Essay Sample on Achieving the American Dream: James Adams' Vision

Introduction

Over the last decade, many people have been migrating to America to achieve their American dream. James Adams was the first person to introduce the idea of the American dream in 1931. However, he did not define it in terms of material possession as seen in the current era. It was viewed as a land where everyone can achieve fulfillment in life, and explore numerous opportunities. Another aspect of the American dream was the ability to progress despite the past challenges they experienced during colonialism. Over the years, the dream has been changing because of the government's emphasis on owning a decent house, and racial segregation in public utilities such as health and education. Individualism has become the way of life for most Americans who believe that owning a decent house, a well-paying job, and a little family would give them happiness and hence achieve their dream. It has become difficult for minority cultural groups to achieve their dream because culture and identity are crashing. Although the American dream still exists, it has changed dramatically to the extent that many people feel it is unattainable.

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America was a land of possibilities and everyone when citizens or non-citizen achieved success. The people have been doing extraordinary things, for instance, Building the Transcontinental railroad which is a contiguous network of railway trackage that crosses a continental landmass with terminals located at different continental borders and oceans. They also constructed Hoover Dam which is the largest reservoir built in the world. Americans also discovered crooning an artificial way of producing babies. America is defined as the land of possibility because it was from this great nation that a man landed on the moon, they also discovered a cure for polio and built the internet that is used in every corner of the world. It was in this great country where the human genome was built. According to Isaacs and Preston (2018), achievement depended on an individual as well as the society that offered a conducive environment for everyone. The poor make it in this country and become millionaires. The immigrants who landed in this nation without money for the search for green pastures could find a job and live a comfortable life. However, immigrants are no longer allowed to secure white-collar-jobs due to racial discrimination. The interview conducted by Isaac and Preston showed how the Mexican struggled to achieve the American dream.

Racism is the major cause of the problems the immigrants' experiences because the whites felt superior over them. Racial inequality may be demonstrated in the distribution of opportunities, power, life, and wealth, afforded to people based on their race or ethnicity. The respondents stated that they worked for long hours in multiple jobs to provide basic needs to their families. The children stated that their parents "left home before their children woke up and returned long after they were asleep" (Isaac and Preston 1). The children did not spend time with their parents because they were busy working. The children also took their parents' responsibilities for taking care of their siblings. Immigrants come to America with dreams and expectations of a new home. They have hope for better education, living conditions, and employment. However, this dream is not attained because the youths start working as soon as they graduated from high school. Their parents cannot afford to pay for college fees. Moreover, there are limited educational opportunities for non-whites hence; they are ready to do second-hand jobs. Although the immigrants are willing to do the handy work, their unauthorized status acts as a hindrance to secure employment. They cannot get a driver's license, and therefore accessing the workplace become difficult (Isaac and Preston 1). Poverty and discrimination are other major issues the immigrants experience in the United States. They could not secure well-paying jobs due to a lack of skills and education. The white color jobs are reserved for the Americans. They not only enjoy these privileges, but they also have total power over the immigrants. Mexican, Hispanics and black Americans face discrimination because they treated as second-hand people who do handy work and acts as subordinates in the companies.

The immigrants are not the only people who struggle to achieve the American dream. The whites have also been experiencing various challenges, despite the promise of the current president, Donald Trump. Shiller (2017) has written an article published in the New York Times, titled "The Transformation of the American Dream" where he discusses Trump's promise of material success. Trump promises decent housing, employment opportunities, and a favorable environment for small firms (Shiller 2). Many Americans fail to achieve the promised revived American dream due to a lack of a well-paying job. Students graduate from university with a burden of loans provided to cater to their medical fees. They seek employment not only to achieve material success but to refund the loans. However, they face a challenging market that does not employ those without experience, and the job market is competitive for new entrants. When the American Dream was established, the job market was divided into white-collar and blue-collar jobs. The blue-collar workers were those who did second-hand jobs such as manual labor. The workers were getting dirty in their workplace, and this acted as deterrence. The blue-collar jobs were done by the uneducated and semi-skilled individuals in society. On the other hand, the white-collar jobs were meant for the elites with degrees. They worked in offices and earned higher than the white-collar employees. Currently, blue-collar workers earn more than white-collar workers. Although the division between the two classes of workers still exists, the second-hand workers are more likely to get a job compared to the graduates. The difference exists due to high competition in the white-collar jobs sector. The youth feel betrayed by society because they working a different line of work, and earn less than they expected when they enrolled for their courses in universities. Moreover, most youths are training in technical universities, and are ready to take up blue-collar jobs that come with a high salary.

Shiller (2017) notes that back in 1930 the American Dream meant freedom and mutual respect. Americans enjoyed the freedom given to them by the detailed bill of rights in the constitution. It lists all the rights, and it was by far the largest list of rights any country enjoys. In America, anyone was free to say anything if it does not offend anyone because of the freedom of speech. Freedom of the press was another freedom Americans enjoy that allows journalists to write and air their news without fear. Americans were free to choose which religion to believe in or not to believe in any. Moreover, they could choose the level of affiliation they wish to observe any particular religion. Americans were free to move from one place to another, and one could choose which place to settle without any interference of the state. Americans were also free of discrimination against gender, race, and disability. Although this freedom exists to date, most American citizens are highly discriminated against by race and economic status. The Mexicans who are American citizens have no freedom of movement because they fear Trump's new order to deport all immigrants (Isaacs and Preston 3). Most of the deportees were born in America and they do not feel home back in their country.

The current workers worry about their retirement benefits such as pension and healthcare covers. In the past decades, workers who remain loyal to companies were awarded a pension. The retired employees did not worry about sources of income to maintain their life. The plan began to change in the last decade after institutions realized that people were living for many years after retirement. The companies cannot continue to make loses to pay non-workers. The Harvard Institute of Politics carried out a study to assess the views of people on the American future and 50% responded that they are afraid of the American future. Moreover, only 32% of white females and 36% white males have hope of achieving the American dream (Woolley 3). Americans face numerous uncertainties projected cut in social security funds that cater to retirement benefits and medical covers by 2030 (Woolley 1).

Conclusion

Many people believe that America is a land of freedom and opportunity and many call it the "American Dream". In the last decade, the dream was a reality because they enjoyed vast opportunities making it easy to achieve success in life. However, over time this trend has been decline and racial discrimination is evident in the workplace. In the next few years, the workers will no longer have a pension, and healthcare insurance. The current working group has to plan a budget that will cater to their living expenses after retirement and medical costs. The current generation feels that although the idea of the American dream still exists, it is becoming almost impossible to achieve it.

Works Cited

Isaacs, Anita, and Preston, Anne. Deporting the American Dream (July 9, 2018).

Shiller, Robert. The Transformation of the American Dream. The New York Times. ( AUG 4, 2017)

Woolley, Suzanne. Retirement Dread is Replacing the American Dream (July 18, 2017)