Summary Of Leaving The American Dream By Fareed Zakaria

2221 Words9 Pages

“But as I travel from America to India these days… it’s as if the world has been turned upside down” (Fareed Zakaria para. 4). Zakaria holds an idea that so many others would deem disturbing. For so long, the United States has been known as a land of opportunity and hope; a place people could go to escape oppression and live freely. For so long the United States has been known as the country which holds the “American Dream.” For so long the United States has held onto this “dream,” refusing to change what it means over the decades causing Americans who came for the “dream” to feel overlooked. Now, it seems as if the United States is no longer that country people dreamed about, but rather just another point on a map. As a country, people’s challenges …show more content…

Somehow, the United States always overcomes those problems and continues to thrive, however, the way the problems are being fixed isn’t changing and is becoming detrimental to society. In his essay, “How to Restore the American Dream”, Fareed Zakaria explains to his readers' ways to fix how the American Dream has changed. He begins his essay by articulating how America “seemed dazzling and larger than life” (para. 1) compared to India, where he grew up. He continues throughout his essay writing about how America is no longer what it used to be. People from other countries don’t view it the same anymore because other countries are doing just as well. The United States needs to do something that is outside its comfort zone to become the country that people dream of moving to. While other countries are adapting and changing, our country still has, “an 18th-century system determined to check and balance… our monarchy. It is designed for gridlock… when quick and large scale action… only hope” (para. 7). Our country is falling behind other countries by trying to hold onto our past instead of breaking away from it and focusing on the future. What worked in the past, won’t necessarily work in the future. If the United States wants to become a country with a focus on opportunity, hope, and freedom, it needs to start fixing the way it fixed issues in the