...What is the American Dream? When describing the American dream, there are endless possibilities. The beautiful thing about the American Dream is that it is different for every single person. One person’s dream may be to be an NFL superstar, making ten million dollars a year. Conversely, someone else’s dream can be making minimum wage just to ensure their family can eat. This alone is what makes America the greatest country in the world. Everyone can have a different dream, but they have every possibility to achieve it. Although, it is not a guarantee the person will achieve their dream, it is a guarantee they will have no unfair regulations stopping them. A neighbor of mine at home has a very sad story that led to his pursuit of the American dream. He was one of the highest regarded Medical Doctors in Egypt. He was making great money, and his family was very happy. Then his life was turned upside down when a family member of his was killed because of his religion. He was Christian, and some radical Egyptians hate Christians, so he had to move to America to keep his family safe. His story relates to a quote on page four, “The idea of the American dream has been attached to everything from religious freedom to a home in the suburbs” (Hochschild). Unfortunately his story does not end like the Hollywood motion pictures, but he is completely happy with his current life. He now lives in a two room apartment with his wife, and two daughters and he is working as a cab driver, and...
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...English 1520 16 May 2013 American Education In the article “American the Illiterate” by Chris Hedges he argues about the growing concern on the American people. In the argument he states that Americans everyday are less and less dependent on their ability to read and write. He explains how society over all is more dependent on image based information. In his first couple of paragraphs he describes this growing epidemic. How literacy affects us as a country and as a nation over all. He brings evidence and proof about his argument from various different creditable sources. He explains that illiteracy is such a minor priority to most Americans that doing things like their taxes or electing a new president doesn’t require them to be experts in illiteracy. Bringing in emotional story and a good slogan with words like pro-life, hope, maverick, war on terror. The American people are easily manipulated and are reeled in to the fight between truth and lies. He explains that America is so blind when it comes to signing a contract, policy agreement, or a legal document. Most if not all the time they barley even start reading. It’s hard to admit but at the end even I agree with Hedges logic. Every time I download a new software or log into my bank account never have I set there and read the agreement start to end. Just the other day I was reading the fine print in my insurance contract and I was amazed at some of the things that we assume are covered like roadside assistance. I always...
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...Ryan Woods English Miss Orenstein April 5, 2011 To be…or not to be an American Separation and more specifically oppression has been a staple of the United States of America ever since it was settled back in the 17th century. As soon as they stepped foot off the boats, the immigrants fleeing Europe immediately saw other people and saw them as different and even as far as calling them savages. All of the native people who were living there before had their land taken from them and were beginning to be pushed west. This oppression of certain races continued long after the Mayflower hit the America’s shores. Next, the white man separated himself apart from blacks. Africans were enslaved because the “New World” needed free labor to jumpstart the economy and also because they were seen as being different than white people. It would have been very difficult to sustain a decent economy if people had to hire workers instead of having free labor with their slaves. It was not until the Declaration of Independence that someone finally acknowledged the idea of every man being equal and having the same rights. It was Thomas Jefferson who wrote that, “All men are created equal” in the opening line of the Declaration of Independence. The only thing wrong with the statement Jefferson made is that it is completely contradictory to the fact that he owned a slave and so did many others of the founding fathers. The Civil Rights Movement was the next significant step in this racial...
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...Blair, Lauri Journal #3 African-American Consumers and the Economic March 30, 2010 202-07 Dr.Ferdnance 1) Create a detailed consumer profile of the average African-American household. Find the average income, wealth, and primary purchases of the African-American household. Compare and contrast the consumption pattern of the African-American with European, Asian, and Hispanic Americans. African-American household Average income- $37,150 Wealth- $6,000 White Household Average income- $55,463 Wealth- $88,000 Comparing African American households to European, Asian and Hispanic Americans, African Americans have the lowest income. Second of all, in response to a lower income theoretically one would think that African Americans would save more and spend less and begin to invest, yet in response to poor financially education, and decisions African Americans spend more than any other race on materialistic things. African Americans spend a large amount and above any other races median in clothing, video game hardware, pc software and shoes. African Americans have been found to be very brand loyal to body soap, sneakers, potato chips, soda, hair products, and cookies and nail polish. African-American/Black Market profile found that African Americans are very persuaded through marketing, such as commercials, music videos, radios, and locals ads to buying cars, car accessories, communication gadgets and cosmetic products, and theses products are not being differentiated...
