Argumentative Essay Example: American Dream

Beals 1 Wesley Beals Instructor Robyn Rohde English 102 26 September 2022 Brandon King’s Error-Filled Case for the American Dream The Great Recession was a hard economic time for the US. People lost their jobs and homes as the economy was in a free-fall. As the dust settled, one of the many questions on people’s minds was, “is the American Dream officially over for many American families?” Many at the time argued that the Dream was officially dead and gone. Although the idea of a dead American Dream was the prevailing opinion among economists, politicians, and even a good chunk of the population, there were some who argued that the American Dream was alive and still possible for all Americans and saying that the honest, hard work of Americans will be rewarded with material success. Written a little bit after the worse of the Recession, Brandon King, from the University of Cincinnati, in his article “The American Dream: Dead, Alive, or on Hold?”, attempts to answer that question and argues that the American Dream is not only alive, but necessary to pull the country out of the Great Recession. King’s argument for the vitality of the American Dream is convincing with lots of facts and statistics and his analysis is thorough in addressing some of the common arguments of his opponents. However, despite his argument being factually sound and strongly convincing, King’s argument has the flaws of occasional tangents, some weak counterarguments, and a lack of establishing his own credibility and authority on the issue. Although King’s argument is strongly convincing, he has occasional tangents that dilute his main argument. King uses many studies and statistics in his articles in an attempt to try and Beals 2 strengthen his conclusion, but occasionally uses irrelevant statistics. One use of an irrelevant statistic comes as he attempts to argue that the American Dream is alive because the American people have redefined what it means to live the American Dream (3). He attempted to substantiate his claim by citing two different studies which show that homeownership has gone down and people are changing their spending habits (3). After sharing those two studies, King makes no attempt to connect this evidence back to the point about redefining the American Dream or his main thesis. Without these connections being made, the two studies seem irrelevant and do not further support his claim, which dilutes his overall argument. Later when King tries to refute a counterargument about income inequality showing the dead American Dream, he goes on another tangent about what income inequality means and that the solutions offered to try and fix income inequality only create more problems for the average American as the economy recovers (3-7). Again, while it is heavily based in fact and statistics, the tangent about income inequality does not further King’s own arguments; it only dilutes his argument in extra information, does not answer the objection adequately, and weakens his overall argument. While King puts forth a persuasive argument for the American Dream’s attainability, his argument is diluted and weakened through the occasional tangent or irrelevant information. King’s argument is strong yet offers some weak refutations to the counterarguments of his position. King presents a few of the opposing viewpoint saying that the American Dream is dead. One of them was that income inequality show that the Dream is dead (King 3).The refutation to this claim leads to a tangent about income inequality and while that counterclaim is addressed, it leads to a loss in focus of the main argument and the refutation does not tie-in to the main thesis (King 3). In addition, King’s attempt at refuting the whole negative perception of the American Dream is a dismissal of that claim and a generalization about who holds that belief. In Beals 3 an article by Dan Chapman, of The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Chapman shares that while the American Dream was not dead, “the promise of a good life in exchange for hard, honest work was bruised, frayed and kicked further down the road for millions of middle-class Americans.” After that, Chapman goes on to explain some of the troubles of everyday Americans because of the Recession. King, after citing Chapman’s article, simply dismisses that claim by saying that the frayed opinion is “nothing new” and that the American Dream still lives on (7). King is not actually addressing Chapman’s claim rather he is dismissing it and that weakens the argument’s strength because he does not attempt to explain how Chapman’s argument is flawed. In addition, earlier in his essay, King generalizes that the only people who have a negative opinion and outlook about success in America is the liberal economists and politicians. King does not consider that the American people felt of that way too. His refutation is not well supported here and is easily blown over by sharing a study which shows that the majority are pessimistic about the future success of the country (McManus). This generalization also weakens King’s overall argument. King’s attempts at rebutting counterclaims fail to help strengthen his position and shows some weakness in his arguments. King’s tangents and poor refutations are compounded with the lack of establishing his credibility on this topic. There is a distinct lack of King’s credential. All that is known or shared in the article about him is that he is from the University of Cincinnati and not much else besides that (1). Without establishing his position, area of expertise, or credentials, it leaves the reader questioning the credibility of the author and therefore, the author’s position. While this may help keep the article more academic and objective, it is hard to figure out why certain facts are being shared or how King’s conclusions are relevant. It also makes the reader wonder if King has any authority to speak on the issue or definitely answer the question his essay poses. An article with a Beals 4 similar argument to King’s and that does establish credibility of the author is “America Remains the World's Beacon of Success” by Tim Roemer. Roemer, like King, argues that the American Dream is very much alive and shares of his experiences as an ambassador to foreign countries and how the people there still desire to come into America (Roemer). He proceeds to after his story in other countries to share different facts that help to support his main argument. He blends this seamlessly with the facts and statistics and the reader fully understands where Roemer is coming from and his authority on the issue of the American Dream (Roemer). King’s own lack of credentials and ethos hurts his overall argument as the reader is left questioning his credibility about the American Dream. While King’s overall argument is strongly persuasive, it is weak in the tangents, weak rebuttals, and not establishing his authority and credibility. The tangents and extra information King presents do not substantiate his claims or his conclusion and it is distracting. Weak refutation by dismissal and generalization about the people who hold those beliefs add an extra weakness to King’s argument. The lack of showing credibility also leaves the reader wondering why they should believe King. With all these things, the question posed by King is not concretely answered and the debate continues even as the country heads for another recession. The American Dream will continue to be a source of controversy and debate until the concept is retired or people stop believing. But as the debates rages on, many Americans will keep trying to reach for their American Dream.