the rich persist

More often than not, the American Dream is usually bashed on in greatly influential books such as The Great Gatsby. Why is the notion of the American Dream so criticized? America was basically built from settlers in Europe seeking religious freedom, and it has often been a refuge for citizens of other countries. America is the Great Melting Pot and often called the Land of Opportunity in other countries. It’s the land where hard work pays off and allows anyone who puts in the time and effort to rise to the top. But that’s not the case at all in real life. American runs off capitalism, and no matter how hard you work, if you don’t have the connections you might never get anywhere. Successful companies are passed down from fathers to sons, giving little chance for immigrants to make it to the top. Old money’s influence is not as prominent as it was in the 1920s, but the passing years have led to the creation of a whole new social status of influencers. For all you boomers out there, influencers are young adults who are able to relate to a large group of young teens and influence their decisions in their lives. Influencers include and are not limited to beauty gurus, vloggers, and Instagram models. Influencers usually promote a product to their audience and give out advice for their fans, but underneath their happy-go-lucky attitude and reassuring you can do it hides selfish and greedy people. While I do admit influencers are generally under a lot of pressure to gain more fans and product deals, many also seem to develop a sort of god complex that manifests itself only when the camera is turned off. As a result, many influencers are petty and only looking out for themselves and not their fans. These influencers, much like people with old money, throw lavish parties and live in extravagant mansions in LA and generally live without consequence. But of course, you can never trust anything on the Internet and maybe these influencers have a much harder life than they seem to have but their attitude is comparable to those of Old Money. It seems that as time goes on, Old Money gets replaced by another elite group of people who decide who’s in their groups and the rest of us are left on the outside, simply watching.