American Dream 4 Essay Research Paper The

American Dream 4 Essay, Research Paper

The American Dream is referred to by many people as the reason to come to America. It is, or so they say, the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. Unfortunately they are incorrect, there truly is no American Dream, it is all an illusion given to us by our founding fathers as a reason for the inequality in which people are treated. I have lived in this country for 16 years now and have all the patriotic bullshit about how we give everyone equal opportunity and how everyone is equal in the eyes of the law. I just laugh when I read this. Throughout our country s 300-year history, it is all about raising one person over the other. It started with the movement of the Native Americans. They were here before anyone else, and they were moved because they did not live with all the violence our ancestors did. The founding fathers continued to push them further and further away because it was beneficial to them at the time. They said if you stay here we will not bother you anymore, then when they decided that area was nice and they needed it for the white man. Then we began to take the black man out of Africa and use them on our plantations so the white man could get more money. The President ended slavery, but there were ways around it and everyone knew it. No one ever said any persecution of the black man is wrong for years and why not, because it was more convenient for us to ignore it. Now the people from Latin American countries have come in homes of freedom, and better lives. We tell them they have to speak English, since they are in America, but I do not recall being taught the language of the Native Americans. Since they were here first should you not have to learn that language?

Americans define success as how much money you have. Success is not how much money you have, or what you have, or even if you are happy with what you have. Success is being happy with who you are. People pay surgeons tons of money to look younger than they are, pay very well to have a fake chin, or to have skin like a celebrity. These people think they are successful because they have the money to do this, and they look better than you do, however these people can not come to terms with who they really are and therefore change to be more appeasing to the eye. It is really unfortunate that these people can never be happy with the truth, because they are truly beautiful. Am I successful by America s lofty standards, no, do I consider myself to be successful by my own standards, yes. I make more money per hour than most of my friends, I enjoy my job, the people I work with, and most of the customers I deal with.

America s view of the American Dream does not affect me in any way. I dislike my country for its views on such things like immigrants and success. I like my country for the fact that it gives hope to those less fortunate, even if that is hope is as filled as a hollow tree. The people who move to America do so because they have been filled with hope that a place exists where everyone lives in a state of glorious euphoria, and that place is America. It is untrue, in places we are just as bad off as they are and they will be paid low wages for demeaning jobs. Many people will persecute them for being different and those who do not persecute directly, do so by being indifferently. I leave you with a quote:

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost, to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Sadly, that is the biggest lie of all.