The American Dream Myth

Origin

Origin

The phrase itself was coined fairly recently, in the 20th century, but the myth has been spreading since before America was even a country. America has always been the land of the free, the land of opportunity, the land where you can become the best version of you. Being separated by an ocean from Europe and the rest of the first world countries made America unique. It presented challenges to connect with the world, but it also made it so it was really a new world for those needing a restart. As the years have marched on towards infinity, immigration was seen in a less positive light, especially those of color. It was still a land of opportunity, but opportunity was best served to those inside the country.

Housing

Housing

Owning a house is one of the basic things in achieving the American Dream. It comes from when even white men were limited for if they could vote by the rule that they had to own land. Most baby boomers and older have their own homes or once had their own home. Some got it from their inheritance, some built their own, and some just plain bought one. It was considered one of the first things to buy when people got out of college or got a job. When looking at the younger generations, there's a much different story. In densely populated cities, there are no homes to speak of. When looking at the city, not the suburbs, there are only small apartments to live in. Some people can't even afford an apartment, they live with their parents or in their car. The cost of housing has gone up, but the wages of the workers who need to live in those homes have stagnated.

Billionaires

Billionaires

Billionaires are the pinnacle of the American Dream; they've achieved it all. They are in the top .0002% of all Americans. A few have even funded rockets to go to space. Most have owned a large company- or even several. Many Americans aspire to be like them, or use them as a role model. However, there are few billionaires for a reason. All of them started out as fairly rich, either upper middle class or upper class. They all went to college, started a company, and started investing. They used their parent's money to give them a head start in what they were doing. Another startling trend, especially the richer they are, most of them are white men.

Education

Education

Education is how everyone starts their journey to the American Dream. It gets people into jobs which is how they can become the best version of themselves. Education is one of the things that draws people into America. We have amazing collages that are famous for producing young adults who take the world by storm. Education is even mentioned in Declaration of Independence. Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness are the unalienable rights mentioned in that famous document. The pursuit of Happiness is in reference to education and how it shouldn't be monetized. Unfortunately for the founding fathers, that's exactly what is happening in America. Young adults are going into extreme debt as soon as they enter the workforce. In fact, this is such a problem that if someone had $10 and no debt, they would be richer than 15% of American households(Worstall).

Immigrants

Immigrants

When the United States first declared independence from Great Britain, the population of the young country was mostly immigrants. People from Britain, Germany, France, and other European countries were the ones who were allowed to vote, as they had land and money. Native Americans, those who were actually there for generations, were stripped away of their rights. America is known as a melting pot, a place where people of all nationalities, religions, and languages are free to become the best version of themselves. This is also a big part of the American Dream. People can come from all places to be better and have access to more resources. However, people's views on immigrants have changed over the years. People get upset when they hear people crossing at the border, yet most of them have ancestors who immigrated here. It is incredibly hard for people seeking asylum from countries where they had no money or life to become a US citizen. It is expensive, and these people came because they had no money and heard that America is the Land of Opportunity

Healthcare

Healthcare

Americans like to believe that the healthcare system in the US is the best. After all, the treatments in America are incredible. In just a few years people have created cures for things that used to be a death sentence. People used to die quite often from surgeries, but now it is very rare. The issue with the American healthcare system is, like most things in this country, the cost. People have driven themselves to the hospital in conditions so bad they are likely to crash in order to not get the bill of an Ambulance- which could be as high as $1,000. It doesn't help that pollution can get so bad that it will poison people. In Flint, Michigan, citizens were getting lead poisoning in their water from the pipes. Throughout the country, many workers are pressured into still coming to work even while being sick or injured. Some are even blamed for illnesses they can't control. People online are telling those with diabetes to just lose weight or go on a diet despite it has many genetic predispositions to diabetes and that diabetic hypoglycemia means you need more sugar in you blood stream.

It Is Unachievable

Critique

The American Dream is unachievable. It has many definitions, and even they are loose. Achieving the American Dream is like being rich or most new years eve goals; it's vague. You can say that having a million dollars is rich, but millionaires don't look rich next to centibillionaires. You can say that you're successful, but there's always someone who is more successful than you. Some people say that the American Dream is having more money than your parents did. However, due to inflation, most adults have more money than their parents because there's more money. Another definition of the American dream is owning certain things. Most people can agree on a few things on that list, like a house, or a car, but after that the list gets sketchy. There is also the problem that this is directly caused by the capitalist and materialistic society of America. Everything that people want and like, someone has made people pay for it.

Doesn't Encourage Helping People

Critique

The American Dream doesn't encourage helping people. It puts everyone in a "survival of the fittest" mindset. People think that if they help other people, they won't achieve the American Dream, so they don't. It also makes them think that just because they've achieved "wealth" and "prosperity", other people can make it too. They even think this when they other people came from much less wealthy backgrounds. The history of America doesn't help this either. In the later half of the 20th century, The United States was facing off Russia in the cold war. Communism was the enemy. Nowadays, if you suggest anything from universal healthcare or childcare to not forcing kids to pay for school lunches, people can and will call you a communist. In other first world countries, all of these things are given and their people are thankful for it.