Eng 1A American Dream Essay

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Aiwei Lin

English 1A

Ms Robledo

12/12/16

Income Inequality is Killing Our American Dream

​In the definition of the American Dream by American writer and historian James

Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with

opportunity for each according to ability or achievement." The American Dream is

the national spirit of the United State. It is the desire of people to chase success and

prosperity in life. In people’s mind, the American Dream represents an ideal life that

they want to achieve. However, many people do not trust in the American Dream

anymore. What they believe is actually reasoanable: United State used to be regarded

as a land full of opportunities, and the American Dream emphasized the point that

everyone can be successful through hard work. The reality is that many people are

working in minium wage jobs, struggling to make a living. Besides, a lot of people can

hardly find a job. Nevertheless, the American Dream is still achieveable and the main

obstacle that blocks people’s way to achieve it is the rising income inequality.

​In the essay, “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or On Hold?” Brandon King

claims that nowadays many people believe that the American Dream is dead, which

means it is imposible for people to achieve it. However, King does not think so. He

thinks that the American Dream still works in this society. “To many, the most

worrisome problem is inequality: that wealth is concentrated into the hands of a rich

minority”(King 612). He points out that the unequal distribution of wealth in this

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nation has became a more serious issue for people. Wealth inequality makes people

vacillate faith to chase their American Dream. According to the author’s opinion, the

American Dream is being more and more eroded in our society and it is now facing

the test of time. “The rules for achieving the American Dream may no longer be

taught and supported by culture, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t work.” (King

614). Although it is tough for people to achieve their American Dream, the author

still gives credit to the idea that people can one day earn the life they want by

working hard. I agree with King’s idea. The American Dream is not dead; it is just on

hold. However, if people want to make their dream come true, there are some

problems that need to be solved.

In order to achieve the American Dream, the main problem that people need to

solve is wealth inequality. Moreover, the major factor that leads to wealth inequality

is income inequality. Throughout much of modern history, income inequality have

been rising at insane speed, and the situation is likely to continue. Income inequality

is like wealth accumulation: “Ultimately, we could end up with a society in which the

rich separate themselves from everyone else, perpetuating their wealth from one

generation to the next, as nobility of past centuries did. (Leonhardt 543). Although

the economy of the United States is growing, society seems to be moving backward.

According to the statistics, American’s top 10 percent now earn an average nearly 9

times as much as the bottom 90 percent. What’s even more terrible is that the top 1

percent earn even more. The average they earn is over 38 times more than the

bottom 90 percent. In other words, most of the wealth of the United States is owned

by the top 1 percent of persons. Due this unhealthy social condition, many people are

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struggling to make a living. As a result, they begin to look forward to a more stable

life instead of taking risk to chase their American Dream.

Many economists argue that income inequality is one of the disadvantages of

capitalism. In fact, they are narrowly correct. “Capitalism has been doing the exactly

what it was designed to do: concentrating wealth in the ownership class, while

providing the mass of workers with just enough wages to feed, house and clothe

themselves” (McClelland 553). Income inequality also gives people a more limited

access to opportunity and other resources such as education, housing amd nutrition,

which is not only for people themselves but also for their next generation as well. For

example, in 2016, the average minimum wage in the state of California around 10

dollars per hour, and ​a two-bedroom apartment in Oakland now costs about $1350

to $1500 per month. Los Angles also has an average two-bedroom rent of $2,000 per

month. If a worker earns minimum wage for 40 hours per week, then what he earns

per month can barely support him to make a living in Oakland, and he can hardly

survive in Los Angels. At the same time that low income households are struggling to

survive in minimum wage, many people cannot even find a job that can support

them. The low minimum wage and high unemployment rate cause income inequality

to be a more massive issue, which takes people far away from their American Dream.

Income inequality is a natural part of the capitalist economy, but that doesn’t

mean it is inevitable. There are many ways that can help reduce the effects of income

inequality. For instance, government can tax rich people more or increase the budget

on welfare. However, it only works in the short term, which is not enough to change

the predicament. If we want an effective way to solve this problem, education may be

the solution. “When a society becomes more educated, many of its less-wealthy

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citizens quickly acquire an ephemeral but nonetheless crucial form of

capital--knowledge-- that can bring enormous returns” (Leonhardt 546). Education

has a powerful impact on a person, especially poor people, because getting more

education means to be more competitive. Being more competitive means people are

more likely to be employed. “The great income gains for the American middle class

and poor in the mid-to-late 20th century came after this country made high school

universal and turned itself into the most educated nation in the world.”(Leonhardt

546). Countries that have done a better job imporving their education gain a lot more

on returns, since the 21th century is a human-capital century. Education has a

profound and lasting effect not only for individuals but also for the whole nation. It is

important to improve the education of the United States to help overcome the

obstacle that blocks people’s way to their American Dream.

Perhaps the issue of wealth inequality can’t be solved rapidly and people will still

have a long distance to their American Dream. That does not mean the American

Dream is imposible to achieve. People should be hopeful for their future instead of

giving up faith and feeling hopeless. The American Dream never dies, it just fades

away.

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King, Brandon. “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or On Hold? ” ​They Say I Say

with readings​ . 3rd ed. Gerald Graff,et. Al. New York: Norton, 2015. 610-617.

Print.

Leonhardt, David. “Inequality Has Been Going on Forever…but That Doesn’t Mean

It’s Inevitable ” ​They Say I Say with readings​ . 3rd ed. Gerald Graff,et. Al. New

York: Norton, 2015. 542-548. Print.

McClelland, Edward. “RIP, the Middle Class:1946-2013” ​They Say I Say with

readings​ . 3rd ed. Gerald Graff,et. Al. New York: Norton, 2015. 549-560. Print.