Effects on the American Dream, Both Positive and Negative The editors of Forbes called on these writers: James Q. Wilson, Katherine Newman, Robert Reich, Gertrude Himmelfarb, Natwar M. Gandhi, and Charles Derber. To answer this following question: If things are so good, why do we feel so bad? The American Dream has both positive and negative effects on the country, but in the end people will ultimately create their own fates. There are many positive effects that the American Dream has such immigrant origins, to the United States. Americans have a higher standard of living, that’s why immigrants come to the United States to have freedom, self-expression, and also to have a better standard of living as well (Wilson 437). Wilson
Derbers second example is about Charles and Carol Stuart, they had just left a birthing class within minutes of leaving Carol was shot point blank in the head. Charles wanted the insurance money to open a restaurant for he can pursue his dream (412). Another negative effect of the American Dream is employment. Himmelfarb writes an example saying “that unemployment is bad” (Himmelfarb 440). The unemployment will one day find employment, but they will still have problems even if having a job. Most Americans get depressed when they know they can’t live the dream life that they want. Himmelfarb notes that “there are, to be sure, some brave souls, inveterate optimist’s, who try to put the best gloss on them. But they are hard put to counteract the overwhelming evidence on the negative side” ( 441). Newman asserts a story about a man named “David Patterson.” David pursued a job in computer industry; he took care of the company’s financial statements. One day his boss left messages saying that he needed to talk to David. David felt nervous about the meeting because, they week before he “pored over the company’s financial statements (401). He was then given a severance pay check, cleaned his desk out and left. Soon after that he started working on advertising papers, nothing opened up. By nine months David and his wife Julia couldn’t keep up the with the mortgage payments to the house, they had to