silverhawks
Member
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2008
- Messages
- 1,299
The American Dream - Not Dead, Only Sleeping
James Adams wrote in his 1931 book "Epic of America":
"If, as I have said, the things already listed were all we had to contribute, America would have made no distinctive and unique gift to mankind. But there has been also the American Dream, that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement."
With this, he coined the name for an ideal in the heart of America that those who came here could aspire to.
The roots of the American Dream were born in the revolutionary war, with the founding fathers. To them, it was the hope of a nation where every man and woman could forge a life free from tyranny, where they would be free to find their own destiny. This is what motivated the likes of Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson to declare their independence and risk their lives in a revolutionary war – something that lent spiritual strength to a fledgling nation beyond the confines of any one religion.
Opportunity and Liberty
At the end of the Revolutionary War, vast tracts of land and vast quantities of resources lay unclaimed on the new continent. The promise of land ownership and personal property bought immigrants flocking to the newly united states, where if you made a lucky or informed investment in land or industry, you could change your life.
This feeling of limitless opportunity was fueled by the Industrial Revolution; with new technologies came new business, and inventors such as Edison and Ford and businessmen such as Carnegie made their own fortunes from literally nothing.
The Transcontinental Railroad stretched from sea to shining sea and opened up new territories, each with their own potential. This combination sent out a pervasive message across the world - that America offered wealth and prosperity to all those who were willing to work for it. It offered chances at something that most people could only dream about. Carnegie himself was a firm believer that if you had talent, and worked hard, you were likely to live a better life.
The Waning Dream
I don't for a moment imagine that the American Dream is truly dead; however, in the modern age it is nearly unattainable for those who need it most. Americans spend millions of dollars every year on cigarettes, hotdogs, hamburgers or football games - but where does all that money go? it can be said to naturally gravitate to those who already have significant fortunes, because they have the resources to place themselves in the best position to gather it. In this regard, America is no longer "a land of limitless opportunity"; instead the maxim should now read "you need money to make money".
Indeed, in this day and age it is doubtful that Carnegie, Ford and Edison would ever have been able to achieve the greatness that they aspired to; would a modern bank loan a penniless Ford or Carnegie enough to start a business? The rising costs of living against the average American wage and increased taxation harm the chances of those with entrepreneurial dreams - they are asked to risk everything, and often lose everything. Many people, ill-informed and not educated on the workings of a debt/credit economy, make it from month to month on meager paychecks, never accumulating significant wealth. This is not the America that the founding fathers envisioned.
The path of the entrepreneur is viewed by financial institutions with disdain as opposed to those who establish themselves within small jobs in large corporate efforts and "work their way up" over years. Acting counter to this is seen as un-necessarily risky. We are not living in the America of limitless possibilities any longer, and the revolutionary, risk-taking spirit that created a nation has been soundly suppressed and derided in favor of the monotonous safety of corporate employment.
The original ideals of the American Dream - freedom and opportunity, personal liberty, living out from under an oppressive, intrusive government; have been replaced by something else in today's America. When you ask the average person what they believe the dream consists of, they will inevitably answer with something related to money.
Take a look at our modern society. The pinnacles of success are celebrated, while the long road to prosperity is forgotten, along with its trials and failures. Hard work has been replaced by instant gratification and entitlement. What was a vision of a better life through hard work and perseverance and the creation of opportunities has become "waiting for the big break". It seems that in the minds of most, the road to the American Dream now lies in game shows, lotteries or lawsuits.
Restoring the American Dream
As I said before, I don't believe the American Dream is truly dead. Many Americans still aspire to it, they still dream about a free and better life…but how to attain it? In response, I would say that this vision has always been indelibly connected to progress.
The more recent example of rampant entrepreneurial expansion was the 90's tech bubble, where programmers, designers and software engineers could charge exorbitant amounts for just their knowledge, riding the wave of new technology and a change in the industrial paradigm.
Of course, the bubble burst, and we now live in a world where portable mp3 players and wireless internet is commonplace - but the future holds new technological advances and social trends. It would be exceptionally beneficial to people to educate themselves about these opportunities in order to capitalize on them ahead of time, to be ready to ride the wave of progress as it changes the world, rather than cling to the coat-tails of big business.
In future industries lies the seeds of a new American Dream; but we need to educate people to be able to help them reach out and grasp it. And that is not the work of a single person, and especially not that of a government - that is the work of an entire nation of individuals wanting something better for themselves.
Our society as a whole needs to be reminded that opportunity does not just fall into one's lap - it must be identified, nurtured, developed and fought for - in our continuing search for the American Dream we must open our minds to our history and our future, and then be prepared to work hard and forgo some instant gratification for the promise of a better life.
