American Dream (Pointless)

â€Å"As time goes on we get closer to that American Dream of there being a pie cut up and shared. Usually greed and selfishness prevent that and there is always one bad apple in every barrel. † While Rick Danko’s quote about the American Dream does not quite relate to the essay at hand, you can’t obviate how right that is. So, yes, the American Dream. It’s become a widely accepted sociocultural, aesthetic, and philosophical set of fake ideals that makes America the proud of country of what the world is.It is a fine antonomasia (officially used nickname) for the metaethics America follows, a world of legend and where everyone else that is not an America is subhuman. Apple pie, rolling hills of green and yellow, baseball, cloudless and sunny skies, lawyer haters, coffee inhalers, pharmacies, drive-through banks, Diet Coke, hypocrites, rich folk who are still lawyers, Green Berets, and the world’s second highest incarceration rate. Now that – t hat’s a damn fine country. Okay, all jokes aside, The United States of America really is one of the best countries in the world, if not the.The rumors are true and having always been true, ever since its inception in 1776, on that faithful day. I’m sure that every American and his or her dog have heard about the so-called American Dream, an accepted nickname for the ‘Dream’ that all Americans follow, what immigrants want and expect when they set sail into our country, where age is just a number. The set of ethics we follow to become true and proud members of America, bout doing what you want to be successful in. It is about going for your dream(s) no matter what anyone says. It focuses a great deal on individuality and power that one could hold.It is about freedom to think, say, and do what one wants to do. †¦So why again are there so many unemployed? Okay, no, that’s certainly not the point of this essay. It’s to actually delve into whe ther modern day society actually follows these ideals or not. Do they? Most of the time. But not all, and certainly not where it entirely matters. There’s not an exceptional amount of Americans who actually follow both the stereotypical and factual American Dream, but there’s certainly not a low amount. A hundred years ago, you would be caught dead before breaking the rules or going outside what the Dream expected you to†¦ well, dream.So what’s changed? Lack of Desire to Work Let’s get this straight – greed is a thing. People keep posting about greed and money as if it is the most evil thing in the world, but Greed is good as it is evolution in a nutshell. A good amount of the American Dream’s ethics is that it encourages all people to work in a middle-class Capitalist society: where it is the exploitation of man by man and communism is the reverse. We only called it the American Dream because we are Americans, but the truth is every hu man being has dreams and goals; the dream in itself is extensive and infinite, just like your ideas.But certainly one of the main things the Dream pushes people to do is just this: to work. The American dream is something each generation should work harder to attain. So why is it that our society is going downhill? The answer is simple: nobody is trying to work hard anymore. You see your friends not caring and so you stop caring for fear of persecution, but if you stopped caring and your friends followed, it would be a chain reaction, would it not? US Unemployment Rate is at 7. 90%, compared to 7. 80% last month and 8. 90% last year. This is higher than the long term average of 5. 80%.It’s a very common topic in politics, as evidenced by the exciting-as-watching-dirt-talk debates of recent times, that there should be more jobs because it’s an endless competition. (We can stop blaming the Recession eventually) From a critical perspective, that makes a certain amount of sense. And yet, it’s a pointless topic to talk about, because even with more jobs, there will still be enough people that do not get by. Half the time it’s because of not having the funds or resources to actually obtain a job, and the other half because of a lack of desire to actually work towards living an ndependent, self-made life. It would appear to some that now the â€Å"American Dream† has become a rather materialistic one in which individuals seek to barely work, but possess many things. It’s difficult to accurately blame it on consumerism, and impossible to blame it on capitalism, largely because if you don’t want to work, that’s your problem. America is a country where you can support your loved ones actively and also your family or culture, even; but for the most part, you’re on your own in such a competitive world where people fight to obtain an actual career.From a brutally pragmatic perspective, that’s not the Ame rican Dream, but only in the brutally pragmatic sense. It’s a long way of basically saying the process of actually becoming a true American is†¦ well, it’s difficult. The American Dream is the hope that every one of us has the chance to