Work hard and stay committed and eventually, all your dreams will come true. This promise is known as part of the American dream. They say that with a little hard work and dedication, you can find yourself at the top of the social classes. After all, it is the land of endless opportunities. However, reality hits most Americans on their way to the top. People are now beginning to realize that this country of endless opportunities has many limitations and setbacks. The majority of these setbacks stem from the unequal distribution of wealth in the United States. Americans spend their entire lives searching for that “American Dream” that is promised to them; However, the harsh reality is that this dream actually only gives hope to the hopeless. The distribution of wealth in America is so unequal that most Americans have no idea how much money each class acquires. Nearly half of America shares an extremely small amount of money. Unfortunately, in today's society, the bottom 40%, or approximately 120 million Americans, own 0.03% of the wealth (Domhoff). Yet for some reason we still cling to the idea of ​​this American dream that anyone can achieve it. People, stuck in the bottom 40%, who want to reach the top, will pay close attention to fairy tale stories of rags to riches. The reasoning for believing these stories is the idea that since someone else made them, there must be a way for them to do them too. In reality, all these stories really do is give hope to the hopeless when they have nothing left to hope for in life. The hopeless can find hope through these rare cases where hard work and dedication paid off. This hard work pays off for the top 20% of people, and if one can somehow work their way middle of paper... keep getting richer. Therefore, the reality of working hard and staying committed does not always indicate reaching the top. This “dream” of reaching the top is anything but reasonable for most Americans. The main reason for this unachievable outcome lies in the unequal distribution of wealth in America. Americans spend their entire lives searching for that “American Dream” that is promised to them; However, the harsh reality is that this dream actually only gives hope to the desperate as they try to climb the social ladder. Works Cited Lorenzi, Peter. “The American Dream and Middle Ages.” Society 51.1 (2014): 2-7. Premier Academic Research. Internet. March 22, 2014. Domhoff, William G. “Who Runs America: Wealth, Income, and Power.” Who rules America: wealth, income and power. Np, September 2005. Web. March 23. 2014.