The United States in the eyes of Europeans was an amazing country where democracy prevailed, instead of a monarchy, with no division into classes. In the United States, there was the freedom of conscience and tolerance. Thus, Americans have unprecedented freedom for the rest of the world. At that time of the Golden Youth and Great Gatsby the American Dream arose. It had its causes and long-lasting effects. The essay is going to discuss what is the American Dream and what cause-effect relationship does it have today.
First of all, it is important to understand in full the meaning of the American Dream. This is what America is considered the ideal life, including the success and prosperity for every citizen of the United States. Brandon King reminds to the world the phrase said by Adams in 1931. He proclaimed that “the American dream is 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” (King 2). This supposedly is what the whole world wanted. Indeed, the American ideology proved to be extremely viable, due to its universal principles as democracy, freedom, equality, progress, opportunity to work and to have possibilities for self-development, the achievement of success and wealth. Today, the American Dream is considered as the national idea of the United States through the prism of ideas of a secular model of society and through the cult of consumption it is losing its popularity. Capitalism is not able to provide a decent standard of living for everyone, but for now it can provide a tolerable standard of living of significant layers of the population, it can maintain social stability. Recent studies have shown that the middle class in America begins to feel the uncertainty, a phenomenon that indicates the inevitable social problems.
The American Dream is an effect of capitalism and consumerism. Henry Ford changed the idea of the American Dream. He increased salaries to hike consumption. It worked and the idea of consumerism was born, which led to the economic and social inequality in the American society. Today, it supplies the operation of the gigantic imperialist machine more successfully than the needs of its servants. Paul Krugman underlined how “the income for the wealthiest Americans increased, while the middle and lower incomes have remained stagnant” (Krugman 600). He expressed the idea that inequality caused a lot of damage to the American society. According to Krugman, inequality affects class and income (Krugman 602). The data provided by David Leonhardt showed that “incomes for the American middle class and poor have risen more slowly than their counterparts in most other affluent countries — while the American rich continue to outpace everyone” (Leonhardt n.p.). The results of a research provided by the winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize reflect a high level of inequality in the American society and its further growth. The inequality is rising not only within countries, but also on a global scale. Distribution of wealth from class to class and from state to state is a clear sign of unjust policies, because the economists underline that “prosperity and well-being is not always directly proportional to the contribution of an individual or a country's economy” (Becker and Murphy n.p.). It became apparent during the recession. Thus, the increase in inequality that we have seen around the world is determined not only by economic laws. Huge impact on the social stratification of the American society has policy and political decisions.
Brandon King suggested that the Great Recession killed the concept of the American Dream. Statistics shows the alarming facts, including millions of dollars lost in the stock market and high unemployment. However, in my opinion, to identify the causes of the crisis of the American Dream, it is necessary to consider the transformation of the U.S. national idea and the dynamics of its development. Today, the ideas of unification and prosperity of American society, the guarantees of freedom of speech, religion, press and meetings transformed in many ways and have already turned into the idea of the American exceptionalism. At this point, the formation of the educated middle class is very important. Gary Becker and Kevin Murphy are writing about the education as one of the positive effects of the American Dream (Becker and Murphy n.p.).
According to the authors of the article “The Upside of Income Inequality”, it raised literacy of America (Becker and Murphy n.p.), because a good higher education had become one of the most important steps to success. It helped to form the American middle class with career growth, narrow specialization and stable wages. For decades, America was associated with high living standards due to the possibilities, which the country offered to all enthusiasts. It's no secret that the United States is the world leader in many scientific discoveries and technological innovations. Today, the American higher education system is considered one of the best in the world. Symbols of American higher education are Harvard, Yale or Princeton. But this is only the tip of the iceberg. On average, education still has the advantage in employment and wages, and it averaged advantage turns into a cherished dream for many families. Today, the U.S. system of higher education is too much linked to the market, making it instable, dependent on market fluctuations. And it is extremely heterogeneous in terms of the quality of education and employment prospects for graduates. So today, it often produces only a dream for the American citizens.
Conclusion
For decades, the American Dream fired the minds of millions, enticing them to American shores. Today, it continues to attract the most motivated people, not only because of the income or intending to pursue higher education, but also those who want to escape from the vicious circle of a poor or unstable country. The USA had everything necessary to ensure that the American Dream has become a reality for the ordinary people of the country. It had vast natural resources still unexplored, efficient economy, convenient geographical location away from the European conflicts. Thus, a person could suddenly become successful, due exceptionally to its success. With social changes and economic growth, the American Dream changed its concept and with the time lost its meaning. It brought to the world consumption and social stratification of America, which generated into deep inequality. However, it has also positive effect. It helped to attract the best specialist providing them with the wide opportunities for the carrier growth and self-development. Besides, the desire to get to the American Dream made people to work hard, which actually built the American economy from the very beginning.
Works Cited
Becker, Gary, and Kevin Murphy. "The Upside of Income Inequality - AEI". AEI. N.p., 2007. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.
King, Brandon. The American Dream: Dead, Alive or on Hold? "They Say, I Say". Eds Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel K Durst New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2012. Print.
Krugman, Paul. “Confronting Inequality.” They Say, I say. Eds Gerald Graff, Kathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. New York, NY: W. W. Norton and Company, 2009. 322-341. Print Lewin, Jonathan
Leonhardt, David. "Inequality Has Been Going on Forever But that Doesn’t Mean It’S Inevitable". Nytimes.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.
