People Still View Owning University Of Wisconsin
Address the following topics in your response of at least 250-300 words:
- Respond to their comments on the American Dream, and compare/contrast it to your own.
- Identify if this comparison highlights any interesting ideas, concerns, or questions you have.
I will leave five (5) posts and you have the option to select whichever two (2) you’ll like to respond to.
1. Brandon King seems to think the American dream is in fact alive and is simply just changing it’s meaning due to our economic hardships. He “would redefine the American Dream today as the potential to work for an honest, secure way of life and save for the future.” He believes now people are okay with a middle-class lifestyle and just want to have stable employment. To him, the American dream is very much alive, it’s just morphing and changing it’s meaning due to prolonged economic circumstances.
Daniela Senderowicz would redefine the American dream as individuals being financially stable. She goes on to explain “Young people live in constant fear that they’ll never be able to pay off their debt. We’re not buying houses or able to afford the hallmarks of the American dream.” Many people are living in financial debt and are unable to pay it off. They live in financial shame and blame themselves for not being able to make a payment. Because of the financial crisis, individuals are unable to live out their American dream. Senderowicz wants people to be able to speak out on their financial troubles and ask for help. The reason they are not is because they’re afraid of being socially pushed back.
As for Courtney Martin, she explains how being healthy, happy and safe is the real wealth. She discusses how “the better off” American dream is “less about investing in the perfect family and more about investing in the imperfect village.” The most reliable wealth is found in relationship and not money. She values relationship with her neighbors instead of how much money she needs to have. The biggest danger is not failing to achieve the American dream, its achieving a dream you don’t actually believe in. She sees the typical “American dream” is a lot of pressure to uphold. She wants people to compose a life that aligns with their own beliefs and not what others “think” the American dream is.
2. Brandon King believes the American dream is alive and redefines it as “the potential to work for an honest, secure way of life and save for the future”. King thinks that as long as people are willing to work hard and save their money, they will not face hardships during an economic collapse. King explains that people today prefer being financially secure, rather than being concerned with material possessions. People pay more attention to how much money they spend and prefer to save instead. Considering that the economy remains stable, the American dream can stay alive. Not by taxing or taking money from the rich and distributing it to the poor, but rather by the people keeping stable jobs, well-managed finances, and saving money for the future.
Daniela Senderowicz may define the American dream of having a successful career with financial stability as unattainable for many student loan borrowers. Debtors struggle to pay their student loans due to unforeseen financial hardships. Often borrowers lack financial security after graduating college. They have trouble finding stable jobs in their career field or major. According to Senderowicz, “borrowers often hide their shame of financial struggles” which causes them to have mental health issues like depression and anxiety. Senderowicz mentioned that a student loan was at an “average debt of just over $37,000 per borrower for the class of 2016, and given that incomes have been flat since the 1970s, it’s not surprising borrowers are struggling to pay”. Debtors cannot achieve the American dream if they don’t make enough money to pay for a home, car, and pay off a student loan at the same time.
Journalist Courtney E. Martin urges people to live by their definition of the American dream. Martin mentioned that many parents believe the American dream is for their children to be financially “better off than they were” but with today’s economy, that dream may be unattainable. Parents are very much aware of it. Martin encourages people to focus on relationships rather than financial value, being that money doesn’t determine happiness for everyone.
3. Brando King does in fact believe that the American Dream is very much alive and still believes in the ideals and values of the dream. But he would refine the dream that is more suitable of having a secured way of life. Many people aren’t into buying those expensive homes or cars but more into saving and having a secure future. Though there is an income gap. Long does believe that supporting the rich would help those in the lower and middle class in achieving the American Dream. King addresses that we should have more faith with the values of the American Dream, and people would be able to climb out of the hardship and achieve success.
And as for Daniela Senderowicz discusses how higher people can file for bankruptcy but those that are drowning in student loans can’t. And those that struggle aren’t able to start over again. Debtors balances lagers when there was a financial crisis, after losing their jobs. Those that have student debt struggle the most to be able to live out the American Dream. Due to them having to pay off their debt they aren’t able to buy that “hallmarks of the American Dream” home.
