...American Dream Myth Charles Funk Popular Culture Professor Jenifer Garey November 22, 2015 American Dream Myth The American Dream of achieving economic equality among all people and providing equal opportunities to both the rich and poor alike is now no longer a dream but rather a myth. The reason being, the country has been plagued by the problem of an ever-growing inequality. According to Nobel-prize winner, Joseph Stiglitz, it is both a tragedy and irony that determination, work, and vision are no longer the keys to one's success in America (Streight, 2015). Instead, Stiglitz says, “being born to rich, well-educated parents is the best indicator of future earnings” (2015). The situation is now making it harder for Americans born to low-income families to climb the ladder of economic prosperity leaving them stuck in a poverty cycle. The current economic state is such that more than 80% of American resources are now controlled by only 20% of the American population (Domhoff, 2013) The indication is that the American dream of achieving economic equality among all U.S. citizens is indeed not only a myth but also dead (Wyatt-Nichol, 2011). Two different artifacts that illustrate the component of the American Dream Myth are songs and movies. First, songs are providing a revolutionary world in America where only the rich are represented. Gone are the days when the songs were composed with an aim of reflecting the problems in the American society. In America, songs...
Words: 968 - Pages: 4
...During the 1930’s, James Adams invented the term, “American Dream”-the opportunity given to everyone to reach their dreams through perseverance and meaningful application. (Apposition) The remembered NBA player, Michael Jordan, exemplifies the meaning of the American Dream through his life. In his highschool years, Michael Jordan tried out for the basketball team, but he was not able to make it on the team. Through daily practices, and an endless amount of effort, the boy who was not able to make it on a high school team turned out to be NBA’s most valuable player. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, the author, John Steinbeck clearly expresses his emotion on how he believe the idea of the American Dream is a complete myth through the characters of his novel. John Steinbeck argues that the American Dream will never become a reality due to racial, sexist, and social class issues. John Steinbeck shares his thoughts about the American Dream through the character Curley. In the book, Curley is characterized as a rude and ill-mannered man,...
Words: 691 - Pages: 3
...American Dream As a Myth Erica Rideout HUMN240-F1WW Professor Deborah Rosenstock July 7, 2012 The myth of the American Dream does not have to be taught or learned. Growing up in America, it is imbedded in our minds at a young age that America has it all. American is the land of opportunity and allows its citizens to work hard and gain an uncapped amount of success. However, it is more apparent that this “dream” has transformed into a myth over the several years since its creation. Once upon a time, America was seen as the place to gain opportunity and success. However, as times continue to change, this vision of the dream continues to slip out of American’s hands and more into the mind as a myth. The major component of the myth of the American Dream is a simple one. America is the land of the free and home of the brave. Our American ancestors have fought for freedom and gained it allowing fellow Americans endless opportunities that can lead to great success. These opportunities do not just end with Americans; they are extended to all nationalities that come to America with hopes of living the so called American Dream. Although the American Dream may just be a myth, it definitely gives people hope. Most times, that hope is enough to lead to the drive and determination necessary to reach some level of the American Dream. There are several artifacts that help display the myth of the American Dream. Two artifacts that I have chosen are relevant to views...
Words: 978 - Pages: 4
...“To be American (unlike being English or French or whatever) is precisely to imagine a destiny rather than inherit one; since we have always been, insofar as we are Americans at all, inhabitants of myth rather than history.” In the context of this quote attributed to Leslie Fiedler, being American means subscribing to a socially constructed national identity--to the collective American Dream. This observation expresses a core truth about Americans, and about an American greatness that is in fact exceptional, but it is also problematic in several ways. First, the public has never felt compelled to fix the meaning of the American Dream, a term that presumably everyone knows. Second, while Fielder’s assertion is true of Americans, it is not uniquely so: All people, in some sense or another, inhabit myths. Finally, while Americans have certainly imagined destinies for themselves, they also live in history. Everyone does. The American Dream is neither a self-evident falsehood nor a scientifically demonstrable principle. Beyond the abstract belief that anything is possible if you want it bad enough, there is no single American Dream. The theoretical basis for the American idea incorporates an explicit allegiance to the concept “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” But as the history of slavery and the struggle for women’s rights make clear, the rights...
Words: 1791 - Pages: 8
...the land of opportunity where an individual can go as far as their own merit takes them. The opportunities to be successful are endless and one just has to work hard to achieve them. This is based on the idea of meritocracy where individuals are only measured on the basis of their intellectual contributions, “divorced” identity, social status, gender, race, religion, and other characteristics. But this is only an illusion a so called myth that individuals are brought up to believe. In “Horatio Alger”, Harlon Daltons is able to break down this myth of meritocracy that include how we are judged solely on merits, have a fair opportunity to establish those merits, and how merit will bring success. Ruth Conniff in “Women Losing Ground” is able to support the myth of meritocracy that Dalton has established by explaining how women are still suffering from this myth that America has created. Dalton and Conniff are able to debunk the myth of meritocracy and help those that believe in meritocracy understand the inequality the myth has created in American culture. The idea of meritocracy is stating that an individual will not get judged and that “each of us is judged solely on her or his own merits” (Dalton (Alger theory)). But “sometimes we are judged on a different scale”... “favored...and ignored all on the basis of our race” (Dalton). How does this compare to only being judged on his or her own merits because all that is viewed is people being singled out on their appearance or...
