\"The American Dream is Killing Us” Questions PDF

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The American dream is killing us questions...

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The American Dream is Killing Us” Questions 1.On the first page, what analogy does Manson make...he compares the startup of the American economy to what? Mason compared the startup of the American economy to a lemonade stand 2.The United States was able to rise to be a superpower because of these four main factors: Unlimited Land Unlimited Cheap Labor Unlimited innovation Geographic isolation 3.How was the idea of the American Dream born? It’s from this intersection of good fortune, plentiful resources, massive amounts of land, and creative ingenuity drawn from around the world that the idea of the American Dream was born. 4.Complete the sentence: “The American Dream is simple: it’s the unwavering belief that anybody...can become exceedingly successful, and all it takes is the right amount of work, ingenuity, and determination. Nothing else matters. No external force. No bout of bad luck. All one needs is a steady dosage of grit and hard work.”

5.What do most people point to as the inflection point where the US began its slow descent away from global dominance? But the truth is? The truth is that the deteriorating forces have been at work within the country for decades 6.Why are young Americans incredibly underemployed or unemployed, even though they are the most educated and productive generation in US history? This is a simple reason that there are no jobs, especially middle-class jobs. Despite Obama’s impressive proclamation that he’s halved the unemployment rate since he took office, most of the drop in unemployment since the 2008 crisis has come from part-time or low-skilled jobs, and from people leaving the workforce altogether. 7.What is the percentage of people with college degrees who don’t have a job and aren’t even looking? 25% of people with college degrees 8.What are the three reasons for all of this (the limitations)? No more land No more cheap labour Innovation is now creating fewer jobs, not more 9.What essentially did America do during the Cold War? They did something called global hegemony. and it was basically like this low-level form of extortion of the third world: either open up trade for us, let our corporations come in and use your land and cheap labour, or get a shutout and continue to wallow in poverty.

10.Global hegemony has now dried up. Some of the poor economies have now developed enough that they aren’t so cheap and pretty soon some of them may become America’s dream

11.What happened to all of the cheap labour in the US? They did a thing called slavery. 12.Why doesn’t the US need as many workers as it used to? Technology is improving such as robots 13.How are people nowadays getting ahead? List the three reasons: Hard work Family’s socioeconomic status Plain luck 14.What are the three beliefs about the American Dream that have become quite dangerous and even destructive? The American Dream causes people to believe that people always get what they deserve The American Dream causes us to believe that people are only worth what they achieve The American Dream indirectly encourages people to feel justified in exploiting others 15.What percentage of Americans have no savings? 25% 16.The idea that the American Dream causes us to believe that people are only worth what they achieve creates what kind of culture?

17.What does Manson suggest is the best way to battle these false ideals of the American Dream?...