James Adams wrote in his 1931 book "Epic of America":
"If, as I have said, the things already listed were all we had to contribute, America would have made no distinctive and unique gift to mankind. But there has been also the American Dream, that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement."
With this, he coined the name for an ideal in the heart of America that those who came here could aspire to.
The roots of the American Dream were born in the revolutionary war, with the founding fathers. To them, it was the hope of a nation where every man and woman could forge a life free from tyranny, where they would be free to find their own destiny. This is what motivated the likes of Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson to declare their independence and risk their lives in a revolutionary war – something that lent spiritual strength to a fledgling nation beyond the confines of any one religion.
Opportunity and Liberty
At the end of the Revolutionary War, vast tracts of land and vast quantities of resources lay unclaimed on the new continent. The promise of land ownership and personal property bought immigrants flocking to the newly united states, where if you made a lucky or informed investment in land or industry, you could change your life.
This feeling of limitless opportunity was fueled by the Industrial Revolution; with new technologies came new business, and inventors such as Edison and Ford and businessmen such as Carnegie made their own fortunes from literally nothing.
The Transcontinental Railroad stretched from sea to shining sea and opened up new territories, each with their own potential. This combination sent out a pervasive message across the world - that America offered wealth and prosperity to all those who were willing to work for it. It offered chances at something that most people could only dream about. Carnegie himself was a firm believer that if you had talent, and worked hard, you were likely to live a better life.
The Waning Dream
I don't for a moment imagine that the American Dream is truly dead; however, in the modern age it is nearly unattainable for those who need it most. Americans spend millions of dollars every year on cigarettes, hotdogs, hamburgers or football games - but where does all that money go? it can be said to naturally gravitate to those who already have significant fortunes, because they have the resources to place themselves in the best position to gather it. In this regard, America is no longer "a land of limitless opportunity"; instead the maxim should now read "you need money to make money".
Indeed, in this day and age it is doubtful that Carnegie, Ford and Edison would ever have been able to achieve the greatness that they aspired to; would a modern bank loan a penniless Ford or Carnegie enough to start a business? The rising costs of living against the average American wage and increased taxation harm the chances of those with entrepreneurial dreams - they are asked to risk everything, and often lose everything. Many people, ill-informed and not educated on the workings of a debt/credit economy, make it from month to month on meager paychecks, never accumulating significant wealth. This is not the America that the founding fathers envisioned.
The path of the entrepreneur is viewed by financial institutions with disdain as opposed to those who establish themselves within small jobs in large corporate efforts and "work their way up" over years. Acting counter to this is seen as un-necessarily risky. We are not living in the America of limitless possibilities any longer, and the revolutionary, risk-taking spirit that created a nation has been soundly suppressed and derided in favor of the monotonous safety of corporate employment.
The original ideals of the American Dream - freedom and opportunity, personal liberty, living out from under an oppressive, intrusive government; have been replaced by something else in today's America. When you ask the average person what they believe the dream consists of, they will inevitably answer with something related to money.
Take a look at our modern society. The pinnacles of success are celebrated, while the long road to prosperity is forgotten, along with its trials and failures. Hard work has been replaced by instant gratification and entitlement. What was a vision of a better life through hard work and perseverance and the creation of opportunities has become "waiting for the big break". It seems that in the minds of most, the road to the American Dream now lies in game shows, lotteries or lawsuits.
Restoring the American Dream
As I said before, I don't believe the American Dream is truly dead. Many Americans still aspire to it, they still dream about a free and better life…but how to attain it? In response, I would say that this vision has always been indelibly connected to progress.
The more recent example of rampant entrepreneurial expansion was the 90's tech bubble, where programmers, designers and software engineers could charge exorbitant amounts for just their knowledge, riding the wave of new technology and a change in the industrial paradigm.
Of course, the bubble burst, and we now live in a world where portable mp3 players and wireless internet is commonplace - but the future holds new technological advances and social trends. It would be exceptionally beneficial to people to educate themselves about these opportunities in order to capitalize on them ahead of time, to be ready to ride the wave of progress as it changes the world, rather than cling to the coat-tails of big business.
In future industries lies the seeds of a new American Dream; but we need to educate people to be able to help them reach out and grasp it. And that is not the work of a single person, and especially not that of a government - that is the work of an entire nation of individuals wanting something better for themselves.
Our society as a whole needs to be reminded that opportunity does not just fall into one's lap - it must be identified, nurtured, developed and fought for - in our continuing search for the American Dream we must open our minds to our history and our future, and then be prepared to work hard and forgo some instant gratification for the promise of a better life.
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