A Land of Opportunities

When people think of the American Dream, they often think about the famous phrase “from rags to riches”, which was the main reason for many people to emigrate to the USA. The concept of the American Dream is that everyone can be successful, rich and wealthy.
Before I describe the American Dream, mention reasons for immigration and tell something about the American Nightmare, I will describe a quote and a picture which are related to the American Dream.
In the second picture you can see a little boy who is holding his hand on the hand of the president Barack Obama. The boy is an African-American inhabitant and they are standing in a big room. The message of this picture is that the little black boy wants to feel Obama´s hair. He can´t believe that they have the same hair and a black person with curly hair can become president. If you compare the picture with the following quote you can see a lot of similarities.
The quote is    by Daniel Libeskind who is a famous American architect and who designed the Freedom Tower. In the quote he says that he came as an immigrant to America and when he passed the Statue of Liberty he saw a representation of the substance of the American Dream. The message of this quote is that first of all it does not matter who you are or where you come from because even as an immigrant you can become successful and rich.
The message is also that the Statue of Liberty represents freedom and strength and therefore the American Dream.
In my opinion the quote and the picture show that symbols like the Statue of Liberty make people feel united and it gives them hope that immigrants can also become successful.
After comparing the picture and the quote I would like to continue with writing about why people immigrated to the U.S. in the past.
When Columbus discovered America in 1492 a lot of Europeans and people from all over the world started to dream the American Dream. A lot of Europeans had heard that they would be able to practice their religious faith freely in America and for all of them America became a land of solving problems like poverty and hunger. As a new land America was settled by a lot of people who believed that hard work and ambition will help them to become successful and rich.
When the immigrants entered America they had to pass the Statue of Liberty which is now a symbol for the American Dream and a sign for freedom,liberty and individuality.
In 1981 the former president Ronald Reagan spoke about the power of the American Dream and said that everybody has the right to have goals, dreams and hopes because these dreams will be the dreams of his administration. These words showed that it is really important to believe in your dreams but moreover to fight for your dreams. You have to fight for your dreams because if you want them to become true you need to do something for it because nothing is for free in this world. These are the facts which represent the American Dream.
Nowadays people move to America because it is a society in which man and woman, Black and Whites, Protestants and Catholics have the right to reach their aims. That´s why you can find so many immigrants in America. They feel that they are treated equally and as soon as they have a passport, they are real Americans.
In addition, patriotism and optimism are important aspects of the American Dream. Americans are really proud of their country and that´s why every morning children sing their national anthem in school and always say " God bless America."
Another reason for immigration is the significance of independence and democracy. Everybody has the right to state his or her opinion without any fear. Therefore, a lot of people who grew up in a dictatorships and didn´t have the right to tell their opinion or the right to take their own decisions moved to America because they knew that they would receive all these rights there. Being independent is also really important because it shows that you are confident and strong.
Besides, the American dream represents the innovation of new ideas and a modern life. It encourages you to start your own business and to be our own boss.
However, In my opinion America is not just about the American Dream. It is also about the American Nightmare.
A lot of people relate 9/11 and therefore the terrorism to it. On September 11, 2001, four coordinated terrorist attacks took place in New York City and Washington. Four passenger airliners were hijacked by the Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda and tow of them flew into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center where about 3000 people died. This day was a shocking day for all Americans and they realized that America has a lot of enemies.
Another American Nightmare is that the inhabitants are allowed to have guns for their safety which is in my opinion not acceptable. As a tourist I would feel really uncomfortable to walk around the streets in New York knowing that someone could kill me in one second.
In conclusion, I would like to say that the American Dream still represents freedom, liberty, individuality, optimism, hopes and patriotism but it doesn´t necessarily means that Americans have a better life than others because somehow there still is the fear of terrorism and guns.  (NS)