How Is The American Dream Flawed

American Dream The American Dream has come from a desire to increase social standing and quality of living. Although the U.S.’ numerous opportunities have allowed many people to achieve their dream, the American Dream is also flawed. Certain demographics tend to live together in areas with little opportunities reducing their chances of achieving the dream, increasing wealth inequality allows only some to support themselves, and economic downfalls make the American Dream exist in a flawed manner. The American Dream has held many meanings over the course of U.S. history. It focused heavily on the ownership of many material items during the 1920s, epitomized by the classic book by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby. However, nowadays the Dream is

Daymond John, known widely for his role in Shark Tank, is a testament to the American Dream persisting. After working growing up with his single mom, and working at Red Lobster until he was almost thirty, John decided to take his career into his own hands. He hand sewed eighty hats, and sold them all to make eight hundred dollars. Hundreds of hats later, John had a successful business and was no longer poor. Having dreamt of owning his own large business for his entire life, John’s relentless work ethic allowed him to achieve his American Dream while living in a community which boasted a 7.4% unemployment rate at the time. The unemployment rate of John’s hometown, Queens, has now decreased to barely above national average at 4.3%, but is now plagued by another problem; income inequality. This problem is occurring all across our nation, hurting the American Dream. The top 20% wealthiest of the U.S.’ population owns almost 86% of the countries wealth, leaving only 14% for the bottom 80%. This means that there is much less money left for the lower classes to increase their standing and achieve