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...Why Asian Americans are facing unfair treatment from U.S society? Xuchen Cheng The Ohio State University Why Asian Americans are facing unfair treatment from U.S society? The term, hyphenated American, is initially used to disparage people who came from a foreign region but were born in America. Asian Americans, which occupy about 4.8% of US population (Wikipedia), are often defined as those Americans who emigrated from Far East, such as China, India. In recent years, it has become common to see Asian American typically as technicians in U.S advertisements and this trend leads to a controversy of Asian American’s stereotype and portray among U.S society. It is not fair to Asian American of being portrayed as a limited and singular cliché for such highly diverse group. In this case, Asian Americans face an unfair judgment from their “hyphen” that should certainly be removed. The more appearance of Asian Americans in visual culture can be a double-edged sword, indicating the consumption and repercussions among U.S society. On the one hand, it’s encouraging to see Asian American faces in the mainstream media being associated with positive traits — intellectual, well-educated, knowledgeable, etc. (P.Farhi, 2011, p14). For example, in Verizon’s 2011 commercial, Belt of Technology, a kid walked in a Verizon store and showed off his amazing hardware, such as PSP, E-reader, and his smirk vanished after the salesman pulled out a smartphone with more than 200,000 apps available...
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...American Dream The term “American Dream” is used in a number of ways, but essentially the American Dream is an idea which suggests that all people can succeed through hard work, and that all people have the potential to live happy, successful lives. Many people have expanded upon or refined the definition of the American Dream, and this concept has also been subject to a fair amount of criticism. Many people believe that the structure of American society belies the idealistic goal of the American Dream, pointing to examples of inequality rooted in class, race, and ethnic origin which suggest that the American Dream is not attainable for all. The idea of an American Dream is older than the United States, dating back to the 1600s, when people began to come up with all sorts of hopes and aspirations for the new and largely unexplored continent. Many of these dreams focused on owning land and establishing prosperous businesses which would theoretically generate happiness, and some people also incorporated ideals of religious freedom into their American Dreams. During the Great Depression, several people wrote about an American Dream, codifying the concept and entrenching it in American society. For people who believe in the American dream, anything is attainable through hard work. The concept plays on the idea that American is a classless society, although it is obviously not, as any honest examination of the United States will reveal. The idealistic vision of the American Dream...
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...| African Americans | | | Christy B. | ETH 125 June 5, 2011 | | African Americans Who are we, where did we come from, what has been our experience since we landed on United States soil? The migration of Africans has been very significant in the making of African Americans history and culture. Today's 35 million African Americans are heirs to all the migrations that have formed and transformed African America, the United States, and the Western Hemisphere (The New York Public Library, n.d.). African American history starts in the 1500s with the first Africans coming from Mexico and the Caribbean to the Spanish territories of Florida, Texas, and other parts of the South (The New York Public Library, n.d.). Although we are most familiar with the documented 1619 arrival, in which Africans were brought to the United States aboard a Dutch ship to Jamestown, Virginia for the purpose of slavery. In the 17th century, the United States nation began to grow and white European settlers need more laborers for the production of crops, like cotton and tobacco. In 1793 the cotton industry began to grow. Cheap labor was needed for the tedious task of removing seeds from cotton, which had to be done by hand. Africans were kidnapped from their native land and sold to share croppers for forced labor. The idea of Africans as slaves was embraced and spread rapidly through the North American colonies; making the modern western slavery, known as indentured slavery, which...
