5 Matching Annotations
  1. Sep 2021
  2. inst-fs-iad-prod.inscloudgate.net inst-fs-iad-prod.inscloudgate.net
    1. could have been a lot better off but through my own foolish-ness, I’m not. What causes poverty? Foolishness. When I came out of the service, my wife had saved a few dollars and I had a few bucks. I wanted to have a good time, I’m throwing money away like water. Believe me, had I used my head right, I could have had a house. I don’t feel sorry for myself, what happened, happened, you know. Of course you pay for it.

      I noticed in this quote that alot of american citizens do this. They do end up making the money they need to do nice things like get a house, get a car, get some nice clothes but instead they waste their money and waste their lives working at a job they probably dont like to continue spending it. I feel like this is a big part of american society that goes under the carpet alot.

    2. us:Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story, of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren’t well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to

      This is a great quote because it represents how two ordinary basic people in the world can come together & just simply want the best for their child. And its inspiring & prideful that America can offer that opportunity to those ordinary people & their son.

    3. Th e popular culture also has given the American Dream a powerful voice

      This quote makes me think about how the culture citizens call popular & fun, end up being the voice for the american dream & american culture. For example if everyone likes Cardi B then she'll be the image for the american dream.

    4. Th ese pursuits of happi-ness oft en ended with many fi nding some degree of fulfi llment. Writing in 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville declared that the Americans he encoun-tered had “acquired or retained suffi cient education and fortune to sat-isfy their own wants.” Tocqueville added that they “owe nothing to any man, they expect nothing from any man, they acquire the habit of always considering themselves as standing alone, and they are apt to imagine that their whole destiny is in their own hands”

      This quote caught my eye because of the pursuit of happiness. It's interesting how education & wealth in someones status automatically makes them able to dictate their lives more creatively than other people without those qualities. And having the ability to create their own destiny in life is in their hands but the people who have the power just see themselves alone. They dont use it to help others.

    5. For much of our history, African Americans and women were excluded from its promise.

      I believe this very much. Being a caucasian male, although i have not lived back then i can still understand the hardships for some other races & women had to go through in order to experience a promise only granted to white men. It was totally wrong for the government & citizens to allow that. It's such a big topic to me though & i believe this spoke to me in a way where now i realize that not everyone gets to have what you have so treat everyone with respect & how you'd want to be treated in order to give some sort of equality among us all.