Kyle Leano
Ms. Williams
English 1a
Dec19, 2013
Lost Hope
Back in its hay
day, America was one of the few places where dreams became reality. But in
today’s cruel world, corruption has taken those dreams, and crushed it into the
dirt making it impossible to achieve the American Dream. Many Americans are
faced with financial problems every while some Americans live the lavish
lifestyle. Those that live the fancy life has placed a never ending nightmare
on those who cannot because the rich has now taken the poor’s opportunities and
sent them over seas or have dropped their wages down to impossible to live. The chances for an average persons success is
now dwindled down to nothing.
As Americans, we
used to take pride in the character we present ourselves towards our neighbors,
but now in today’s society, everyone takes pride in money instead of the
quality of their character. We do not define anyone on what they do now;
instead we let money define us. This means the rich want to have all the money,
power, and fame to themselves even if it means making others suffer. Endless
amounts of companies are moving out of America to go overseas and to make their
product more profitable. This leaves thousands of Americans jobless in the land
of once known as the land of opportunity. Travis Smiley author of The Rich and the Rest of Us, states
that, “We are a nation where poverty of opportunity is dangerously close to
becoming a permanent reality”(45). For a lot of American’s now, it is
impossible for them to get out of poverty because of all the jobs leaving the
states. Once the jobs leave the states millions of Americans search for other
careers, but the jobs that are left here are not enough to keep them
financially stable.
People migrated
all over the world to come to America because it offered opportunity, equality,
and passion. America was built on those three attributes, but now America has
turned into a hypocritical nation and goes against its characteristics because in
todays world almighty dollar rules everything. Many Americans live under the
poverty line and they are suffering daily, and struggle from paycheck to
paycheck. If some are able to find a job the pay is so low that many have to
get an additional job to hope for a better future. “….Low to mid wage jobs pay
between $8.72 to $15 an hour, which is well below the national average hourly
wage of $22.60”, addresses Travis Smiley. It is selfish that our own government
and jobs systems have created a structure in which most of its citizens and
workers are made to fail. Many American families cannot live off a $8.72 an hour
wage; it is cruel and inhumane to have a family endure the hardships of foreclosure,
starvation, and all the other factors that come into play with poverty. The
system of the low living wage has trapped many Americans in and it is nearly
impossible to get out.
In Darwin’s famous
book of evolution, people only seem to have taken the importance of survival of
the fittest. Naturally as humans we go through daily life thinking we will do
anything to become successful, even if it does hurt another. But what people seem
to forget in the book is that if we work together, we can achieve something
greater than that one man could not have possibly done by himself. In the book, Travis Smiley uses a quote from
Aristotle saying, “In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich,
because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme”(176).
There are way more people that fall under the higher class of America, if the
rest of the country come together and speak about the faults of the country,
the rich would have nothing to do but listen. America was built on three
things: opportunity, equality, and passion. Our government can take away
opportunity, and it can take away equality, but one thing that they cannot take
away is our passion. The millions that are suffering in this nation need to
come together as one and speak up to the government so things such as poverty
can be no more and success can take its place.
America has become
a place where many dwell in sadness and struggle each day due to the way the
government and corporations has messed up their chances at life. Many cannot
afford to live in this country while many jobs are being supplied elsewhere. But
we as citizens have a say in this country, to make our nation to move forward
we have to come together. If we do not act now our nation will crumble
underneath the weight of unspoken words and crushed dreams.
