What I am curious about in this image of the American Dream is who the toxic subject might be. While homeless people are often considered "dirty" and a "plague" on the city, I think that this image attempts to question just who and what is toxic. Is the American Dream itself a toxic "pipe" dream based on impossible-to-achieve socio-economic mobility for all? Further interesting in the context of UCI, is the institutions declaration of where it rates in relation to other colleges for advancing the American Dream https://news.uci.edu/2017/06/09/doing-the-most-for-the-american-dream/ and https://news.uci.edu/2018/10/02/advancing-the-american-dream/. Given that a portion of UC students (at Irvine and other UC's) experience both food and housing insecurity, contextualizing education, this founding narrative of the American (Toxic) Dream might contribute further fodder for analysis. Additionally, which "America?" South America is effectively written out of the United States' version of the "American Dream," whether at the border or "housed" in detention centers.
