What is the American Dream? The American dream is that everyone, regardless of their social position is entitled to succeed in life. The United States was founded upon the ideal that there was no fixed social position. Anyone could become famous and successful. There are many examples about people who started out with nothing, from poor families and by their hard work were able to be successful.
One of the most famous real live story is about Sam Walton, who used to milk cows and sold magazines. When he was 26, after the Army, he took the $5,000 from the Army and a $20,000 loan from his father-in-law, bought a Ben Franklin variety store. It became so successful that he expanded it, founded the well known store: Walmart. He died in 1992, worth millions.
James Cash Penney, was also one of the Rags to Riches stories. He was told by his doctor to go out west. He ended up in Wyoming, and opened a general store. He was in a company town, but he only took cash, not the company “script.” In this way, he succeeded to leverage his stock. He listened to his customers, even calling his store “The Golden Rule Store.” He wanted everyone to know that when they came to shop in the store, they would get a fair deal. When he would be interviewing new store managers for his expanding chain of stores, he would take them out to dinner. If the candidate salted his food before tasting it, that person would not be hired. Why? “I want my store managers to at least try the food, and then make a decision whether to put salt!” This was a reflection of the way the Penney made his business decisions. Gather all the facts and then decide what to do. Later on, in 1913, the already large chain of stores was incorporated in Utah, called J. C. Penney Company.
If you work hard, and are honest, then you can become the next recipient of the American Dream!
