The American Dream Brandon King Analysis

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My English composition teacher asked, in class, what we thought the definition of the American Dream was, and whether or not it’s still alive today. Everyone had an idea of what the phrase meant, but no one could clearly define it, nor could anyone firmly state its present-day existence. It’s a small sample size, but the feeling was that the concept of the American dream exists, but that it more resembles a dream than reality. That is what I would argue, that the American Dream is a but a fleeting memory of what once made this country great, and that in the direction we are going, we could see that dream become a nightmare sooner than we all think. First, we must define the American Dream. Brandon King is a political science student, and he writes in “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?”, that despite facing alarming evidence in the contrary, the concept is “still very much alive” (572). King gives his own definition of the American Dream as “…the potential to work…” that eventually leads to a secure future (573). He states that the American Dream is “more modest” and “a trimmed down version” of what was alive in the 1930s, and that the Dream has become less about material wealth and more about maintaining. Conversely, Paul Krugman, an economist at Princeton, believes the American dream is in a state of decay, as he writes …show more content…
When defining the