Stephen Cruz

The “American Dream” is perceived to be that anyone in America has an equal opportunity to succeed and be successful. Most Americans believe that through hard work, learning, and dedication they can achieve the dream that, in turn, will make them happy.

Cruz is saying that no matter how hard you try, how smart you are, or how far you’ve come, you may not be satisfied with your success. Money is not everything. Cruz did not come from money, but he made a life for himself. In other’s eyes, he looks like he succeeded. However, he is not satisfied because realizes that much of what he got early in his career was because he was a minority; he was Mexican. Although Cruz received many promotions they were for just more money. Cruz wanted to have responsibility and to use his leadership skills. He was stereotyped as a happy Mexican who could not make decisions. His experiences made him realize other flaws in the American dream. For example, businessmen do not care about society by wanting to help minorities be managers, and even “minorities are as bad to other minorities as whites are to the minorities” (350). Cruz also argues that the American Dream is not “governed by education, opportunity, and hard work, but by power and fear” (351). The higher job one achieves, the more one has to worry about losing the money. This fear makes people not want to lose.

I disagree with what Cruz is saying about how you will never be satisfied. I think he reached the technical “American Dream”, but he did not reach his personal dream. He made a successful life for himself and made fifty thousand dollars in the 1970s. Cruz is not satisfied because he did not gain the respect of his cohorts and employers.

However, I do agree on his point that the higher the job you have, the more you need to worry about losing that job. When you are poor, you do not have to worry as much about losing the money because you have so little. It is like you are trying to succeed with nothing to lose. Once you get the good paying job, however, you have to worry about losing it. You become used to having more. Also, as you move up the ranks in a company, you are dependent on the managers of a company. They are the ones who decide whether you are qualified for the job or not. They are the ones who chose in either yes or no whether you can achieve the “American Dream” or whether you will still be hoping for the dream. Cruz has added a valid twist on the American Dream. It is hard for the average person to make a difference in big business.