The term "American Dream" was first used by James Adams in his book the Epic of America which was written in 1931. He states 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 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." A grand dream, truly it is, what right-minded person would not wish to reach their full capacity. However, upon a closer glance one will see he did not say, "A place where each man and woman obtains their fullest stature", instead he says, "A place where each man and woman SHALL BE ABLE TO ATTAIN their fullest stature". He speaks not of a guarantee of obtaining that which one seeks (in this case, their full stature), but rather the guarantee of the means to obtain it, the American Dream is opportunity.
Bearing this in mind, one sees that the question has ceased to be, "Does the American dream exist", and it has evolved into, "Is the American dream given". It is at this point that my doubts begin to arise. The opportunity to become all that one is innately capable of is only truly grasped if one has been fully educated and well informed as to what they are and what they are capable of being, it is useless to give them any opportunity otherwise. Now we must ask ourselves, "Have we equipped the American citizen with that which is necessary in order for them to fully take advantage of the opportunities endowed upon them." We need only look to the American citizens for the answer of whether or not we have achieved it, only if our forefathers dreamt of a land with the highest dropout rates, only if those seeking a better life on this land close their eyes and hope that we maintain our reputation for the highest teen pregnancy and obesity numbers can we say that we have succeeded in bringing about the true image of the American dream.
We clearly have neglected something. Yet some are dumb-founded at the idea that they might have overlooked something; they begin to tally up the efforts they put forth to assist in managing these numbers such as informing the people of the effects of too much junk food or of the success obtained through the labors put into education and the benefits of acting on the alternative of protected sex, "what could I have possibly neglected", one may ask themselves. However, let us look closer into their endeavors. They attempted to alter their state of behavior by presenting them with the logical benefits of acting on these alternatives in hopes that their common sense would take over and complete the persuasion. Yet this method has only limited success, as shown by our citizens, and it is here that I begin to address what I believe to be the threat to the existence of the American dream as well as why I believe this method may not suffice. We have neglected our morality.
One can already see the people's eyes rolling at the mere mention of this word; much associate morality with religion and with the thought of religion in modern day is included the image of a wrinkled old man in a white robe armed with an arsenal of threats of our damnation. Religion is not necessarily what I speak of however. Let us once again look the endeavors of one trying to improve another's behavior using logic. They hope to inform them of the facts of their decisions, as we have said. Frankly speaking, they wish to call upon their morality by addressing them as if they were a blank textbook that need only be filled some facts in order to live up to their capacity. They speak to the slothful not of the zeal in the earnestness found in the diligence of one's education; instead they speak only of the money and the job opportunities that arise from having completed an education. They speak to the glutton not of the self-worth or the true relish that comes in the act of temperance; instead they speak only of the calorie intake and the shortened life span. In other words, they do not educate them in terms of morality; they may have attempted to imply the idea of morality by explaining its forms, but ultimately the individual is left to just "pick up" on the idea of it on their own. As if to show a child that water will extinguish flame but omit the information of where water is to be found.
Even the most agnostic of us can see that we are more than sacks of meat; we are moral beings, not necessarily religious-wise, but we are conscious of at least the idea of right and wrong. Yet very little progress has been done to bring about this concept to the masses, mostly out of fear of offending another's perspective or a disagreement of right and wrong. An understandable argument I'm sure. However it is truly justified only if we are putting forth genuine effort to overcome these obstacles and bring this idea to light, elsewise we are but a failing high school student that fails not because he is mentally incapable, an understandable justification, but because his indifference prevents him from even attempting. The American dream is the opportunity to become all that one is capable of. The American dream is rooted to the human dream, and the human dream can never be attained as long as we continue to hold back the idea of the moral consciousness that is inherently a fixture in our natures. The prerogative to reach one's full stature will always at one's disposal, just not always in sight. It is because of this that makes it difficult to answer the question, "Does the American dream exist?" Perhaps it does, perhaps it has just been misplaced, or perhaps it really doesn't exist, I'm not certain what to believe. But I do believe this, if the American dream has become lost, it is because so too has our humanity.
No comments:
Post a Comment