Bye Bye Ms. American Dream
Of all the strange behaviors of human beings in modern society, I think what bothers me most is the lack of creative thought. This is not to say there aren't plenty of struggling artists in the world who desperately wish to express their unique visions. What I am mourning is our obsession with what we have long called the American Dream.
Researchers, reporters, and writers contend that the American Dream is becomming a thing of the past. What was once the freedom to rise to the top and become succcessful has been erased by the corruption of a business run government system. America is still thought of as one of the richest countries, where gadgets and material possessions form the major definition of our society; but isn't the American Dream supposed to be more than the desire for sheer commercialism? I have asked classes at both the high school and college level to define this concept: What is the American Dream? Here are the most common answers: money, home, car/SUV, spouse, two kids, picket fence, and dog. These are the items we could check on a bubble sheet that define us; these are the icons of our society. Why, then, are we such a depressed, unfulfilled, greedy, gluttenous group?
There is a plethora of possible answers here. One of my personal favorites is what Kalle Lasn, founder of Adbusters, says: that we are consumers rather than activists, that we are out of touch with nature, and that we are overstimulated and polluted with noise, advertsiements, and the media. All of these explanations hold truth, but the sad thing is, no one really has to live this way, and yet, they do. Granted, it is difficult to live in a quiet, peaceful environment in our modern society, but too many people today cannot come up with their own American Dream, and instead, mindlessly attempt to live the generic American Dream, never stopping to consider what they really want for themselves.
Follow the plan. Graduate high school. Go to college. Get a job, preferabbly one with benefits and a 401 K. Get married. Have kids. Go to church. Go to the gym. Go shopping. Buy a house. Buy a new car. Take your prescriptions. Grow old. Die.
Then there are those who do nothing. I mean nothing. They live off mom and dad and complain about the monotony of modern society, when the truth is, they really know nothing about it, because they are lazy, irresponsible mooches who never work or worry about their future in the first place. They are the critics who never attempt to produce any of their own work.
Where does this leave me? Where does this leave those few souls who actually read this blog?
I'll tell you where it leaves me. It leaves me angry at others (this is my own personal problem), and it leaves me determined to actually live my life, my dream. Oddly enough, part of my dream is getting the hell out of this country for a while.
There are a few things I value from the American Dream. Clearly, money is a necessary component in life if you don't desire absolute misery and strife. But there is a hell of a lot more to life than commercial goods or the nuclear family unit. I don't intend to deflate the significance of familial ties, but too many people in this country get married because they don't know what else to do. They are following the plan rather than their plan - precisely why so many marriages end up in divorce. What about their individual dreams and their mental and emotional maturity? Wouldn't we be a far more fulfilled group if we actually had the guts to go do what we wanted before settling for what we are told we are supposed to want? In a nation with so much to offer, we are so fucking humdrum.
I am not giving in to the seduction of the modern day American Dream. I may end up with some of its components at different times in my life, but my plan is far more ecclectic and adventurous. I want to actually still have my soul intact when I die. I want to look back and say I lived. So what if I don't leave behind a two story home, equipped with a basement full of useless junk, or an environmentally abusive SUV? The Greeks simply asked if a man truly lived before he died, and there in lied the explanation of his success. There was no clear checklist for what living meant. It may have been many different things to many different people. How can a nation of so much diversity come together in one superficial dream - the dream of greed, the dream of knocking down your neighbor before he knocks you down, the dream of getting the best parking spot and the designer brand label on sale? Do any of us look back on these things in our deathbed and feel satisfied? If so, we are even worse off than I imagined. What bothers me most is that it bothers me so much that so many people are too afraid to come up with their own creative dreams, that so many people live as ghosts. We all die soon enough. I'd rather not be a ghost until I have to.
