Daniel JuarezJournal 6In the article “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?” by author Brandon King, he talks about how the American Dream is a matter of perspective in the eyes of the individual person. He states in his article that he believes, “planning for the future by saving more and enacting policies that sustain economic growth are what will keep the American Dream alive” (616). The author supports his beliefs throughout the entirety of his article while also incorporating various counter arguments. For instance, “Many liberal economists and activists say that the American Dream is dead, but I say that it’s more alive and important than everand that it is the key to climbing out of the Great Recession, overcoming inequality, and achieving true prosperity” (611).
He also explains that we as a nation, instead of trying to mess with the companies that create jobs and stimulate growth in America, we should believe that we can overcome adversity and be successful. I could come to terms with the fact that America has many different conclusions on what the American Dream should be. It went from one set belief, to many. Author Brandon King quotes in his article what the meaning of the American Dream came to be during the Great Drepression by James Trustlow Adams. Adams said, “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability and achievement, regardless of social class or circumstances of birth” (610-611). I feel like now just like what was said in this article, that the American Dream is a much simpler fact of being able to live comfortably without the struggle of living day by day poorly and suffering.
From my personal experience, I feel like planning ahead for the future, striving towards reaching your own goals, and making the best of what American allows you is all you need to be successful . In the article “America Remains the World’s Beacon of Success”, author Tim Roemer expresses a little bit on how as a former US ambassador to India, his travels and getting to know a little bit about the similar values other countries share with our own. Tim Roemer states “I learned that America is still deeply admired around the world and the place where many people want to live out their dreams” (618). He goes on to say that Americans think we are in such a bad place, when everyone on the outside of the US would still consider us to be the place they want to go and thrive.
He not only points out that America isn’t in such a bad place as we might believe it to be, but that our adversaries and other world powers are going through either the same or worse then we are. He points out many key ups America brings to the world such as “The United States has the largest and most technologically powerful economy in the world” (619) and “inventions spring from our labs, universities and garages, and eventually will propel world growth” (619). He ends by basically saying that we should not worry too much, America is “worth fighting for” (621), backed on his experience as an ambassador. This article pretty much backed how I feel about America as a whole. Being in the military and just growing up in general, you come to see that despite the trials and tribulations of life in America, we continue to strive forward. We continuously and constantly remain the top of the world as a force to be reckoned with as a military power, in technology, our economy, and many other things.
Things may seem bad to most and have been worse. Resilience has been the face of our country since its founding. In the article, author Tim Roemer says “During a meeting in Mumbai with three dozen business millionaires I asked a simple question: Which market would you most like to access? Almost unanimously, the answer was the United States” (620). That I feel goes to show despite what the world sees on the television, internet, or in the world news about our economic situation or whatever; we are we’re the world wants to be.
