In
recent discussions of the American Dream, a controversial issue has been
whether success drives people to push themselves emotionally to unthinkable
boundaries due to the fear of failure.
On the one hand some explain that the fear of success is equally as
daunting as the fear of failure, which traps most from setting higher
milestones in their success paths. From this perspective, fear is what keeps
people from branching out into a new career. Moreover, emotional instability
among individuals in the workplace drives people towards a state of paranoia,
distracting one another from the milestones each person has set for
themselves. Stability and comfort also
undermine our goals which can pose to be deceptive when reaching a state of
fulfillment or what is thought to be success, leaving us insecure. In other points of views, the question upheld
is whether losing one's self, losing the opportunity at shared success, and
forgetting one's upbringing justifies accomplishments made along the emotional
journey towards prosperity and financial fulfillment. The examination of these matters will shed
light upon The American Dream and what costs people give up to try to make that
dream attainable. It is evident that success, failure, and happiness are
the prominent themes that will be examined.
Achieving success and a taste of the American
Dream has long been attached to America's past. The question upheld is whether
losing one's self, opportunity at shared success, and emotional instabilities along
the journey justify accomplishments; moreover, when success comes into play, it
is easy for one to forget about cultural roots and upbringings, hence adding on
to emotional and moral instabilities. From this perspective the American Dream
poses to be attainable, the matter at hand examined is the costs that people
give up along the way towards prosperity and happiness, the main goal of the
American Dream. As stated in the
sociological forum by Cohen-Marks, M. A. and
Stout, "all Americans,
regardless of their background or origins, have a reasonable chance to achieve
success through their own efforts. It is an ideal that has inspired great
achievements and led to crushing disappointments" (Cohen, Stout). According
to this point of view, one can see a traditional perspective of the American
Dream centered around the efforts of the individual and how far they are
willing to push themselves emotionally to attain the dream. On the other hand,
however, Sandrea L. Hanson and Jhon Zogby from The Public Opinion Quarterly
examined results from a number of U.S. public opinion polls and found out that "...in some [survey questions] , an increasing minority of
Americans reported that [working hard] and determination does not guarantee
success" (Hanson, Zogby). From this perspective, hard work and
determination in the form of educational success, physical labor, and even
emotional struggles are targeted as not being enough in current times, to help
individuals reach their American Dream. Moreover, a bachelor’s degree no longer impresses many company’s
when hiring a potential new employees. It can be said that the value of a
bachelor’s degree is not worth as much as it once did. It is now seen as simply
the equivalent to having a high school
diploma, easily attainable and many others have it, nothing special. In sum
then the issue is whether the American Dream is attainable through hard work
and individual efforts set forth or is the emotional instability that drives
people to lose oneself equitable to a possible successful outcome.
Emotional
instability can be one of the main factors as to why people struggle on their
pathway towards prosperity. It can be said that emotions play an important role
in the workplace when it comes to an individual's overall performance. One of the key things to remember as stated by
Dr. Muchinsky is that "... to be emotional reflects a proclivity for
instability and weakness, unwanted and undesirable characteristics in an
organization man" (Muchinsky). From this point of view, controlled
emotions in the work place helps an individual be not only progressive and
organized, but admired and needed in the work place. Many emotions can be
triggered in the workplace such as emotions dealing with financial struggles.
Others tend to be external emotions that happen outside of the workplace and
simply get carried along to the workplace The fear of
failure is one of the most prominent reasons as to why people get stirred up with their emotions. Many of the
times the fear of not attaining success
draws people's stress levels spiraling upward causing their work habits to
deteriorate. Stress is the one of the main reasons that increases anxiety among individuals. The person dealing with it either learns to
cope with stress in a positive manner or develops physical, emotional or
addictive behavior problems which can present themselves in a workplace
environment. Furthermore, in Managing Emotions in the Workplace, J. Andrew
Morris and Daniel C. Feldman argue that "... the three components of the
emotional labor construct [are] differentially related to various aspects of physiological
well being [ and that] the dimensions of physiological well [that should be ]
examined are emotional exhaustion, job satisfaction and role
internalization" (Morris, Feldman). These three components differentially create
people's emotional instabilities.
