Oh, Kady. Oh, American Dream.

I sat down and talked with my roommate about her thoughts on the American Dream. Not just asked her to give me a topic, but really sat down and talked about what she perceives the American Dream to be.

What she said did not line up with what we talked about in class at all. Kady’s American Dream is completely different than the dream of Horatio Alger stories and the Great Gatsby.

She told me, essentially:

“Everyone wants to be remembered after they're gone for something that they did in their lifetime. Most kids dream of becoming something big, like President, or a movie star. People want their lives to mean something, so that they can feel as if they lived for a purpose. The American Dream is to become rich and famous, and to have everyone want to be you and know who you are.

“In middle school and high school, teenagers grow up hoping desperately to be popular. They want to be known throughout their school and be loved by everyone around them. In the real world this need to be known is transferred to your profession: to be the best lawyer in town, or the best doctor, or the best anything.”

That is so utterly wrong it’s unbelievable. Or is it wrong? As I have said in a few blogs, has the American Dream just changed that much?

This English class has really motivated me to look deeper into the American culture and question its principles. In addition the in-class discussions aided me in further solidifying my opinions of our country. I wish I hadn’t developed a fear of talking in class and actually participated more because I had things I wanted to contribute. But even just listening was great.

I actually find the American Dream somewhat discouraging because it requires so much effort and in-born talent. I don’t think I have to personality of Ragged Dick or the drive of Gatsby, so will I ever be able to succeed as they did?

But, then again, is the American Dream real? Or is it more common for people to just get lucky? I know I said my ideas were somewhat more solidified, but in typing this, I’m realizing how confused I still am. That’s why I enjoyed this class: for provoking reflection on the subjects. Not necessarily understanding, obviously, just good old reflection.

A little random, a little about a college education

Just a little note: I did a Google search for “American Dream,” and it turns out there is a band called, “Gatsby’s American Dream.” Prior to this class I didn’t even notice the significant reflections on the American Dream that The Great Gatsby contains. Weird.

In typing that last sentence, I wrote Google with a lowercase “g.” And the computer corrected me: “google” is spelled wrong. It’s Google. That is crazy if it’s referring to the website. Googled is apparently not spelled right though, so I don’t know.

Speaking of bands, I recently spoke with my friend John via Instant Messenger. He is moving back home from school next year and focusing on his band. If they make it big, they will be an embodiment of the American Dream. He and his band mates have worked so hard for the past few years, and they continue to put in the same amount of effort. They even have mentors in the guys from the band Houston Calls, who have been their friends for a while.

I don’t know if I support his decision to leave school, however. A college education is becoming increasingly more important and for the band to replace that education they would have to become seriously popular. If they were popular for a few years that wouldn’t cover the benefit a college education would give them.

It’s actually kind of sad how little you can do without some sort of degree. With tuitions becoming increasingly expensive, not everyone can afford to attend a university. I mean, you can go to a county college, but that isn’t even that useful. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bashing county schools, but there is high competition for entry level positions, and potential employers are going to choose the candidate from the better school. That’s just the way it is. An applicant from Harvard is probably going to get the job over me, which is just something I have to accept.

Why does everyone and their mother have a cell phone?

There are a few things that nearly everyone in America has. One of those things is a cell phone. It’s wild to think of life before cell phones. Especially when I didn’t have my driver’s license. How did I get anywhere? Today, if I forget to bring my phone with me to class I’m just a little bit upset about it. Don’t even talk to me if I’m going to be gone for more than an hour and don’t take it with me.

Just to give you an idea of the importance of cell phones in today’s American culture: two articles in the New York Times discussed some aspect of cell phones. I mean, I can understand one, but two? I feel like there may even be more that I missed.

The first article talks about a new device that allows consumers to connect their cell phone to a base unit and larger handset, turning your cell phone into a landline. I think this is actually a great idea. It’s not necessary to have two phone plans, often costing hundreds of dollars per family. If you eliminate a landline you eliminate that twenty-five to fifty dollars a month. Some keep their landline for better reception, but with this appliance you connect your cell phone to a base which you then keep in the area of the house with the best reception. You can walk around wherever with the cordless handset and still get the same quality of reception.

The second article informs us that the ban on cell phones in New York City schools is being more strictly enforced. I don’t know how I feel about this article, and am torn between siding with the parents and schools. Because most schools are without metal detectors there was no way of knowing if you had a cell phone. It was don’t ask don’t tell. Recently though, one school set up police searches upon entering the building and confiscated one hundred twenty nine cell phones. The interviewed parents say that giving their children a cell phone is necessary in an urban environment, and I agree. I couldn’t imagine not having that connection to a parent while in a large city. But, on the other hand, cell phones haven’t always been around. We somehow managed without them before. I think I agree more with the parents because anything that increases safety of a child and better communication is a good thing. If cell phones are around you should be allowed to use them.

