of mice and men: the american dream powerpoint
Post on 08-Dec-2014
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The American Dream
Is it still alive and well in the United States?
What is the American Dream?
Work hard and succeed
Own your home
Be famous
Be rich
1. Work hard and succeed at
somethingIf you dedicate
yourself to study, work, then you can
get a secure job (one that won’t be
outsourced to poor country) which will be
able to offer you a comfortable life.
1. Work Hard
A. Learn a trade, apprentice, and become an expert.
B. Go to school, earn a degree so that you can get a job.
C. Identify some economic need and run your own business.
1. Hard Work
The values of Hard Work:
Show up on timeBe dedicated
Work until it is doneCooperate
Be there every day
2. Home Ownership: the
1930’s/40’s/50’s/60’s versus today
In earlier times, people paid off their mortgages, generally long before retirement. It was also harder to get a house and the
time one had to pay off the mortgage was much shorter.
When the Roosevelt administration enacted the
Social Security pension program for senior citizens, one of the underlying assumptions was that people would not still be
paying a mortgage.
Home Ownership:
TodayThe traditional values of
saving for one’s retirement have
changed. Since the 1980’s, the culture in America has been one
of buying several houses in one’s lifetime, always buying a bigger
house.
Home Ownership
TodayUnfortunately, today most people are still trying to pay off their mortgages when they
retire.
1. Home Ownership
This is not because people today are more impoverished, it’s
because of a culture of greed that has taken ahold of this
country. Many people feel they need more and more things to
be satisfied with their lives. Many people are in debt when they retire due to credit card overuse, constant home re-
financing/buying/selling, and an unwillingness to live within the boundaries of their pay checks.
Home OwnershipIn the past, the idea of
“home Ownership” reflected the value of INDEPENDENCE from
debt. Conversely, today, most people do
not own their homes....they continue to
be in debt to a bank.
Home OwnershipGeorge and Lennie wanted their own
place so they could be independent. They could also have all of the profit their land
produced.
3. Be Famous
Be Famous: this is truly an American ethos,
arising from the movie industry.
Generally, in the past, one became famous for an accomplishment. Today, being famous has
descended to getting attention for nearly anything.
Be FamousCurly’s wife was told that she
could be a movie star, but that probably was not true. Yes, she was young and pretty, but she did not have the polish to make
it onto film, nor did she have singing or dancing talent. She also would have had to learn to
change her county accent.
Like Lennie, her own impetuous actions stopped
her from realizing her dream. She married Curly to
spite her parents.
4. Be RichHmmm...how does one become rich?1. Entrepreneurial efforts
2. Work in some type of business and invest your money
3. Inheritance
4. Marry someone who is rich
5. Combinations of these
What is “RICH”?
• How much money makes you rich? According to Americans surveyed recently by Gallup, you're rich if you have $1 million in assets, or $150,000 in annual income.
• Those were the median answers; people with college degrees, those with larger incomes, and those who live in cities and suburbs tended to give higher answers.
• Have you ever wondered, though, "how much money does it take to be rich?" That is the question posed to a group of financial planners from a recent CNN Money publication that caught my eye. Most seemed to believe that it took between $2 million and $12 million to be rich. This would generate roughly $300,000 in annual income and would allow you to afford the following lifestyle all without a job: Pay all taxes, Spend $3,800 per month on housing expenses, Have $12,000 in cash left over each month to spend any way you like
• …… rich is purely a state of mind: it’s having enough money to do whatever you want to do. You can either want a lot and earn a lot, or want a little and earn less. If your idea of doing what you want is living in a cabin in the sticks and fishing all day, you can do it for a lot less that if your trying to live the high life in Manhattan
Do you think the American Dream is attainable today? Can anyone, who perseveres & dedicates themselves to work, achieve the
American dream in the United States? Or are larger economic forces too difficult for the average person to overcome?
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