be all we can be, and the way we can do that is, amongst other things, by working and earning money. But money does not make the world go ’round, even though it certainly saves your pale white ass in many occasions. To have all the necessities of life, including opportunity to have the fruits of your labor.If people work and do not get ahead, do not better themselves, what is the point? Keep trying. Respect your Fellow Americans I rather resent the opinion of those that the American Dream can be achieved from working harder, but I sure as hell won’t say they’re wrong unless we do it purely for the sake of friendly debate (well in a way, they’re not wrong). Seriously, it means being kind, decent, and resp ectful of others no matter what the cost. I’m not talking about being a doormat either. Its about supporting your neighbors and helping someone in need if you can.Helping someone can be as simple as having a two-minute conversation with a complete stranger and just asking them how they are today. This is only one of many ways to show you care about others. (i. e. don’t say something like ‘just because I’m moody doesn’t mean you’re irritating) Well, it seems that with the rise of conservative and democratic tension, not to mention American youth and bullying, this feels just a bit invalidated. I’m not saying this in a cynical sense by any means, but it’s become a common fact that everyone is divided in the way we think, and that’s what makes us unique.It’s a common human emotion that they want people to think like them; okay, that’s fine. But with the rise of the election coming up, I might as well point this out: there are some fucking arrogant and mean people out there. I’d like to think that, in the street sense, if you don’t have haters you aren’t doing anything right, but a little hate goes a long way. Have you seen the presidential ads, for example: it’s almost emotional sadism the way that some people will dig so deep just to score a few votes.It’s completely okay to have a different opinion and have opponents, but there comes a point where you don’t have to be a semi-Nationalist about it, especially when you won’t make any difference to America. (Unless, of course, you’re the President or a candidate, but be realistic they’re a few in millions) But the bigger issue at hand is not political or even religious (I really don’t want to touch down on that one), but the status quo about how American youth treats one another. Cyberbullying, actual bullying, teen suicide, antisocial behaviors (that’s more of a p sychological issue), it’s all very prominent and very anti-American dream.I can understand that it’s hormones and blah blah blah, but if you don’t learn anything from that behavior, then where do you go in life, then? I’m not perfect, nobody is perfect (therefore, nobodies are perfect), but do try to be decent to your fellow American. Perfection is just not humanly possible. Since we all have failings, we will undoubtedly do imperfect things. Freedom Okay, last, everyone wants to be free. Now, I’m not talking anarchic, though if you do feel like that, it’s alright as long as you don’t actually do it.No society can have one hundred percent of liberty, equality, fairness, happiness etc available to all its citizens at all time. But United States, thanks to our wise founding fathers comes pretty close to it. Now see, here’s the thing: there are a lot of people who still feel imprisoned due to the fact that it’s just ‘ pretty close’. Just because the American Dream doesn’t happen for everybody — or doesn’t happen the way someone wants it — doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. America is the land of opportunity, and offers freedom and chances to those who aren’t able to acquire it elsewhere.That was what the American Dream originally was and, if you think about it, it’s still true today. Final, Personal Notes So there’s my own analysis of the American Dream. Jesus christ on a pogo stick, that took a bit of a while. America is still an incredible place, and it always will be; no amount of unemployment, Capitalism, or the idea that every morning is the dawn of a new error will change this. If it ain’t broke, don’t break it. Simple as that. I don’t want this to become longer than I originally intended, and I’m not going to obviate how intensely boring this probably is, so I’ll end here with a few no tes.I worry education has become too expensive. No education, no job opportunities other than self employment, which is risky and tough. K-12 costs $150,000 per student. A four year degree is $160,000 for private school and $80,000 for public with half subsidized by taxpayers. A $300,000 education is too expensive. I’m also slightly worried about racism and sexism maybe running through, but the American people have improved on that since the time we had to flex and improvise in the 1900? s and what not. God, I wanted this to be a bit funnier, I’m just not witty enough. Maybe that wasn’t the point of the essay, whatever. Goodbye and goodnight.