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...African Americans: The Role of Race Abstract The Following Essay defines and integrates the role race plays on the African American culture in their family values and politics in comparison to the Anglo American Culture. The United States has become increasingly diverse in the last century. While African American families share many features with other U.S. families, the African American family has some distinctive features relating to the timing and approaches to marriage and family formation, gender roles, parenting styles, and strategies for coping with adversity. African cultures, slavery, slave rebellions, and the civil rights movements(circa 1800s-160s)have shaped African American religious, familial, political and economic behaviors. The imprint of Africa is evident in myriad ways, in politics, economics, language, music, hairstyles, fashion, dance, religion and worldview, and food preparation methods. In the United States, the very legislation that was designed to strip slaves of culture and deny them education served in many ways to strengthen it. In turn, African American culture has had a pervasive, transformative impact on myriad elements of mainstream American culture, among them language, music, dance, religion, cuisine, and agriculture. This process of mutual creative exchange is called creolization. Over time, the culture of African slaves and their descendants has been ubiquitous in its impact on not only the dominant American culture, but on world...
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...American Imperialism In the late 19th century, global empires were becoming closer together because of the improvements in technology. Weaponry and armies were becoming more powerful, while communications, transportation, and commerce connected the countries together like never before. The American dream of Imperialism was to bring the world together by exporting products, ideas, and influence. Americans wanted to teach other nations the American values of democracy, free enterprise capitalism, and Protestant Christianity. The social factors of American imperialism were to extend western ideas, religion, and government. The main idea was to find markets all around the world. The Americans wanted to expand their values, increase foreign trade, enhance American prestige, and guarantee future security. They were willing to do this by expanding boundaries, purchasing colonies, or persuading encouragement to take control and better the American social lifestyles and security. The economic growth of industrial networks had linked America with foreign markets like never before. Employment and farmers were depending on foreign countries to keep the economy going. Farmers and industries relied on the world to purchase products and goods and at the same time kept the economy going by providing jobs and keeping farmers from going broke and selling their farms. As America relied on foreign trade for wealth and power, they needed a strategic way to protect the foreign markets, and the...
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...Anyone know about the symbolism in ‘A Quiet American’ by Graham Greene? | Pyle represents the idealistic New Age America, thirsty for heroism. Phuong represents pre-war Vietnam, passive, innocent. What exactly does Fowler represent? Is it the wisdom and world-weariness of Old Europe or Britain’s involvement in the war simply for personal gain? | The symbolism of the individual characters has to be placed within the context of colonialism, since that was the relationship between the nations they each represented. Pyle's motives are far from heroic. An idealism that is motivated by interventionism in a Third World country's affairs can be dangerous and destructive, not only in the way Graham Greene saw it in the early fifties, but as history proved it by the events that unfolded years later, leading to the US war in Viet Nam. Or for what is happening now in Iraq, if you will. Fowler had the "old colonialist" wisdom that questioned Pyle's justification for violence. He had already learned that "democracy" is something many countries neither understand nor want, and any foreign attempt to impose it is doomed to failure. I don't know that this helps, but I can't see the novel any other way. | | Outline of characters | Thomas Fowler is a British journalist in his fifties who has been covering the French war in Viet Nam for over two years. He meets a young American idealist named Alden Pyle, who is a student of York Harding. Harding's theory is that neither Communism...
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...Savard English 101 1 April 2015 The American Dream In 1931, James Truslow Adams published a book titled "The Epic of America". He states that the American dream is a "dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement." Throughout the years since publication, the American dream was something many families were able to achieve, that is until, perhaps, starting around 2008 when the "Great Recession" hit. Many Americans lost their jobs due to the country's fourth-largest investment bank going bankrupt. There was a job shortage, many Americans were laid-off, income was falling, and poverty was rising. Seven years have passed and slowly America has been recovering, but has it recovered enough for the American dream to be alive? For the average American the dream is perhaps a owning a house, car, children, a stay at home parent, medical insurance, vacations, and savings for retirement along with savings for college tuition. In today's society, the American dream is unobtainable because a stay at home parent is rare, bills are a struggle to pay for, vacations are rarely taken, most are not able to save for retirement because of debt, and many college students have to work while in school to pay off their college tuition. The American dream is in fact alive, but out of reach for the average American. In the article "7 facts that show the American Dream is Dead", Eskow states, "There was...
