Jorge RodriguezMrs. GladstoneLanguage Arts Literature 3 Honors5/15/14Is it a dream or a nightmare?The land of the free and home of the brave is renowned for its freedoms that allow its citizens to pursue their own happiness. America is described by many as the country where your dreams can finally come true through hard work and perseverance. The terrible truth behind the American dream is that not everyone's fantasies can come true. Succeeding in America is about the people you know and the relationships you have. Succeeding in America without any help is wrong, the only real success stories today are those that rely on the individuals who got them there. Succeeding in America is not the same as in the past, the American dream no longer exists! It's no secret that the U.S. economy has been on a downward trend for a few years now. Jobs are scarce right now and unemployment rates are the lowest since the Great Depression of the 1930s and 1940s. There simply aren't as many jobs available for people to even begin to realize their dreams. Paul Heyne once said: “The gap in our economy is between what we have and what we think we should have – and that is a moral problem, not an economic one.” » People who come to the United States are sometimes led to believe that jobs are plentiful, but in reality the situation is exactly the opposite. “About 48 percent of employed U.S. college graduates work in jobs that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), require less than a four-year college education. Eleven percent of employed college graduates work in occupations requiring more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor's degree, and 37 percent work in occupations requiring...... middle of paper ...... people look to people in the past, who overcame incredible obstacles to achieve great things. People like Linden Strandberg who have achieved success in unconventional ways are often looked to as inspiration to achieve things that don't usually seem possible. When we look at examples like Mark Zuckerberg, it can sometimes be misleading because he has already accomplished so much in his life. People love a good underdog story to help them deal with their own disappointments and failures, but stories like Zuckerberg's are outliers and not the norm. Strandberg's story was more plausible and more feasible for the times. These days, going from nothing to something is as close to impossible as it gets. The ideas of the American dream are not dead, by any means, what is dead is the idea that anyone can come to America and succeed..