Galvez, Peter
English 20
                     I HAVE A DREAM

“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.” (MLK) These are the words of Martin Luther King himself. In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. said that he too had a dream, and I would consider it a great view of the American Dream. But, what if his dream was something totally different than someone else’s dream? Is the American Dream different than it use to be, or is it changing? These are questions that we must all ask ourselves as we live here in America. I believe that education, business, and technology are major aspects that drive the American Dream, and that the American Dream is changing for the worst for middle and lower class Americans.
     My mom is one of the people that I interviewed asking her about her opinion of the American Dream. She grew up in Nicaragua and came to the United States by herself, because of the war that was happening there. When she arrived to the United States she only had four hundred
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dollars. She was able to survive on her own and her view of coming to America was something that I found really interesting. “I remember coming to the United States looking to live a better life and get a good education. Back them all the schools really focused on attendance and everyone would want to go to school to learn. Nobody would go there to show off his or her clothes or see who had the nicer car. I notice that in today’s society there is a lot of kids that are dropping out and only go to school for the social aspect.” (Gladys Galvez)
This makes me really put education as one of the top priorities in life. Without an education you will never be successful in life. Many people want to go to college and get a high paying job, or maybe one day being a millionaire. With out school you will never be able to get anywhere in life, and most aspects of a persons dream would be crushed. We give children a false comfort and reassurance that they can be whatever they want to be. Little boys grow up dreaming of professional baseball and little girls may dream of dancing in the ballet, but these dreams will most likely never come true due to their given situations. “I would want to be in the NFL and play for CAL’s football team.” That is a quote from my friend Lou
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Arroyos who was an excellent athlete, but never got to any college because his grades in high school were so bad. He didn’t know you had to do well in school to get a chance to play. Education is going downhill and more and more people don’t appreciate the chance they have. Not only are we getting budget cuts but also, the dropout rate is at an all time high. In most countries, people would die to be able to get a chance to come to the United States and get an education. We as American’s, take for granted how lucky we are to live where we live. If we want to go to school we can go and learn, if we just simply don’t go.
Business is a very important topic to talk about when speaking about the American Dream. Money seems to be everyone’s top priority. The rich want to get richer, while the poor get poorer. I feel that this is correct, because middle and lower class people want that new car, television, house, or whatever it is they desire. The only problem that is happening is that people are biting more than they can chew. I was talking to one of my friends who are a parent already and she said, “When I was a little kid there was no way I would ever have a cell phone. My mom would take me shopping, but never would we spend more than forty dollars on a shirt. Also if I was lucky and saved
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for over a year I could buy a car. Now my seven year old and ten year old both want to wear name brand clothes and don’t appreciate the value of money.” (Nicole Bittle) I believe that now the America Dream for many people is more materialistic. Everyone wants a really nice house or that expensive car, but forget the value of family. Many people are over working and don’t get a chance to spend that quality time with there family. Many families don’t ever get a chance to eat dinner together anymore because they are either out working, or will just get a quick meal on the go. A lot of people will overspend, just to not feel like they are part of the lower class. The only problem is that many middle class Americans will fall to lower class because they get into serious debt. “Across America, the citizenry has managed to rack up $1.2 trillion in consumer debt, which is five times the national defense budget.” (Art of Going Broke) This is a tremendous number to think about. So many millions of American’s are in debt because they are spending more than they make. Everyone wants to reach that higher class, but in reality they are falling really behind. The America Dream is no longer a value of family now days, more it’s a materialistic dream. The business word has taken over and money is harder and harder
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to get. There are so many people working at minimum wage, but have a taste for things that they can’t afford.
Technology is the last thing that I feel had made it harder and harder to achieve the American Dream. Things are getting really advanced and high tech and they are becoming really expensive. CD’s and DVD’s are more expensive than tapes and VCR’s were. Cars have so many options and houses have so many chances for upgrades and this is really making it hard on everyone. Nobody wants to just live average anymore, and technology is a huge factor in the America Dream. Things that use to cost a little bit, are now are so much more costly and its making the middle class disappear. The high class is just to high that nobody can keep up with them. Rich people seem to only get richer and buy the nicest things. Technological inputs are so great that it has eliminated so many jobs. Computers and technology are taking over manpower. Why would anyone want to hire anyone to do anything, when a machine can do it a thousand times faster?
In conclusion, I believe that the American Dream is no longer what it used to be. Being with your family and living a decent life is no longer the American Dream. The rich class is getting extremely richer and everyone wants
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to be part of the high class. The middle class is trying to keep up with the rich class but just getting itself into serious debt. The poor class can’t keep up with any of the higher classes and they are getting even poorer. It is only going to get worse as we get into the 22nd century. If children who are ten years old want name brand clothes and cell phones, imagine what five year olds will want in the future.















Works Cited

Passaro, Vince “Who’ll stop the drain: Reflections of going broke” Harpers August 1998. pg 35-42

Galvez, Gladys          Interview
Nicole Bittle           Interview
Lou Arroyos          Interview