In America, it is your right to live the life you always wanted. This is the “American Dream. ” As the years go by, this dream is fading away, causing millennials to have a major struggle as they mature as adults in the “greatest country in the world. ” The concept of this “American Dream” is under a great deal of scrutiny as our economy drops yearly. It’s beginning to become harder to isolate yourself from the pack in this country, making it more competitive for the millennials.
Statistics show children are more than likely going to have a better life than their parents. This shows the drive and positivity our country contains. The next portion of this essay will observe different perceptions of moving up socioeconomic classes. Zachary Freeman’s “Real Poverty Doesn’t Exist in America” declares that America isn’t a country of the same poverty experienced in other small, third-world countries.
This article will be contrasted with “Millennials in Adulthood” where statistics show how the future of America will have many hardships. Lastly, I will compare these prior articles to Joe Pinsker’s article “America Is Even Less Socially Mobile Than Most Economists Thought” and it goes into depth on the concept of the “American Dream” and how it might possibly be a dream that is too hard to catch. My own personal experience will contrast these articles and examine rising through socioeconomic classes.
In his article, Zachary Freeman analyzes true poverty and several ideas about the opportunities the poor have here in America, that the poor in other countries don’t have. These ideas contrast the article of “Millennials in Adulthood” and “America Is Even Less Socially Mobile Than Most Economists Thought. ” Initially, Freeman opposes that Americans have plenty of options if they’re struggling, where people living in poverty don’t have these same options. As he explains, “There is no poverty in the United States. Poverty is suffering without a safety net” (Freeman 152).
The people living in poverty in America have tons of opportunities to apply for food stamps, subsidized housing, employment benefits, and welfare. Yes, these government programs aren’t always one hundred percent reliable with some specific individuals and families, but citizens of third-world countries don’t receive those opportuniti you’re poor, there is nothing you can do about it. You will struggle and fight for survival every day of your life. This global concept of poverty greatly contrasts the future problems Millennials may have to manage.
In Millennials in Adulthood it is stated that, “They are the first in the modern era to have higher levels of student loan debt, poverty and unemployment, and lower levels of wealth and personal income than their two immediate predecessor generations had at the same stage of their life cycles” (RCI 154-155). These contrasts each other on a larger scale. Through facts in Joe Pinsker’s article he explains that, “Scads of reports have documented how parents’ income dictates how financially successful someone will go on to be.
Pinsker’s article goes along with “Millennials in Adulthood” as these articles bot in how America is troubled in the future. Though Freeman examines socioeconomic class on a global level, Pinsker considers it as a strictly specific issue in America. These different viewpoints separate ideas based on how the future of our country will pan out and the realism of the American Dream. Putting it on a global level, we see our country aren’t exactly struggling, but just not living to our standards.
America is known as the police of our world and no matter how poorly we are economically, we still have the broadest culture with people from every type of country. Pinsker, on the other hand, imposes that idea on living your personal dream and uses statistics to show that whatever class you’re born into, you will allegedly stay there. The dream we strive for is becoming harder as the years go on. Up till now, we still see so many entertainers, business men and women, coming from the bottom and succeeding.
In “Real Poverty Doesn’t Exist in America,” Freeman enlightens the reader as many of the needs people have in America can always be fixed. “The fact of the matter is, if you’re too poor to be able to afford contraceptives on your own, you’re likely too poor to take of a child. ” This is a massive issue in our country as so many people in our country can’t even take care of themselves, yet they’re becoming extremely sexually active while not being safe and then end with two to four kids. This increases the workload and stress to millions of Americans.
Freeman explains that these issues could be avoided if we are smarter as a citizen and understand the problems you have. He says, “Food, water, shelter are needs; contraceptives, vehicles, iPhones are not a need” (Freeman 152). Based on your socioeconomic class, the possessions you want and need will differ. Pinsker analyzes the issues of our country, and these problems with the poverty come into play. If your parents aren’t in a stable life as you grow up you’re more likely to live like that. Just because your poor that also doesn’t mean you can’t be successful.
Being in a stable family, having a great education, and living how you can instead of how you want will improve the quality of life to the people in poverty in America. Working hard, but also smart is something that is embodied in myself and my family. I grew up in the suburbs and I’m extremely blessed to have the things I have. My father’s childhood and grandma’s life were the complete opposite. She worked full days being a single mother and did everything she could do for her son. My father and my grandma moved all around the poor areas of Los Angeles.
Every other year my father was living in a new home and changing school districts. If we look at the stats in Pinsker’s article of “Millennials in Adulthood,” it shows that you’re most likely going to live the same life as your parent(s). My father proved the American Dream to be something everyone can strive for. He started from the bottom with nothing and worked hard and rose through socioeconomic classes to provide his family with our needs but also the commodities we want. Through hard work and determination, something our country is known for, he is now living his dream.
Pinsker explains, “Boys and girls with richer parents go on to live in households that bring in similar amounts of money, even if their individual earnings have diverged (Pinsker). My social label as a Millennial state through statistics that I will follow my parents’ lives, although my father first started being successful in the 2000s. The American Dream is still alive and with my personal family experience, I feel other Millennials can do the same. Being smart and living how you need to live and not how you want can improve the lives of the poor in our country.
Even though, the poor in our country is on a different level towards other countries. Statistics shouldn’t neglect and set someone’s life in stone that they will be poor. Your life is the life you live and no matter what situation you are in, there is always a way to live to survive and also to be successful. If we truly understand the poverty as a country and what other people should go through, the poor in America are well-off just like the wealthy. It starts with the parents of the children in our country to live smarter and know your class. You can truly rise the socioeconomic classes by living smart and working hard.