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Park Avenue: Money, Power, And The American Dream

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Park Avenue: Money, Power, And The American Dream

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The documentary compares the access to opportunities of residents of Park Avenue both on the Upper East Side and in the South Bronx. In Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream they present a take on the gap between rich and poor Americans. Gibney (filmmaker) contends that America’s richest citizens have “rigged the game in their favor,” and created unprecedented inequality in the United States.

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Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream⎜WHY POVERTY?⎜(Documentary)

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"[Rich people] have also used it to rig the game in your favor over the last 30 years they've enjoyed unprecedented prosperity from a system that they increasingly control." (00:51-01:09)
Blindsightedness to the corruption and imbalance that has gotten much greater is the average Americans perspective.
The rich get to live without lifting a finger their entire life while telling other they got there by working hard. In reality they got there by exploiting people and only congregating within the rich communities and were bestowed with generational wealth that their ancestors got by doing the same thing. Other people take the advice of these successful people not realizing this. They are doomed from the very start. Getting access to the money the rich have is simply impossible. The rich will continue hoarding it and taking it from others (poor or poverty stricken individuals getting work anywhere they can jobs at minimum wage, requiring hard work, bad benefits, bad raises, no way to increase career status).

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The American Dream is a dream that Americans and many others believe in. It is essentially a better/perfect life that they dream of achieving. Considering how many people immigrate to this country hoping to achieve it, it is very much a Human Dream. These are people in developing countries who only want a safer, stable, and successful life. Current and modern understanding of the american dream still somewhat align with previous ones, getting a multiple bedroom house with a lawn, getting married and having two kids, and being financially comfortable is still a shared standard. Though, it has broadened and become more personalized, education rising to a significant part of this dream.

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The phrase "American Dream" was first mentioned by James Truslow Adams in his book, The Epic of America, written in 1931.  I believe Adams' meaning behind his initial use of the phrase is that it is the dream of equal opportunity for everyone to get a successful and fulfilling life.
"The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position" (214-215).

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My name is Carissa Barajas. The thesis I have chosen to defend is The American Dream is a facade perpetuated as American Propaganda. To defend my claim, I am using an interview with father, Francisco Barajas, the novella titled, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, an article titled “Ghosted by the American Dream: Younger generations are collectively sobering to the idea of the American Dream. But what is the alternative?"by (Alain Sylvain), a song titled “A.D.D. (American Dream Denial)" by (System Of a Down), and a video clip from the documentary titled “Park Avenue: Money, Power, and the American Dream".

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"Much of what they say is about providing opportunity to make money to everybody equally... It doesn't seem to accept the possibility that if you're poor enough and your schooling is bad enough you don't really have an opportunity to compete."
This idea that has been created to showcase to the world that "anyone can do it" is not the case. As commonly said, the rich continue to get richer and the poor get poorer. Rich children get sent to prestigious private schools (which lack diversity and real world connections) and have education funded usually by their parents. Everyone else has to be careful about where they go to get an education if at all and it relies on their finances, savings, and any grants/loans/scholarships they receive. The rich do not have to worry about this and can attend Ivy League Schools with no ill conscience and can claim the reputation of a well renowned school and fuel their status. An equally smart and hard working student that might have made it into this same school cannot even consider an ivy league due to expenses, even the fees for sending an application there seen pointless if they wont have the money to cover tuition. These ivy leagues then become exclusive to the rich, essentially a pay to get in.

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A.D.D. (American Dream Denial) - System Of A Down

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A.D.D. (American Dream Denial) - System Of A Down

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This song is about how Americans are being blinded by their nationalism and causes them to not realize the true nature and current state of their “American Dream”. They constantly have propaganda fueling their prelearned notions and keeping them hooked and believing. They can’t see the imbalances in power and money and how strong of a grip they have on our nation. They get to profit off of the people’s blind eye.  An example lyric is, "We fought your wars with all our hearts. You sent us back in body parts". Americans fully believe in their country and their cause, maybe not entirely understanding it, but they will give their all to “protect and serve”. Many veterans then come back from serving for their country expecting praise, respect, and help for their now ill body and mind. In reality,  they find no one cares for their mental health, PTSD, and struggles to acclimate to common life. Many people often ridicule them. Veterans are denied help for physical disabilities as well, sacrificing greatly for a country that looks the other way and lets veterans go homeless. Another lyric from the song is, "We don't give a damn about your world. With all your global profits and all your jeweled pearls". The average American is living a very different life compared to rich Americans. They are tired of the difference and attitude that comes from the rich and their detachment from reality. Rich Americans only focus on their hugely amassed wealth, bragging rights, and luxury expenses and lifestyle.