Corporate American and the American Dream

With the wide variety of issues and problems facing the United States today, one that regularly overlooked is problems with Corporate America. Today, countless CEO’s and other top executive managers have lost sight of the basic rule of a corporation, which is to serve the shareholders in the best way that they see fit. Do not be fooled by that statement, shareholders does not only mean stockholder, it means anyone that holds a share in the company, including every employee.

These days, many CEOs are being offered absurdly large compensations compared to the low wages that many of their employees are making. For example, a small town in Wisconsin, about 35 miles west of Madison, was a sort of one factory town where a majority of the town’s population worked for the local food processing factory. In early 2002, Tyson Foods Co. bought the factory and decided that many of the employees were being paid too much. Their solution was to reduce the factory worker’s starting salary from $11 per hour to $9 dollars per hour. To some this reduction in pay may not seem like much, but when you are the primary wage earner for you family, whether it is a family of two or a family of eight, a cut in pay may mean that you can no longer provide for your family. Tyson reasoned for this reduction in wages by claiming that it was necessary to compete in today’s market where out-sourcing prevails. Many families now had to apply for Welfare, simply to pay for the heat or electricity, and others were picking up food stamps so they could eat dinner that night.

The workers decided to go on strike and try to fight back, but Tyson hired scabs and continued to run the factory. Tyson would not raise their starting salary of $9, so the strike lasted for more than 11 months when the workers eventually gave in and accepted the lower pay. The side of the story that many do not know though is that in 2002, the top three executives in the Tyson Foods Co. received over $100 million in wages bonuses and stock options. All this for just the top three executives and, in the meantime, they destroy an American town to stay competitive. To add insult to injury, that very factory was closed down in 2004 and the jobs were outsourced to Mexico.

Stories like these are plentiful in our country today; you just have to look for them. The United States was founded on the principle that every man and woman are entitled to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but if corporations are going to out-source jobs and cut wages so that citizens need Welfare and food stamps just to survive, then none of those basic freedoms are fulfilled. The American Dream is constantly being denied to citizens on a daily basis because of executives losing sight of the basic principle that corporations should be focused on.

Very Random

Once again, I looked to my roommate to help brainstorm a topic for a blog. I, once again, tell her it has to relate to the American Dream. Once again, she is completely wrong in suggesting a topic. “Uh, marrying a doctor,” she says. Marrying a doctor, winning the lottery, becoming a movie star are all not embodiments of the American Dream! Or at least not what the American Dream was initially supposed to be.

The way in which things evolve fascinates me. Could it be that the American Dream just no longer applies to the mainstream population? I mean, people can still work hard and advance their position. But that’s not a primarily American phenomenon anymore. People probably do that no more often in America than they do in other countries.

How long did the true, Horatio Alger American Dream apply? And was it even relevant to that time? The American Dream may never have existed in real life. It could have always solely been an idea, something that we wished was real, yet societal issues prevented. Of course a few people here and there lived the American Dream, but they could have simply been random cases on which it wouldn’t be fair to generalize.

Also, what is the American Dream today? It seems, from talking to friends, that the current American Dream is more of a “get lucky” and “get rich quick” dream. People don’t really want to work, they want to be discovered. They want to walk down the street, get spotted by an agent, and be the next Gisele. I mean, it could happen.

The chances are unbelievably slim, however, and perhaps the chances of the true American Dream being fulfilled are also very slim. Now that I think about it, this idea is explore in Assassins. We are told our whole lives we can be whatever we want to be, which is true to an extent. Not completely true. Why feed us a dream that cannot be realized?

Because I’m on the subject of Assassins, I actually really enjoyed that musical. I liked the music, the characters, and most importantly, the message. I don’t think it’s trying to persuade you to sympathize with the assassins as critics have said, but rather uses the assassins to personify an idea. A criticism of the American Dream. The dream that Assassins implies is not real, and I believe may have never existed.

That was a little scattered.

College Athletics and the American Dream

The “American Dream” of many people is to become a professional athlete. Work really hard, practice constantly, get a great coach (“mentor” in American Dream language), and you can get signed to a team and get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A stepping stone for many on the road to becoming a professional athlete is the world of college sports. Now don’t get me wrong. I believe that clubs and activities, which includes athletics, are an integral part of a great university. I don’t feel like sports are getting out of hand, but I have to wonder how being a member of a major team (i.e. football at Penn State, basketball at Villanova) affects you and changes your attitude.

Some college athletes have obtained star status. They still go to class and are technically “normal students” just like everyone else. But I’m pretty sure anytime anyone has a Paul Posluszny sighting the whole world has to know. And I’m sure Paul recognizes that. They’re not normal students. They’re celebrities. At the Blue/White football game there was a line of over a hundred people stretched across a muddy field in the pouring rain waiting for Michael Robinson’s autograph. No one’s ever waited for my autograph.

