[Professor S]

Originally Posted by KillerGremlin

What is this American dream? Is it the broadening class gap between the rich and the poor? The rich keep getting richer, the poor keep getting poorer.

That is not correct, but I understand why you think that. Those that want to create more class warfare and contempt for wealth for poltical gain always quote the "disparity between the rich and the poor". Yes, there is a growing disparity, but all "classes" have grown in wealth in the recent past. Adjusted for inflation, I believe the rich have grown by around 70% while the poor have grown by aout 30% over the last 30 years. Again, I'm remembering this off the top of my head so please don't quote me on the numbers. Also, I'm not saying this is acceptable of unacceptable, I'm simply stating what it is.

Is the American dream living in country that lives beyond its means?

No, and I don't. That is a personal choice. People are responsible for their own actions. While I agree that credit card companies have been essentially abusing relaxation in usery law for years (I'm happy to see the new laws passed about credit abuse), at this point does anyone not know that they'll be paying exorbinate interest rates on credit cards, etc? No. The Anerican Dream doesn't excuse poor choices, but it will forgive them if you make better choices. The American Dream is about choice.

Our rampant consumerism, and we have been a consumerist nation for the past several decades, has resulted in us exploiting the labor of poor people (oh noes, slave labor in sweatshops, there's one example of privelage or lack thereof) as well as the environment.

"Poor" is a relative term. In many nations these "sweatshops" pay on average more than their average citizen makes. Is it "slave labor" in America? Yes. But these countries are not America and what they can get for a dollar is far different from what we can get for a dollar. Also, India and China's economies and educational levels have exploded because of an influx of work from overseas. In a few years both of those countries are going to have more college graduates than we have high school graduates. You cannot exclude this skyrocketing standard of living from the surge in the global economy, and in fact, I would say it's because of the so called "slave labor" that these countries are exploding in terms of wealth and standard of living.

If anything, I'd say India is better at pursuing the American Dream than we are right now and China's continued assimilation of free market philosophies are rapidly improving their civil rights status, but again, everything is relative.

Or how about the waste we have accumulated (garbage) and the damage we have done to the environment to have all our stuff. Is the American dream to own a bunch of objects: iPods, cars, houses, cellphones, etc. Is it to be a consumerist driven society that wants and wants and wants?

I think the American Dream is about chasing whatever it is that you can define as success. It's not about what the group says you should have or need, its about what YOU determine you want and need. Letting the group determine your life is not freedom or a dream, its oppression and a nightmare.

We are an A-D-D society that no longer values art or reading or philosophy or religion, and in my opinion education to an extent. How normal is it for youth to read books and bask in the wonders of education?

I would point back to my earlier statements about government interference, 30's and 40's in particular, for much of what we find lacking in poor family dynamics in America, especially among urban minorities. Contempt for wealth is also a reason hy I think people tend to disregard education. Why study if you can never improve your situation, or worse yet, if you bask in your own poverty and needful status? There is no point and therefore no progress is made.

Now it's a bunch of standardized testing to get your kid into college so he can get a job so he can make money so he can BUY SHIT HE DOES NOT NEED.

By whose standard do ou make such claims about want and need? Yours? I find it funny that you might expect people to take life advice from someone with such a negative view of the world.

Is that the American dream? Is the American dream really to become the CEO of a company and get paid a ridiculous salary that NO ONE is worth/deserves, or is it just to have basic things like security in your neighborhood, food on the table, a right to your own decision regarding your job, and a freedom to express yourself.

It depends on the person. My dream is to live and retire comfortably while raising a happy and healthy family. Bill gates dream was to build the largest and most successful software company in the world, and once he achieved it, his new dream is to be the world's greatest philathropist. He has achieved both and his American Dream has literally helped MILLIONS.

It's up to you. The American Dream is about allowing the individual to be FREE to pursue their HAPPINESS. Its not about dictating what someone should or should not have. That is at best unproductive for you, and at worst oppressive to others.

If there is an American dream, it is that most people want stuff. Consumerism.

