After the "Great Recession" in 2008, the American economy once again started to decline, and the confidence of the American people was hurt by the unemployment and increasing social instability. Under such a pessimistic situation, is that still possible for the American Dream to survive without a good economy? What are the American Dreams in today's America? To figure this question out, I interviewed six different individuals who are willing to share their opinions with me and the others. Let's have a look at people's answers towards these questions.
Mr. Daniel Mumford is the high social study teacher in my school. He teaches World History, Economy, and have a deep understanding in terms of the U.S. government and society. According to him, the American Dream seems unreal and cannot be achieved without the supports of a good government. He believes that the American government doesn't actually do its jobs and cannot improve people's lives by doing nothing. He said, :"I would like to see that we get back to some sort of level where we actually treat people like human. We should elect people to public office who are actually qualified for the jobs. They should actually do their jobs as public officials and govern rather than just whin and complain at each other". He also argued that the two parties should understand the importance of compromise which is the basic idea of democracy. Without compromise, the government cannot accomplish its jobs and is not able to help its people to achieve their dreams. So, having a more responsible and competent government is the American Dream of Mr. Mumford.
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Mr. Joshua Keidan is the English teacher and my advisor in my high school. He believes that accomplishing American Dreams is very difficult at this point, although he wants to believe in the American Dreams. He said, "I would like to believe that everyone can make their lives into whatever they like to. But it is hard to, because so many people are confined by their circumstances, by their poverties, or by other things in their lives that they cannot achieve what they want to achieve. It is just harder than it should be". Because he has seen a lot of people who suffered from poverty and lost their good lives after getting sick, he thinks that the American Dream cannot be achieved by normal people who don't have backgrounds and money. So, he asserted that the American Dream became harder to accomplish than the past. His own version of American Dream is to have a sufficient and comfortable life. He asserted that this type of American Dream is more realistic at this point, although he still has worries about the future of this country and his life after a few years.
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Benjamin Wang is an international student from China and doesn't believe the American Dream. He mentioned that today's American Dream is more like an idea pushed by the government to the citizens. Although the American Dream is already impossible to achieve, the American government might still want to popularize this spirit in order to rebuild people's confidence. He said, "I think that the government pushes the American Dream to its citizens. It wants them to treat this American Dream as a kind of doctrine. So, it makes people to believe that if they work hard and they keep working, they can be successful. But sometimes, the reality is on the opposite side. So I don't think it really exist". For him, his own American Dream, or goal, is to be himself and to build good relationships with his friends. Although he thinks the typical American Dream is not realistic, he said that he still needs to work hard in order to have a successful future. However, to stay with his friends in the future is still his most important wish, since other dreams are too unrealistic.
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Neil Hetrick, the twenty one-year old student in University of Toledo and the dorm parent of the Dayal House, has done a lot of researches related to the American Dream. After doing a lot of researches, he felt that the American Dream cannot be achieved by most people in this country. He argued that the American Dream is used by the government and the public media to get immigrants to this country. He thinks that this belief is a lie, even though a small number of people achieved that. He said, "However, the amount of people that actually succeeded in the American Dream are not even one percent. I have done extensive research on this topic, and it is impossible for an average person to graduate from high school and to achieve the American Dream". He also talked about the many immigrants who come to this country with a high level of education can only work in low wage jobs, since the United States doesn't have so many high level jobs. He also believed that the American culture taught people that they can have everything without working hard. However, it is not true, and the Americans can never achieve the American Dream without hardworkds. For him, his own American Dream is to be able to learn new things and to have freedom. This American Dream appeals to him more than the traditional American Dream which is difficult to achieve in these days.
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Amber Aziza is a dorm parent in the Dayal House and the Found of the Aziza Group, a business helps people with career development. She believes in the American Dream, because she always has positive attitude which makes her to believe that every good things can happen to her life. After I asked her why does she still believe in the American Dream, she said: "I am an optimistic. I am always thinking that the best is going to happen and the the best is going to come. And the hard work is going to be rewarded". Another reason that makes her to be believe in the American Dream is her family background. According to her, she is from a union family, and her parents taught her that she can be successful by working hard. Although her parents made her to believe the American Dream, her own American Dream is still a little different from the traditional definition of the American Dream. Her dream is really ambitious, and she wants to create her business empire through working extremely hard. She told me that she will open more companies to achieve her American Dream.
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Getro Jean-Claude is a student in the University of Toledo and a dorm parent in the Dayal House. As a foreigner came from Haiti, he feels that the American Dream is not dead, because the United States provides him with great opportunities that will help him to succeed. He said, "Growing up in Haiti, I have seen first hand poverty that people there were living in. It was always my dream to be able to come to U.S. to further my education, because I believe the education here is way better than what I was going to be offered in Haiti, and that was going to be opening doors for me to be able to do what I want to do". He asserted that the education in the United States can really help him to achieve his American Dream, and becoming successful is much easier in the United States because of the education. He also said, "If you want to accomplish something, you just need to put your hands in the game and work hard. Definitely, in America everybody has the same opportunities, and they just need to work hard at it". When I asked him why many Americans lost their American Dream, he believes that the American people are not hardworking enough and thinks that they deserve all the good things available for them. He thinks that the American people are not willing to work hard for their American Dream, since they haven't seen the suffers of the other parts of the world. In the future, his American Dream is to become financially successful and to help people in his hometown to pursue their happiness.
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From my interviews I learned that today's American Dreams are different from people to people. Many people, who lost their hopes towards the typical and greater American Dream, would like to pursue more realistic dreams. Other people would still like to strive for a greater American Dream and believes that the American Dream still exists. However, we need to admit that most people in the American lost their beliefs in the American Dream and the overall circumstances is depressing. I hope that one day the American economy will recover and the American people will once again regain their most worthless value, the American Dream, which helped to support this nation and to create thousands of miracles in this land.