this such as Oprah Winfrey and 50 Cent, but in general, greed destroys the opportunity for many Americans to live the American
There is much debate regarding the attainability of the American dream. The growing wealth gap in the US is one cause of insurmountable difficulties faced by the majority of Americans. In 2014, the Washington Times reported that “the top wealthiest 1% of Americans hold 40% of the nation’s wealth; the bottom 80%, by contrast, hold 7%” (Emily Badger). This leads to disparities in working hours and payments. For example, the average employee works a shocking 240 hours to make the amount that the average CEO makes in just an hour. Luck plays a great role in the probability of achieving the American dream because the fate of being born into wealth or not impacts one’s future conditions. Pure effort does not account for the wage differences and working hours among …show more content…
This avaricious behavior has led to the kind of wealth imbalance that is the American income gap: to focus completely on what will bring in more money, regardless of the consequences. When one is unlucky in being born in poverty, along with less help due to the money-driven affluent Americans, the American dream is unattainable. There are notable exceptions to this such as Oprah Winfrey and 50 Cent, but in general, greed destroys the opportunity for many Americans to live the American