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"It is very hard to pull yourself out of extreme poverty in the United States. It almost never happens."

It really is a game based on what you are given the privilege of being born into. No one wants to live in poverty, those in it have tried and worked hard but poverty is still increasingly common. People say it takes three generations to be truly out of poverty but when will this cycle begin if an individual can never pull them self out of this predestined hole. Their children even working just as hard and being motivated by a parent will often face the same struggles.

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In my father’s life there were two versions of the American dream, the one his parents believed in and the one he strived to reach. The dream of his parents was to simply live and to live better than they did in mexico, however the dream of my father was to be better than his parents with all the advantages he had now that he was in America, though he was hindered by the education his family gave him. To my father, America is the land of the best and brightest opportunities, and sees the American Dream as simply any other dream that you can see yourself accomplishing, that so happens to be tied to America.  In my father’s eyes some of his hopes and dreams came true, and ones that didn’t simply changed as he did as well, and this is how he views his American Dream. A strong piece of advice he gave me when it comes to my dreams and following them, was not to let anyone put an image on my dream, and to let my dream be my own.

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Ghosted by the American Dream: Younger generations are collectively sobering to the idea of the American Dream. But what is the alternative? By Alain Sylvain

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Ghosted by the American Dream: Younger generations are collectively sobering to the idea of the American Dream. But what is the alternative? By Alain Sylvain

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The American Dream in reality, was never a truly realistic dream. “The American Dream may be beaten into the collective psyche as something real and attainable, but it was never designed to work for everyone.”  Many younger people of the new generation are beginning to see through the propaganda machine that is America, and are decided to move past the idolized American Dream. It’s become apparent that for many people, especially the younger generation, the system is simply not designed with them in mind, and that in itself hinders the idea of an American Dream. All of this seems like little more than propaganda to bring a foreign workforce to America, all of them coming in search of this supposed dream. “Young people are also no longer living to work (and especially not trying to climb a ladder that they know isn’t guaranteed). They’re being more selective with how they spend their time and energy.”

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Education is part of my American Dream because it symbolizes success. My family has always wanted the best for themselves and their children. Having immigrated here and not getting the chance to pursue their own education, they have taught me the importance of it. It is a step in getting into a good career but it is also to keep myself knowledgeable and I would like to continue learning about something I am passionate about.

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Touching on this topic, it is important to think about how common it is for Latin Americans to get with bottom of the barrel jobs that no one else will do, doing backbreaking work with little pay. They get stuck and never move up in their career because people want cheap labor even if workers deserve more. My family has definitely been there and many still are so my parents have pushed me to try to beat the odds and stand up for myself, a privilege not everyone has. My parents still struggle today and have for all of my childhood, I am very careful with my money but hope I can one day live knowing I have savings and money for rent.

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What does Steinbeck reveal about the American Dream?

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What does Steinbeck reveal about the American Dream?

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Steinbeck reveals that the American Dream will often only remain as a dream which can be supported by a common observation from the migrant workers, in this case Crooks, that, ""Every damn' one of 'em's got a little piece of land in their head. An' never a ******** one of them ever get's it". Individually, it is impossible for anyone to fulfill this dream by themselves. They work hard sometimes till the end of their lives like Candy, whos worked all his life and never thought he would get land until he found two other people to join in on his plan and help him share the money, work, and find land. The American Dream is an idea that keeps people hoping when it's unrealistic and a false hope. The men eventually come to this conclusion as well, saying "I think I knowed we'd never do her". It shows how quickly someones life/path can be turned upside down. This is similar even today because a majority of Americans are only a paycheck away from homelessness. 1

A financial survey encouraging Americans to save more money was released in 2019 and exposed that 59% of Americans are currently at risk of homelessness. In fact, they are all just one paycheck away from experiencing homelessness firsthand.

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As an individual, I have always valued being self reliant. I have no problem working on my own and keeping to myself. In the future, I would like this to continue into my relationships and career. I do not mean this in a sense of not helping others but instead where I do not have to heavily rely on coworkers or be actively part of a team I do not wish to be in. I would like to have freedom and leniency. Strict rules from a boss, getting stuck in contracts, being dependent on others for money or shelter, and having my work be dependent on others are restrictions I would like to keep to a minimum.