Words: 1012 - Pages: 5
...Optimism and Pessimism of Myths Myths are stories passed down from generations which surround our society and determine true or false concepts. A notion is established within a myth to indicate a specific story and idea. Well-known myths, such as the 'Myth of the Model Family' and the 'Myth of Education and Empowerment,' provide a representation of ideas that have exceeded the strength of time. These complex, yet simple, myths represent a diverse range of opinions within society since they've been molded and have transformed over the period of time. “Rereading America” offers different perspectives from a variety of authors regarding these particular myths. The opinionated narratives mentioned in the text prove that these common myths have the ability to influence society in many ways. Regardless of the variety of influence, the authors portray their viewpoints by displaying how the myths can form a common understanding among a people. While these myths create a...
Words: 1209 - Pages: 5
...I am going to talk about the concept of myths and heroes. First of all, I would like to give a definition of this notion. A myth is a fictitious story which narrates the foundations of a given community. These narratives can convey the ideals of this community and create or perpetuate inspiring heroic figures. In this case, the concept of myths and heroes then serves a more profound purpose in our culture than mere fictional stories. To illustrate this, I have chosen to focus my thought on people's successful careers, that is to say people who started from scratch and reach the top of the social ladder. How can myths and heroes influence people's careers ? Aiming at answering this issue, I will exhibit a rags-to-riches life which is a symbol of the American Dream. Then I will show that political heroes could inspire society as well. First and foremost, one cannot deny that society is based on founding myths, a collective identity forged around common landmarks and shared values. As elsewhere, but even more so the myths of “The American Dream” in the United States is a great example. Indeed it promotes the idea that not only is personal fulfillment due to honesty and hard-working but it is based also on God’s will. As a captain of industry and a generous philanthropist , Rockefeller is a case in point. He was a role model who likely fostered the American spirit of competitiveness, innovation and entrepreneurship. In the same token, we studied the rags-to-riches life of Oprah...
Words: 642 - Pages: 3
...of the arguments in this paper, “Who has the responsibility to raise a child in the African American community?” * We explore the profiling of parental involvement in the African American community. Single parenting and contributing factors that provides a cause and effect on the life of a child. That myths and stereotyping can cause problems in the raising of a child. That some men in the African American community lack confidence to follow their dreams, having a job to provide for their family and knowing that there is an answer to all questions to ensure the moral development of a child. The argument is to convince the reader that good responsible child could be raised by either a single parent or jointly. (Informal Fallacy identified as Composition) * Identify the barriers and lack of support from fathers in the African American community. The argument is that the African American male is undependable, uncommitted to marriage, prone to engage in violence, corrupt behaviors, and/or physically absent due to abandonment or incarceration. The argument is that this stereotype or myth has largely contributed to the fact many women raise children alone drawing from the conclusion that these myths take on a life of itself. That myths and stereotyping can cause problems in the raising of a child. That some men in the African American community lack confidence to follow their dreams, having a job to provide for their family and knowing that there is an answer to all questions...
Words: 377 - Pages: 2
...How is the great Gatsby about the failure of the"American Dream"? The American Dream is a myth that people struggle to achieve each day of their lives but will never achieve. It cannot be achieved because it is an endless race for perfection .In Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby; all the characters are attempting to become happier. The characters are divided into two groups: the rich (upper class) and the poor (lower class); though the main characters only try to make their lives better, but they are ruined by the harsh reality of life. America is founded on the principle of liberty, the notion that everyone is free to say and write what they want and that everyone is equal. Some people assume that since so much freedom is allowed, at least one person is exercising that freedom to its fullest. They work their whole lives to try to be like that person, but that person does not exist. They want to be as rich as him, and as powerful as him. These people are called the wealthy. The Great Gatsby illustrates the story these people, and how they are corrupted by the potential of seemingly limitless freedom. Tom and Daisy Buchanan, the rich couple in East Egg, seem to have everything they unhappy and seek more wealth. Tom drifts on "forever seeking a little wistfully for the could possibly want. Though their lives are full of anything they could imagine, they are dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game"(Fitzgerald 10) and reads "deep books with long words...
