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Analytical Essay: The Destruction Of The American Dream

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For decades, hope of attaining the elusive American Dream has filled the hearts and minds of many diligent students, ambitious entrepreneurs and aspiring creatives. The idea that hard work and perseverance can spur on success was at the core of what America represented for so many of its citizens and admirers. Rightfully so, American was once dubbed “The Land of Opportunity.” Unfortunately, the endless possibilities depicted in the American Dream have become nearly extinct. No longer is it true that anyone can make it in contemporary America; in fact, the idea of the American Dream proves itself to be inaccurate and even prejudiced in today’s culture. When discussing the American Dream, Paul Krugman denounces its existence with a hearty “Goodbye, …show more content…

This widened gap in income distribution inhibits equal opportunity distribution. In addition to being inaccurate, today’s distorted version of American Dream is also prejudiced, making it unattainable for the bottom 90 percent of Americans today. In By Our Own Bootstraps Michael W. Cox and Richard Alm believe, “There’s no denying that our system allows some Americans to become much richer than others.” (Cox & Alm 66). How is this kind of imbalance possible? Tax shelters for the wealthy and tax burdens on the poor promote Cox and Alm’s theory. In addition, the prejudices in attaining the American Dream go beyond the distinctions between the rich and the poor. Distinctions are made due to social class, religion, ethnicity and race, as well as education levels and gender leave hard workering, intelligent and truly qualified individuals overlooked and unconsidered. The caste system that Krugman refers to is encouraged by these kinds of class distinctions (Krugman 64). It is obviously ill-advised to say that everyone should be paid the same salary for their work. Rather, equal opportunities to grow and riddance of the complacent “Wal-Martization” (Krugman 63) mindset needs to be

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