Thats your opinion, and how you have defined success. And by the way, if that makes people TRULY happy and is not simply a bandage to cover the wounds of an unhappy life (Marx), I'm fine with that and would encourage them continue.

That's not a dream that's an [ism]. I confess I want stuff. Stuff I don't need, and stuff that is going to exploit others. And how will I get this stuff! By working a job and going to school. I, like many people, am driven by moola.

Thats you. I'm driven by more own sense of achievement and my puruit of happiness. I am perfectly happy and I live well below my means, 10% of my salary goes into my retirement account, I drive a 2000 Buick Century and live in an old house I'm fixing up. If I want something and can afford it with all things considered, I go get it. I like living in a country where I am free to do so and industry is free to offer me things I might like to purchase (and by the way, so enables their families to succeed and prosper as well) Currently, my biggest money worry is making enough money to allow my wife to quit her job and work from home while raising our children. THAT is what would make me happy. Money is just the means for attaining it.

"If money is the root of all evil, what is the root of all money?" ~Ayn Rand

I don't want to accuse you of anything, but it sounds like you are making this story an individualist one.

There is no accusation in pointing out the obvious. The American Dream is an individualist one. It always has been and always will be. Look at the Constitution and Bill of Rights. It is the standard by which the idea of the American Dream was originated and it is literally a "thou shall not" list for the government when it comes to it screwing with the individual.

By the way, I am an open and unabashed individualist. Ayn Rand is my homeboy.

We live in a world that operates based on certain social norms, and within those norms are a lot of social codes. TheSlyMoogle's situation is not particularly unique as many Queer people (anyone in the LGBTQ community) tell narratives of family members reacting quite negatively to their coming out process. Also narrated are stories of friends, teachers and communities lashing out against these people. It is no coincidence that the LGBTQ community has the highest rate of suicide amongst youth. There is deep rooted discrimination in our society towards the LGBTQ community. We obviously are not a post-Gender society. So, being LGBTQ puts you at a social disadvantage in many ways according to our normal social codes. I am privileged to be a normal straight guy. I never had to deal with coming out, never had to deal with issues within social network, etc. It is advantageous to not be gay (although less so now) and it has been for quite some time. To simply reduce TheSlyMoogle's situation to a simple family problem is to negate broader social issues. TheSlyMoogle's parents are not unique in their hatred towards gays: they were conditioned by external forces in the world we live in. Similar broad social norms and codes apply to all sorts of communities...which is why privilege is such a big issue. How do you reconcile this? I don't know that you can in a GT forum thread.

And yet through all of this SlyMoogle has not given up on the American Dream, regardless of what he claims. The fact is, as he stated, he is still working towards it.

The American Dream isn't about entitlement and its not a tangible or defineable end point. It is about being free to pursue what you want from your life, and not having a culture or government tell you you can't do it and thats that. Nothing about it says your journey will be easy, and there are NO GUARANTEES. Some stories and situations are harder than others, but that is life, not fate. You own your future. Dictating what someone should want, need and get would not make this better, it would make it FAR worse and HAS made it far worse when attempted.

By the way, I'm not saying there is a solution to this, as I noted before I feel like we will always live in a dog-eat-dog world. People are selfish by nature, and that's not a cynical comment it's an honest observation. The two major motivations that drive people are money and power over others.

By your standard I suppose thats true. I apply my own standard to my motivations.

Growing up in certain situations makes it hard for people to do even the simplest things...like getting an education. As for the American dream...I really need an ipod.

And does telling people how hard their lives are, or convincing them that "the man" will always keep them down help things? This is exactly what I don't understand: How does all of this overwrought and hyperbolic negativity help anyone? Has any of it ever benefitted your life? IMO, it just creates and continues a culture of lowered expectations.

My opinions on this are not cynical, they are realistic: No matter the social, cultural or governmental standard or assistance, one's success (however they define it) will ALWAYS be up to the individual. And the first step towards the American Dream is not to criticize or bemoan universal inequity, but to take action on your own life, concentrating on your sphere of influence.

Pissing into the wind only gets you wet.