Gregory Smith is a firm believer in the American Dream and believes it is achievable to anyone. Smith's main point throughout his presentation was that everyone's American Dream varies however, there are some principals that make up the American dream that everyone wants to follow, "..the American dream it's not just one dream...The American Dream is many dreams." Every person is entitled to there own opinions and beliefs which comes along with there own wants and goals, "We dream not only of the things we need, we dream of the things we want." Most people in America share common goals such as being happy, healthy, living in a nice community, getting an education further than high school, and getting a sustainable job for you and your family. This means some people value certain things more highly than others which allows them to cater to the desires of their individual American Dream.
Smith shares that he is an Associate professor of management information systems in the Williams College of Business at Xavier University. He also has a PhD in business information technology and uses this to establish his credibility/ethos. He has made his dream into a reality and also uses that to make him appear as an expert on the topic. He uses logos in his Ted Talk by presenting information collected from Xavier University that related to the American dream. Smith was also able to utilize pathos by opening the possibilities of the American dream to every person in America. That made the audience feel like no matter how many set backs you encounter the dream is still in reach.
The overall theme of this Ted Talk is success can be achieved by anyone. This is a very similar view of the American Dream that Barack Obama shared in his Keynote Address to the 2004 Democratic National Convention. They both agreed that no matter where you come from if you never give up the dream can be achieved by anyone. They also believe everyone has an opportunity to create a better life for themselves in America. I agree that the American Dream is very much alive and will never die, however it not a guarantee. You must continuously work hard day by day in order to turn your American Dream into an American Reality.