American Dream - Asmaul Hosna

9/12/2016

        In the three articles that were mention in the readings, "Confronting Inequality," presented by Paul Krugman states that all though the inequality in the United States is awfully high it is has not gotten to the point where the American people have to worry about another "great depression." A better America is still obtainable, however it will not be happening overnight it will take years to renew and patch up the gap between the rich and middle class. Another article that had a similar view  was "The American Dream:Dead, Alive, or on Hold?" written by Brandon King. whom believes that the "American Dream" does not exist however there were attempts to to fix the inequality gap. Such as "The Great Recession" which was to raise the minimum wage which back fired quickly. As the salary went up the amount of workers went down and the prices for materials when up causing it to worsen the economic situation. The last reading, "America Remains the World's Beacon of Success" by Tim Roemer. The way this narrator presented his idea was by personal experience and listed what he has seen and had witness. Majority of these three readings say that the "American Dream" is slowly slipping away from the citizens, however it is not so lost to the point where the dream is completely unobtainable, the articles are trying to say that there is hope, but the citizens must make it happen.
       The strongest article in my opinion was, "The American Dream: Dream, Alive, or on Hold?" written by Brandon King. The way the author presented his idea was clearly and thoroughly stated unlike the other articles which dragged on. What separated King's article from the rest was when talks about how the government attempted to sew up the gap by taxing the rich, which was not an ideally action because that was not helping working class people to achieve the "American Dream." Another solution was the,"The Great Recession," which too did not work out simply that it caused a domino effect. This plan ended up attacking the working class people by laying off people and increase living expenses. The way Brandon King portrayed his argument was easy and straight to the point, his tone was straightforward and he got his ideas across smoothly.
      My personal thoughts on the matter is that what ever solution that is made not everyone will be satisfied with. Such as taxing the rich it started off as a brilliant idea but ended up not creating any changes. What I find very interesting is that majority of American Dream is still alive, including my self however reading articles and knowing how American people are economically at disadvantaged compared to the top 1% is enough to boil anyone's blood. Another interesting fact is, not a lot of people see the inequality as much is because as long as people are at a equal stance "socially" the no one really bats an eye.