Words: 889 - Pages: 4
...An American dream ”we are change, we want to be” has Barack Obama said about himself and the U.S. The American voters showed last night that they agreed. With roots in Kansas and Kenya, and with a diploma from Harvard, represent the country´s first Afro-American president an America that once again dare to dream. “I am sufficiently new on the national stage to people of different political orientation who can project their own views at me as an empty screen. In this sense, I will inevitable get to disappoint some if not everybody” That wrote Barack Obama in his book the audacity of hope from 2006. Back then, he was in the middle of his second year as senator for the state Illinois. After almost two years of election campaign, that ended with victory in the race for the presidency yesterday are the words still relevant. Obama is more than something other than a screen is, as the U.S reflects its own best sides in. During the past two years, he has becoming the USA´s dream about itself. Barack Obama has been for the Democrats what Ronald Reagan was for the Republicans in 1980´s: a promise of a new era beginning. A dewy morning in America. Barack Obama is a living proof of the assertion consider that any individual with the right abilities and ambitions can become president of the United States. Like that, he talks to the USA´s own history about himself. The myth Obama is the myth...
Words: 258 - Pages: 2
...America's most cherished myths. As a term, myth is much misunderstood; hearing it, many people take the word to mean "lie," when in fact a myth is a story, a narrative, that explains individual and national realities--how a person or a country came to be, why certain things happen in the course of a life or of history, and what fate may have in store for us. Myths are a peculiar hybrid of truth and falsehood, resentments and ambitions, dreams and dread. We all have personal myths running through our heads, and some chapters would withstand fact checking while others would fail miserably. Nations are the same way. In America, the underlying faith is that in a truly free and democratic society, every man and woman has the potential to realize greatness, that freedom and openness liberate and ennoble ordinary citizens to do extraordinary things. The Triumph of the Common Man is a myth deeply rooted in American culture, and unlike some popular myths, it is true enough. Tom Hanks may have played a fictional character in "Saving Private Ryan"--the small-town American called to arms--but World War II was won by a million citizen soldiers very much like him. There is, unfortunately, another, less admirable myth that Americans concoct to explain crises and disasters. It is rooted in the paranoid streak that runs through pop culture, the conspiracy theories that blame some sinister (and usually make-believe) Other for whatever went wrong. In 1950, many frightened Americans wanted to know:...
Words: 308 - Pages: 2
...Although many of them have successfully amalgamated into American culture through hard work and diehard persistence, the idea of this “model minority” trails behind them unceasingly. This stereotype of the model minority characterizes Asians as having everything “figured out”. They are willing and ready to assimilate completely into American culture; they stay of trouble and are submissive, and they dominate in both education and in the work place. Even though this stereotype seemingly praises Asians; in truth, it has a counteractive effect on both the Asian community and other ethnic groups as well. Despite the existence of this model minority stereotype, Asians are not followers of the myth and altogether demonstrate it counterfactual. In Asian American Dreams, Helen Zia introduces the model minority myth through an article titled “Success Story of One Minority Group in the United States” where it explains it as a reasonably form of praise claiming “at a time when Americans are awash in worry over the plight of racial minorities, one such minority, the nation’s 300,000 Chinese Americans, is winning wealth and respect by dint of its own hard work…” (Zia, 46). This quote claims that Asian Americans are achieving a high degree of success solely due to their perseverance and hard work. In addition, they are also receiving the respect of the other racial minorities. Finally, although not mentioned in the article, the myth also claims that Asians not only do well in terms of the...
Words: 1707 - Pages: 7
...The Myth of the “Model Minority” and Its Effects on Minority Racial Groups When we talk about race it is almost exclusively in black and white with occasional mentions of Latinos. The struggles of the races in-between are often left out of the conversation and arguably none more so than that of Asian Americans. People often see Asians are the exception to racism, the successful marginalized group that highlights the American dream. This mindset has been captured in the idea of the “model minority”, referring to Asians and their perceived successes in the United States. The myth of Asians as the “model minority” is an idea constructed to protect white privilege and prosperity by creating a culture of racial minorities competing against each...
Words: 1541 - Pages: 7
...In the wake of a society that is becoming more accepting, television is taking a crack at exposing people to the Native American/Indigenous lifestyles and beliefs. Recently, shows like Bones, Grimm, Sleepy Hallow, The Blacklist, Hannibal, Supernatural, Charmed, etc. are filming episodes dealing with Native American myths. But are the program creators of these networks accurately portraying tribal beliefs? In an investigation into the mass media and exploring the ploys and tactics of how closely television directors portray native mythology, I uncover the startling truths. Focusing on the television show Grimm, an American based series based off the Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, who collected and published European folk tales in the early 19th century. The premise is that those brothers weren't writing fairy stories, but warnings about the creatures that live among us. The television show is set in Portland, Oregon where detective Nick Burkhardt has inherited the ability to see supernatural creatures, and as a "Grimm," he is tasked with keeping the balance...
Words: 1935 - Pages: 8
...Of Mice and Men Essay Of Mice and Men is a classic American novel that addresses many topics including discrimination, disability, and the American dream. Several topics that were potentially controversial at the time. Each character in the story has something that holds them back or limits them in some way. This holds them back from completing their goals or achieving their dreams. The two main characters George and Lennie are an exemplary representation of this. George is an average man who looks out for Lennie, a very large man with the mind of a child who is unaware of his tremendous strength. They consistently move from ranch to ranch in search of work because Lennie continues to get in trouble somehow. Lennie enjoys petting soft things...
Words: 1328 - Pages: 6