Researchers, reporters, and writers contend that the American Dream is becomming a thing of the past. What was once the freedom to rise to the top and become succcessful has been erased by the corruption of a business run government system. America is still thought of as one of the richest countries, where gadgets and material possessions form the major definition of our society; but isn't the American Dream supposed to be more than the desire for sheer commercialism? I have asked classes at both the high school and college level to define this concept: What is the American Dream? Here are the most common answers: money, home, car/SUV, spouse, two kids, picket fence, and dog. These are the items we could check on a bubble sheet that define us; these are the icons of our society. Why, then, are we such a depressed, unfulfilled, greedy, gluttenous group?
There is a plethora of possible answers here. One of my personal favorites is what Kalle Lasn, founder of Adbusters, says: that we are consumers rather than activists, that we are out of touch with nature, and that we are overstimulated and polluted with noise, advertsiements, and the media. All of these explanations hold truth, but the sad thing is, no one really has to live this way, and yet, they do. Granted, it is difficult to live in a quiet, peaceful environment in our modern society, but too many people today cannot come up with their own American Dream, and instead, mindlessly attempt to live the generic American Dream, never stopping to consider what they really want for themselves.
Follow the plan. Graduate high school. Go to college. Get a job, preferabbly one with benefits and a 401 K. Get married. Have kids. Go to church. Go to the gym. Go shopping. Buy a house. Buy a new car. Take your prescriptions. Grow old. Die.
Then there are those who do nothing. I mean nothing. They live off mom and dad and complain about the monotony of modern society, when the truth is, they really know nothing about it, because they are lazy, irresponsible mooches who never work or worry about their future in the first place. They are the critics who never attempt to produce any of their own work.
Where does this leave me? Where does this leave those few souls who actually read this blog?
I'll tell you where it leaves me. It leaves me angry at others (this is my own personal problem), and it leaves me determined to actually live my life, my dream. Oddly enough, part of my dream is getting the hell out of this country for a while.
There are a few things I value from the American Dream. Clearly, money is a necessary component in life if you don't desire absolute misery and strife. But there is a hell of a lot more to life than commercial goods or the nuclear family unit. I don't intend to deflate the significance of familial ties, but too many people in this country get married because they don't know what else to do. They are following the plan rather than their plan - precisely why so many marriages end up in divorce. What about their individual dreams and their mental and emotional maturity? Wouldn't we be a far more fulfilled group if we actually had the guts to go do what we wanted before settling for what we are told we are supposed to want? In a nation with so much to offer, we are so fucking humdrum.
I am not giving in to the seduction of the modern day American Dream. I may end up with some of its components at different times in my life, but my plan is far more ecclectic and adventurous. I want to actually still have my soul intact when I die. I want to look back and say I lived. So what if I don't leave behind a two story home, equipped with a basement full of useless junk, or an environmentally abusive SUV? The Greeks simply asked if a man truly lived before he died, and there in lied the explanation of his success. There was no clear checklist for what living meant. It may have been many different things to many different people. How can a nation of so much diversity come together in one superficial dream - the dream of greed, the dream of knocking down your neighbor before he knocks you down, the dream of getting the best parking spot and the designer brand label on sale? Do any of us look back on these things in our deathbed and feel satisfied? If so, we are even worse off than I imagined. What bothers me most is that it bothers me so much that so many people are too afraid to come up with their own creative dreams, that so many people live as ghosts. We all die soon enough. I'd rather not be a ghost until I have to.
posted by Breeme at 2:36 PM
1 Comments:
i agree that there's a stunning lack of creativity in the world (for crying out loud, i just left a mall that didn't even have a bookstore). of course, our society has a way of silencing creative minds. every revolutionary mind tends to be silenced (think jesus, malcolm x, martin luther king, JFK).
television, for all its faults, used to at least encourage writers to be creative. now we have "reality" television, which is completely devoid of any thought or innovation, unless you consider filming drunk 20 somethings in a hot tub to be novel.
anyhow, keep up the writing, this page tends to be one of the only things i look forward to reading.
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