3 ms·
> The whole point of america is that a pennyless immigrant can land in some backwater of the USA, work hard and become a millionaire. But that can't happen now(
by solidasparagus 6y ago
> The whole point of america is that a pennyless immigrant can land in some backwater of the USA, work hard and become a millionaire. But that can't happen now(if it ever could is another matter).
No, the point of America was that a pennyless immigrant can land in the US, work hard, find a better life and give their children a chance at much more. And that happens regularly. I grew up overseas and I can't tell you how many people from the places I grew up in have done exactly that. Similarly every day I work with people who have moved to the US for work. And many of these people never leave, which must say something about America.
- toyg 6y agoYou are basically saying the same thing. The point of the American Dream is the promise of improvement on one's status. Different groups decline that promise in different ways: for the migrant, it means an untroubled existence in a land under a stable rule of Law; for the working classes, it means doing better than your parents ("becoming a millionaire"); for the wealthy, it means more personal empowerment ("freedom"). Some of these promises can still be fulfilled, which is why people still come to America and follow the script. Others have not kept up with the times, maybe because social and economic institutions are struggling to keep up with the rate of change.