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...What is the American Dream, and who are the people most likely to pursue its often elusive fulfillment? Indeed, the American Dream has come to represent the attainment of myriad of goals that are specific to each individual. While one person might consider a purchased home with a white picket fence her version of the American Dream, another might regard it as the financial ability to operate his own business. Clearly, there is no cut and dried definition of the American Dream as long as any two people hold a different meaning. What it does universally represent, however, it the opportunity for people to seek out their individual and collective desires under a political umbrella of democracy. In the fifties, the 'age of suburbia', the American Dream was epitomized by the ability to own a home, live in safety and in a community of like minded souls. The great exodus from the cities to the suburbs defined the American idea of the good life'. The American Dream was and always will be something that makes America great. It allows those with aspirations to make them come true. In America alone needs is a dream and the motivation to carry out that dream. Ambition is the driving force behind the American Dream. It allows any one that has an aspiration, a desire, a yearning, to carry out the individual dream. It knows no bounds of race, creed, gender or religion. It stands for something great, something that every one can strive towards. A dream can be a desire for something great...
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...THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION Name Course Date The American Revolution When armed conflict between the British soldiers and the thirteen American colonies started in April 1775, the English men were fighting only for their rights while remaining subjects of the British crown. It was after the war had developed in full swing that the American colonists started demanding for independence from the British government, forcing the delegates from the Continental Congress to cast a vote on the matter. In June 1776, a committee of five men including John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were given the task of drafting an official statement of the intentions of the colonies. It was after this that the Congress adopted the independence declaration that was written by Jefferson on 4 July. Currently, the date is celebrated as the day when America attained her independence. The American Revolution occurred due to a series of intellectual, political and social transformations that occurred in the way of thinking of the American society and government. For instance, in 1764, the Government of Britain imposed a series of taxes that were designed to raise the amount of tax that was imposed on the colonies. The American Revenue Act became the Sugar act, whose major component involved increasing the amount of tax that was imposed on sugar. These events impacted both on the social and political life of the thirteen colonies. The success of the American Revolution gave the people...
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...Introduction The American Express Company (American Express) was established in the year 1965 as an international finance and travel business company. The main products and services of the company include credit cards and travel related cards and services which are provided to various consumers all over the world. American Express Company has an operating subsidiary called American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc., (TRC). Both these companies are bank holding companies. The four basic segments in which the company offers services to its clients include U.S. Card Services, International Card Services, Global Commercial Services and Global Network and Merchant Services. The various products of the company include credit card products, consumer and business travel services, stored value products like traveler’s cheques, prepaid cards, network services, expense management products and services, marketing information products, fee services, fraud prevention services, customized products for clients. At the end of the year 2010, the company has acquired Accertify Inc., a company which provides services to traders regarding online frauds and not present card transactions. The paper discusses in detail the various products and services provided by the company Global Network and Merchant Services The Global Network and Merchant Services (GNMS) division functions an international all-purpose and common objective charge and credit card network for the cards issued under...
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...Jose Cruz Asian-Americans Soc/262-Contemporary American Society Nantrece Carraby August 10, 2015 Asian Americans According to the United States Census Bureau the definition of Asians refers to those people of origins of any original peoples of Southeast Asia, Far East, and or the Indian subcontinent. Asian Americans cover four point eight percent of the United States population. Asian Americans tend to have the highest educational accomplishments and income compared to other races. Along with other races and ethnicities Asian Americans have a remarkable thorough history. Analysis Cultural value of Asians towards education Educational goals from Asian American parents play a vast role in their children’s occupational outcomes. Many Asian American parents share common interest in educational goals for their children due to similar cultural backgrounds in Confucian ideology. Confucius taught that everyone that is human possessed the same potentials, and that education was the corrective means to restrain from any tendencies that will stray from ethical behaviors. Asian parents tend to spend much more time with their children to drive them harder, sometimes even at the cost of their personal time and ambitions of the parents themselves. Their parents view their children as trees that need trimming as they get older. Many people believe that Asian parents are dominating but, parents according to Confucius ideology are to give their children all the support...
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