Finding The American Dream

Self-made millionaire Eugene Gold shares the lessons he learned as a Russian immigrant chasing the American dream. He explains how he did all the right things and still ended up struggling to make ends meet. But he didn't give up. He kept searching and eventually discovered a new roadmap to achieving the American Dream. You can do the same by: -Harnessing your passion -Experimenting with reasonable risk -Organizing and running your life like a business -Optimizing your life with the Time/Money Multiplier Formula. Finding the American Dream will show you how.

From a can of Dr. Pepper, to the iconic sounds of Motown hits like Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, and The Temptations, each of these uniquely American emblems began as a dream. From humble beginnings and against insurmountable odds, our culture pervasively clings to the notion that given equal opportunities, anyone can achieve the success of their wildest imagination. It’s the dream that has empowered countless entertainers, leaders, inventors, and historical figures to become and create to the best of their ability, and that still inspires us today. Travel journalist and author Bill Clevlen opens up the topic in Finding the American Dream, chapter by chapter, one dreamer at a time. Be guided to the place were they began their journey, as if you were traveling there yourself. Stand inside the small rural house were Johnny Cash grew up after the Great Depression. Explore the bottling plant where Dr. Pepper became America’s first nationally sold soft drink. Discover the very first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant where 65 year-old Harland Sanders started a billion-dollar franchise. A flip through these pages will prove that the American Dream is not dead. The inspiring stories contained within demonstrate that anyone can still achieve greatness through hard work, determination, and of course, a little bit of luck.

As a child growing up in Malaysia, Shing Yin Khor had two very different ideas of what “America” meant. The first looked a lot like Hollywood, full of beautiful people and sunlight and freeways. The second looked more like The Grapes of Wrath - a nightmare landscape filled with impoverished people, broken-down cars, barren landscapes, and broken dreams. Those contrasting ideas have stuck with Shing ever since, even now that she lives and works in LA. The American Dream? A Journey on Route 66 is Shing’s attempt to find what she can of both of these Americas on a solo journey (small adventure-dog included) across the entire expanse of that iconic road, beginning in Santa Monica and ending up Chicago. And what begins as a road trip ends up as something more like a pilgrimage in search of an American landscape that seems forever shifting, forever out of place.

The United States has been epitomized as a land of opportunity, where hard work and skill can bring personal success and economic well-being. The American Dream has captured the imagination of people from all walks of life, and to many, it represents the heart and soul of the country. But there is another, darker side to the bargain that America strikes with its people -- it is the price we pay for our individual pursuit of the American Dream. That price can be found in the economic hardship present in the lives of millions of Americans. In Chasing the American Dream, leading social scientists Mark Robert Rank, Thomas A. Hirschl, and Kirk A. Foster provide a new and innovative look into a curious dynamic -- the tension between the promise of economic opportunities and rewards and the amount of turmoil that Americans encounter in their quest for those rewards. The authors explore questions such as: -What percentage of Americans achieve affluence, and how much income mobility do we actually have? -Are most Americans able to own a home, and at what age? -How is it that nearly 80 percent of us will experience significant economic insecurity at some point between ages 25 and 60? -How can access to the American Dream be increased? Combining personal interviews with dozens of Americans and a longitudinal study covering 40 years of income data, the authors tell the story of the American Dream and reveal a number of surprises. The risk of economic vulnerability has increased substantially over the past four decades, and the American Dream is becoming harder to reach and harder to keep. Yet for most Americans, the Dream lies not in wealth, but in economic security, pursuing one's passions, and looking toward the future. Chasing the American Dream provides us with a new understanding into the dynamics that shape our fortunes and a deeper insight into the importance of the American Dream for the future of the country.

She’s been described by many as a rising star in the Conservative movement, but how did she get here? And more importantly, did she ever plan to? In Finding My Place, Elizabeth takes us back to the beginning. As the daughter of immigrants and a proud religious Jew, Elizabeth dives into the core of what drives her: the sacrifices of her parents and grandparents and all that they had to endure to make sure that she had the opportunity to live the American dream. With an emphasis on her faith and her upbringing, where she pinpoints the lessons and moments that she knew would dictate her future, Elizabeth takes us on a journey that started long before she was even born. From heartbreak and injury, to triumph and recognition, to her start as a figure skater, a writer, a model, and eventually a political activist, Elizabeth takes us along on her journey of finding her place in the world of sports, fashion, Judaism, politics, and so much more. Finding My Place is the behind-the-scenes look at everything she has yet to tell the world.

The American Dream and the Public Schools examines issues that have excited and divided Americans for years, including desegregation, school funding, testing, vouchers, bilingual education, and ability grouping. While these are all separate problems, much of the contention over them comes down to the same thing--an apparent conflict between policies designed to promote each student's ability to succeed and those designed to insure the good of all students or the nation as a whole. The authors show how policies to promote individual success too often benefit only those already privileged by race or class, and often conflict with policies that are intended to benefit everyone. They propose a framework that builds on our nation's rapidly changing population in order to help Americans get past acrimonious debates about schooling. Their goal is to make public education work better so that all children can succeed.

A New York Times bestseller America’s unique prosperity is based on its creation of a middle class. In the twentieth century, that middle class provided the workforce, the educated skills, and the demand that gave life to the world’s greatest consumer economy. It was innovative and dynamic; it eclipsed old imperial systems and colonial archetypes. It gave rise to a dream: that if you worked hard and followed the rules you would prosper in America, and your children would enjoy a better life than yours. The American dream was the lure to gifted immigrants and the birthright opportunity for every American citizen. It is as important a part of the history of the country as the passing of the Bill of Rights, the outcome of the battle of Gettysburg, or the space program. Incredibly, however, for more than thirty years, government and big business in America have conspired to roll back the American dream. What was once accessible to a wide swath of the population is increasingly open only to a privileged few. The story of how the American middle class has been systematically impoverished and its prospects thwarted in favor of a new ruling elite is at the heart of this extraordinarily timely and revealing book, whose devastating findings from two of the finest investigative reporters in the country will leave you astonished and angry.