The American Dream or the American Nightmare

This is an essay about how the American Dream has changed to be The American Nightmare. It starts with a telling about “What is The American Dream”.

The question is: How does The American Dream affect the Americans and immigrants.

The American Dream is a term used about people who have nothing, people born poor with a bad social background who because of hard work get success. It’s about living freer, happier and richer lives. Immigrants are coming to America with hope of a better life. The American Dream means liberty for the immigrants. A good example of the American Dream: “The dream is to work, to have a home, to get ahead, you can start as a janitor and become the owner of the building”. Many people believe the official words about The American Dream is a phrase that´s written in the Declaration of Independence. James Truslow Adams wrote in The Epic of America that the dream means “a better, richer, and happier life for all our citizens of every rank”.

In the first half of the last century, many immigrants’ moved to America in hope of a life without persecution, but that all changed In the middle of the last century. “The American Nightmare” started. The immigrants wanted more than just freedom when the American economy boomed. They wanted a share of the prosperity in the economy. As the years went by, materialism and the dream of wealth overtook the political side. The popular television soaps “Dallas” and “Dynasty” shows America as a country where you could be rich, and not just rich, but filthy rich. The dream vanished without the inspiring glue of freedom and the economic hard times in America. [NAVN B] had seen the TV shows where America I shown as a country of wealth, glamor and the place to make a lot of money, but it was wrong. “I thought this is not America because this is not what I see on television”. Says [NAVN B]. [NAVN A] moved to America three years ago for the same reason like Cheyanne. A better future. He goes to college, but he worries that he can`t get a proper education. He says “The system is broken; we can’t get the superior education that they supposedly want to give us”. Now the ambitious youngsters do not believe that talent and hard work are enough to reach the American Dream.