And lastly for Courtney Martin she discusses that the American Dream changes as new generations come into this world. She addresses that many parents are considered that their children aren’t better off. She advises that people should live by their definition of the American Dream. Martin also says that we shall look at our ancestors and should be living like them. She believes not to value money so much but those that are around us. Martin believes that to fear of not achieving the American Dream is not a fear at all, it is fear to achieving the Dream that wasn’t something that was believed in.
4. Brandon King believes that the American dream is still alive today. King redefines it as people striving to maintain a stable life instead of going big , a lot of that is because of our economic hardships, life is expensive. King adds ” the real sign of success in our society used to be owning expensive items, namely cars and homes, and acquiring more material wealth,” which is not at all correct. People still view owning expensive items as a sign of wealth in our society. His statement makes me believe that he is wealthy himself so of course to him it might mean nothing because he sees wealth everyday. King overall still believes in the American dream but that it is evolving overtime to a live comfortably dream.
Daniela Senderowicz defines the American dream as living a financially stable life. Senderowicz shares a piece from a manifesto by Eli Campbell with us, Campbell explains that ” young people live in constant fear that they’ll never be able to pay off their debt. We’re not buying houses or able to afford the hallmarks of the American dream,” due to people being in debt they can not afford the American dream, the only thing they can do is try their best to live a stable life. Senderowicz also says that ” debtors blame themselves and self-loathe when they can’t make their payments,” being in debt is seen as shameful in our society so it causes many of the individuals in debt to stay quiet instead of asking for help because they are afraid of being held back and seen as less, which is the opposite of what Senderwoicz wants those in debt to do. Senderwoicz wants individuals to speak out and get help but the fear of being socially shamed is stronger.
On the other hand, Courtney Martin does not tie money to the American dream unless that is your American dream. Martin wants people to live out their own American dream instead of trying to live by the expectations of someone else. Martin sees the reality of the American dream and the pressure that it upholds on people. That, that American dream is hard to achieve so people should focus on what their American dream is instead of feeling pressured to do something others have set for them to achieve.
5. For Brandon King, he thinks the American Dream is still alive, but it has changed. Meaning the way the dream is thought of now a days is different to how it was first thought of. King now thinks that us as Americans don’t care as much about having all of the fancy materialistic things like, cars, big houses, etc. “more people now rent their homes instead of buying; a recent study showed a decrease in home ownership from 69% in 2005 to about 66.5% in 2010.” King feels we are more worried about financial stability by having a secure well paying job, so we can save, retire without worries and have a secure place to live. Also, that it has changed to us watching what we spend our money on and saving it instead of spending it.
After reading the article “Ending the Secrecy of the Student Debt Crisis” Daniela Senderowicz, she talks more about out the debt crisis with students rather than actually talking about the American Dream. Not sure if maybe by her talking about the debt crisis, that maybe it was her way of talking about the American Dream indirectly. Senderowicz starts off by say, “Gamblers and reality TV stars can claim bankruptcy protections when in financial trouble, but 44 million student loan borrowers can’t.” Which leaves students feeling stuck, underpaid, unemployed and stressed out by having a large amount of debt while in and after leaving college. Most struggle for years trying to pay back their loans and fear loosing everything just trying to keep up with their payments. This causes a lot of them to feel isolated, anxious and suicidal; causing them to require psychiatric hospitalization.
Courtney Martin has a more, I would say family vibe to the American Dream. She states, “better off than they were.” This is how our parents and their parents described to us of having a better chance of achieving the American Dream, but with today’s economy this might not be possible for everyone. That it is not so much about the money and the perfect house with the white picket fence, but more so about living with others as our ancestors did in a small village. She tells us how surprised you would be by living in a small village as she does, how happy and healthy both adults and kids can be. Martin also pushes us to have healthier relationships with others and live the American Dream by our own standards, not to what other have described as in the past.