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Self & Society
The American Dream? by J. Conrad Guest "The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position." - James Truslow Adams, The Epic of America, 1931. The American Dream is something that has been sought after for generations, and its meaning has been twisted since Adams' time to the point where it's high time we dare consider that pursuit of this elusive apparition is what fuels anti-Americanism the world over. Many Americans view the American Dream as something to be had, something that is owed to them. The American Dream is often predicated upon wealth, upon material possession, but when wealth is accumulated, when material possession is amassed and with it all comes dissatisfaction, depression and unhappiness, what then? Happiness is not a pursuit, nor is it a destination. Happiness is a state of mind; it comes from within. Who would deny that money can't buy happiness? Yet that wisdom has done little to deter many Americans from acquiring more and more of that green commodity, perhaps on the premise that it can, at the very least, make their self-imposed misery a little easier to take. Proof? This country is more heavily medicated than any other nation on the planet. Can't sleep? Take a pill. Unhappy? Take a pill. Yet faster and faster people continue their pursuit of... what? Ask them what it is they seek and you'll get a vague answer like, "I don't know but I'll know it when I find it." Such an answer leads one to fear capitalism as the proverbial dangling carrot: the more wealth one amasses the more one wants. Dare we consider that materialism is indeed the very cancer other cultures perceive it to be? When carried to an extreme, anything, no matter how harmless it may be perceived, can become a sickness. A friend of mine recently reminded me that America is still viewed by much of the world as the land of milk and honey, and that many would give anything to be able to live in this country. I agreed that that once was true, but that I thought that much of what was at one time admiration has recently turned into disdain and resentment, and that Americans today are seen as arrogant and selfish. Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the diesel engine, who lived during the turn of the 20th century and considered himself a citizen of the world, once visited the United States. He wrote that he found America a country rich in resources but unmindful of waste. That is perhaps truer today than it was in Diesel's time. Americans today are a people consumed by avarice and consumption, perhaps under the guise of our pursuit of the American Dream, with little thought given to waste. Everything is disposable. We are consumed with our way of life; even the current Administration in Washington has stated, in the aftermath of 9-11, that we should go on with our lives as we always have. While I agree that we should not let fear of terrorism rule our lifestyle, I also believe that the first step in beating terrorism is to understand why this country is so loathed. To my knowledge, in the aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Center, no one has asked "Why?" America was attacked. It is perhaps instinctual to wish to strike back, but isn't it wiser to try to understand the why behind such an attack? Understanding behavior and, in this case, another culture, could potentially go farther toward attaining peace than striking out blindly in anger. No Longer The Envy of the World Washington has mandated that Detroit design more economical SUVs, but has said nothing to the public about slowing down or carpooling or combining trips to conserve gas, thereby becoming less dependent on Middle East oil. We stubbornly refuse to change our way of life in our dogged pursuit of the American Dream. On your next drive to work, look around at the other motorists in pursuit of their dreams. How many vehicles contain more than one occupant? How many motorists keep to the posted speed limit? The motorists who drive the fastest are often the ones who profess their patriotism with a bumper sticker of the American flag or by flying the flag from their antenna. But true patriotism is more than waving a flag. Patriotism is asking oneself: "What can I do to help this country's cause?" It seems the mentality of many motorists is that drive time is paramount. Let other motorists worry about conservation. Saving a half-gallon per tank of gas seems beneath many motorists-after all a half-gallon of gas amounts to only about 90 cents. Many Americans are too myopic to think in terms of how much gas could be conserved by 60 million motorists each saving a half-gallon of gas every week. Many Americans complain about the price of a gallon of gas as it inches ever closer to $2 a gallon, but most are ignorant of the fact that in Europe the price of a liter of gas is easily twice that amount, or more. Is it any wonder that more and more Europeans view Americans as wasteful, arrogant and self-involved? Does anyone stop to think how ridiculous he or she must appear driving at 80 mph in pursuit of their dream while talking on a cell phone? We talk of slowing down to smell the roses, but it seems many Americans have donned blinders that prevent them from even seeing the flowerbed. We keep peddling faster and faster, ignorant of the fact that we hold in our power the ability to slow down, or even step off the bicycle should we choose. The envy of the world? Who would envy us? Disdain because we're presumptuous and self-absorbed? Most assuredly. What frightens me most about this country's present and future is its strong resemblance to a city in a bygone and apparently long forgotten era: ancient Rome. Over time the Roman Empire grew too fat on its own greed and pursuit of its own ideal of some indefinable dream, perhaps not so different from our own American Dream. Lesson to be learned: Rome fell. About the Author(s): See under Our Contributors to find out about the Author(s) of this article. |
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