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Essay On The American Dream Future

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Essay On The American Dream Future
The American Dream as told through Illustrations of the Future The concept of the American Dream has been something that has drawn people to the United States for the past two hundred years. But is the American Dream the same as it was at its inception? The American Dream has traditionally been defined as the concept that no matter where someone starts out in life, he or she can work his or her way upward and achieve an “ultimate dream” through dedication and hard work. However, this “ultimate dream” - what Americans work to achieve - has changed over time. Through the eyes of illustrators who imagine what they think the future will hold, one can see what the Americans of their time value, and consequently what the “current” American dream is. Through these illustrations, one can see that over time, the ultimate dream that Americans work towards has changed from one of individualism, …show more content…
This change can be seen through illustrations of the ideal futures of various decades. From 1915 to the 1980s, the idea that anyone could achieve the “ultimate dream” stayed the same, while the ultimate dream itself changed from the want to make one’s own way in the world, to having a perfect family, and finally to having the most possessions. However, in recent years young people have stopped believing that anyone could achieve anything through hard work - although these Americans still have a dream of having a nice house, a family, and a job, this is a dream that is no longer uniquely American. The concept of being able to achieve anything by working hard and persevering, and the fact that this was actually possible in America, is what made the American dream so important. Today, the American Dream is mostly considered unattainable, and is now considered more of a historical concept than it is a modern

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