Financial
struggles seem to be one of the main reasons as to why many minorities are
currently struggling with achieving the American Dream. Many minority students
have reached their level of education due to their parent’s or family’s hard
work, hard labor with minimum wages. Many would agree that the dream is
attainable to everyone and anyone who is willing to work hard for it, but to
look past differential advantages among each other is ignorance. In the Meet
The Press panel discussion, Congressman Raul
Labrador explains that the American Dream is alive and well as he shares he's success
story. As a minority in America during the Civil Rights Movement, he explains
that his mother sacrificed many things in her life to get his son where he
needed to be prosperous in the future. In contrary Sheryl WuDunn argues that the American Dream is still available but only
for the well educated explaining that"
the problem is government gridlock [adding on that ] 57000 kids have been shut
out of head start and illegal immigrant children have no way to moving up, [moreover]
the chances of an American moving up [is] one out of twelve versus in Britain
one out of eight" (WuDunn). This
argument explains how America's deteriorated educational system is the culprit.
Without good schools all around and not only in suburban areas, children in
many families suffer and have differential advantages or disadvantages . Many minorities deal with this disadvantage
from living in poor neighborhoods . The effects then can add on to emotional
instabilities for those families, as well as financial instabilities because
their children do not benefit from our educational system to the fullest.
As stated
education is one of the most important factors of success in America. One is
applauded for having a bachelor’s degree, but that is not enough in current
times with America’s competitive job market. Many are scared to jump through
the next hoop in their career paths and aim at higher education after their
bachelor’s due to the fact that they must keep in mind their financial standing
and whether it is really worth the opportunity risk since higher level
education can really dig deep into one’s life savings or add on to accumulated
debt. As examined in the poll surveys in "Attitudes About the American
Dream," people tend to associate political parties with the dream: " Respondents
were consistently more likely to say that the Democratic Party (in contrast to
the Republican Party) will do a better job of helping more people achieve the
American Dream, although the Republican Party has made some gains" (Hanson, Zogby ). Republican Raul Labrador's
beliefs on achieving the America Dream by pure
efforts of the individual emphasizes the beliefs of Hanson and Zogby. The democratic view is more of a shared
success basis where we all obtain the chance at the American Dream with the
help of our government. The help could come in form of better education
systems. Sheryl Wudunn argued that the k-12 school system has many flaws with
differential disadvantages to different students.
One last
thing to examine is whether the American Dream still upholds within America's
people. Are American's still optimistic ? Do Americans believe that they can
still get a taste of the American Dream? In a survey conducted in 2007 it was discovered
that many still did believe in some sort of dream that America promised. Broken
down, the percentage of Americans that believe will
reach the American dream is as followed: Whites at 19.7 percent , Blacks at
46.63 percent , Hispanics at 64.07 percent, and Asian Americans at 45.68
percent. These percentages show that the American Dream is still alive in an optimistic
view point. The percentage of whites was lower than that of the rest of the
minorities because in the same survey conducted 48.35 percent stated that they
had already reached the American Dream, a percentage much higher than the rest
in this question. Through emotional instabilities and financial
hardships, it is evident that many people are still willing to go through it
all to be successful and prosperous in their lives.
Emotional instabilities will be
present in the lives of those working towards being successful. They are not
something that one can avoid. With a better educational structure, it can be
said that instabilities that are found in minority households or those in poverty,
can be put to ease. The American Dream still poses to be attainable by some,
moreover the costs of obtaining that dream includes financial struggles as well
as emotional instabilities. The fear of failure is always upon those reaching
out to be prosperous. It can be concluded that success that is shared among
people can pose to be a greater accomplishment. Studies have shown that
Americans are still optimistic that one day they will reach the American Dream.
Differential advantages when put to a
minimum stabilize emotional instabilities in lower income families, making the
American Dream that much more attainable.
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