Is the American Dream dying?

I decided to complete Kim's webquest based on the novel "The Tortilla Curtain".

What exactly is the “American Dream”? The term is used loosely to mean just about anything from the acquisition of wealth, to home ownership, to moral license-all without appreciation for the original significance of the Dream. It once used to be universally known as going to America to work hard and strike success and live a better life. Wikipedia defines it as “a phrase referring to the supposed freedom that allows all citizens and all residents of the United States to pursue their goals in life through hard work and free choice”. The key word in this definition is the pursuit of their goal. Each person’s aspirations and goals are different so who has the right to judge if someone has achieved their dream or not.

There may still be people who immigrate for the dream because living poorly in the states is still better than living poorly in other countries. Some people come and are happy making minimum wage and getting by with shelter and food, but the dream that with hard work you can climb up the social change is nearly dead. Even in the beginning of the United States the dream was fickle and very hard to achieve but now the dream is nothing but an illusion…a myth.

The US’s current economic status definitely effects people’s idea of the “American Dream”. With experienced long time employees losing jobs and scavenging for jobs they are well overqualified for, simply to put food on the table for their family, what chance is there for immigrants to come and live the dream with no open job markets? In previous decades, the illusion of the dream was still thriving and instigating people to come to America to work hard and make money but now, America’s economic security and image is spiraling down. It is the survival of the fittest and those who take hold of every opportunity and work had still may fall short.