In the book “Our Kids'' by Putman he talks about “The American Dream Crisis” that all Americans try to achieve while they are trying to make a living. Putman 's main point in the book “Our Kids” is about the struggles that people are facing in America through things such as family structure, child development and parenting, schools, and community. Because these are all the factors that go into people achieving the so-called “American Dream.” “The American Dream” is when people in America try to achieve success in their lives in the aspects of family structure, socioeconomic status, and education. I would say the best “American Dream” can be achieved in different ways depending on the person. Because a person’s “American Dream” can have a personal meaning or goal to it. So when the person achieves what they believe is their great success then they can say that they achieved their own American Dream. “The American Dream” can be achieved in many different ways like success in money, education, or success in their social life. This is because “The American Dream” is most like a belief in a sense kind of like Christianity, Islam, or Buddhism because it is different for every person who thinks about “The American Dream”
One’s social aspect of their life can contribute to “The American Dream” becoming possible because they can use their social skills or their social connections that they have can put them up a level and closer to what they believe their “American Dream” is to be. One of the social norms that work for a family in the book was “ a strong norm against out-of-wedlock births so that premarital pregnancy was typically followed by “shotgun” marriage.” (pg. 61) Another social aspect that contributes to this deals with the socioeconomic status of people in American right now. “Millions of Americans are still feeling the deep pain of the recession. The economy remains nearly 10 million jobs short of its pre-pandemic peak, with women of all races and men of color struggling the most to regain employment. The unemployment rate for Black men remains above 10 percent.” So basically this is saying that the pandemic has caused a lot of people to decline in their socioeconomic status. Without employment under their belt, it can cause people to lose focus and lose a sense of responsibility they had, it can also affect their families too. This can make children think that not having order and responsibility is okay when it's not. Because it has caused people to lose their income which can ultimately set people back in their quest to achieve the “American Dream ' ' that they dream about.
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One’s identity or experience can sometimes be a huge factor that can play a major role in their ability to achieve their goal of an “American Dream” because it can give them advantages and disadvantages that can move them forward or backward in their quest to achieve success in their life. Before taking this class I never really thought about what my own “American Dream” would be and how I might achieve it and also I just never really heard about “The American Dream” until I took this class this year. But after being in this class it allowed me to see the big picture and be able to look back on my life to see how the way I grew up and how my connection through my family that I made can help me succeed and fulfill my own “American Dream.” Mainly because I believe “The American Dream” is different for everyone in a sense because we are all different people so we all have our own beliefs on the topic of “The American Dream.”
One of the chapters that Putman talked about was schooling and the opportunity gap that is involved. Putman proposed extracurricular activities to help make the gap smaller in a sense. I believe this proposal is a good opportunity for many students because if they perform well in a certain sport it can lead to success in their lives. It can also help go to college and not have to pay so much money to do it. Extracurricular activities have many positive outcomes that can help students get through their schooling. “These positive outcomes include higher grade-point averages, lower dropout rates, lower truancy, better work habits, higher educational aspirations, lower delinquency rates, greater self-esteem, more psychological resilience, less risky behavior, more civic engagement (like voting and volunteering), and higher future wages and occupational attainment.” (pg. 174) So ideally extracurricular activities can help a poorer kid out in the long run and help them succeed and achieve their perspective of what “The American Dream” is to them. Social identities can sometimes play a part in this because of the stereotypes that go along with them but it can also help if you have a connection to help get your start and get your foot in the door. Because it can give them the first real taste of responsibility before moving out into the real world and facing many hardships along the way.
Putman says and mentions many different things that can challenge the American people from achieving “The American Dream” or even limit them from equality in opportunity. A few of them we have mentioned already earlier in the essay. The challenges that interfere with achieving “The American Dream” are their family structure and people's parenting styles that affect child development. Because different parenting styles will affect children in different ways, it can make them better or worse depending on how well the child takes it. Then there is the effect the schooling and the community you grew up in can all challenge you on your way to achieving your “American Dream.” This is because all of these things will affect our lives in one way or another. Some of them may be good but they will also be bad depending on how it will affect you and your dreams for the future.
The things that limit equality in opportunities are people's social identities such as gender, race, socioeconomic status, parental education, etc. These are things that can cause people to lose opportunities such as future jobs or educational-based jobs that can hinder their success. This can put people in a bad state of mind and cause them to become depressed thus hindering the ability to be able to achieve their “American Dream.” This can also cause people to lose their homes and cause them to move into the poorer side of things making life more difficult for them. This can then affect their children 's lives making it harder for them to be able to start their way to succeeding and achieving their version of “The American Dream” that they want in their future.
In conclusion “The American Dream” is just a belief in a sense because anyone and everyone can or has their version or point of view on what “The American Dream” means to them. Putman was just trying to teach us what to look out for in our lives that will affect us and what it can do to our “American Dream.” Because there are positive and negative effects to each of the points he makes in his book. For example when talking about the connections we have through our parents some of them can be good or bad connections depending on how we look at it. In our lives we are always making advances to achieve “The American Dream” but we are also causing setbacks that can move our dreams farther away and out of reach of our hands. This is especially hard for America right now because of the pandemic that we are all dealing with because it has caused so many people to lose their jobs and income making it difficult to live and support the people they care about. Because even with the government help the checks they give us can still not be enough and it can eventually cause people to slower move into the poor side of the economy. This can also affect their equality in opportunities at the same and it can good or bad depend on their social identities. So this brings the topic of “The American Dream” to an end and close.
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