Being quickly catapulted to star status changes everyone at least a little bit. For four or five years a college athlete on a major has many things handed to him. I’m not talking about grades because I hope that doesn’t really happen. I’m talking about money (not a salary, just little gifts here and there) and free portable DVD players and Playstations and instant access to the front of the line and fans. And if you don’t go pro, you basically lose all that. Not the gifts, those are yours to keep, but that status. How does this alter people’s perception of others and beliefs on how they should be perceived?

College athletics will seem out of hand to me if athletes are ever paid, which may happen fairly soon. Scholarships are one thing, but an actual paycheck for participating in an activity? Then shouldn’t the club sports get paid? And then any club? Absolutely ridiculous.

American Dreamz

I really don’t go to the movies ever, but somehow I managed to see two last week. The second film I saw was American Dreamz. I actually thought it was hilarious.

Like Thank You For Smoking, American Dreamz is a satire. Not quite as intelligent of a satire, but a satire nonetheless. The film pokes fun of not only our country’s obsession with reality television and American Idol, but also playfully takes aim at the commander in chief, immigrants, the war on terror, gays, show tunes, the wealthy, the not-so wealthy, and the inner workings of Hollywood. At times you could say it’s trying a bit too hard, but it is still so funny.

Hugh Grant stars as the host of popular reality talent competition, American Dreamz. Ratings are higher than ever, and he, and his team of suck-ups, want to keep it that way. How do you keep people interested? Well, give them the typical wannabes and then throw some minorities into the mix, of course. What he needs is a Jew and an Arab!

After a slight mix-up, it turns out the Arab they choose formerly participated in a terrorist training camp. The final show will be guest-judged by the president, so when his buddies back at the camp hear that he will be a contestant, they insist he makes it to the final round, strap on a bomb, and martyr himself while simultaneously killing the president.

The president, by the way, played by Dennis Quaid is such a great character. He is a bumbling idiot and Texan, very obviously a caricature of our own president, but somehow you really sympathize with him. It’s not a malicious attack on President Bush, by any means, because you really like the movie’s president.

Humorously unrealistic, the movie is a mosh of seemingly unrelated ideas. One reviewer puts it best:

How do these plots merge? Implausibly. Ridiculously. Sublimely. The president will boost his ratings by becoming a guest judge on "Dreamz." Our sleeper-cell terrorist will make it to the finals and "kill the head of the great serpent" while singing "My Way." It's almost as crazy as Americans being more interested in a glorified-karaoke TV show than a presidential election.

Once again, this movie has minor relation to the American Dream, more so related to the whole of America, but it is titled American Dreamz. I think that validates it.

Thank You For Smoking

This past weekend, my parents made the three hour journey from our home in New Jersey to attend the Blue/White football game. It was their first Penn State football game, and, even though it was not the event that it usually is due to torrential rains, they were still highly impressed. I am going completely off topic though, as football and how it relates to the American Dream is not the subject of this post.

After the game, my parents and I had an early dinner and went to the movies. We saw Thank You For Smoking. It was excellent. And it actually relate to our English class. It speaks very loosely to the American Dream, but the power of rhetoric is an important aspect of the movie (and a portion of our class).

Thank You For Smoking is a simultaneously funny and intelligent satire of contemporary morality and personal freedom. Nick Naylor, the main character, is a top lobbyist for the Academy for Tobacco Studies, financed by big tobacco itself. With increasing attacks on the tobacco industry, Naylor’s job is to protect the companies from law-suits and keep people smoking. He is good-looking, smooth-talking, and unreservedly persuasive.

It’s a tough job, so he meets weekly with the M.O.D. (Merchants of Death) squad, consisting of Naylor, an alcohol lobbyist, and a gun rights lobbyist. Naylor, and the others, seem to sense that what they do isn’t exactly the right thing, but as he says, something has to pay the mortgage.

Throughout the movie, while brain-storming ways to get kids to smoke and improve the industry’s image, Naylor strives to be a role-model for his twelve year-old son Joey. When Joey asks his father how he can argue for the patently wrong side of an issue, he replies, “If you argue correctly, you're never wrong.” Joey even begins to utilize some of his father’s techniques to get his way by the end of the movie.

“If you argue correctly, you're never wrong.” I mean, isn’t that partially what we learned in class. Rhetoric is such a powerful tool when used correctly, and Naylor has definitely perfected his argumentative skills. Somehow he manages to make a spokesman for the senator speaking about the dangers of smoking look dim-witted.

I actually really liked this movie, and appreciate its dry humor and artistic filming.

Creativity and the American Dream

Jon wrote a blog, posted February 13^th, describing a store that sells your belongings on eBay. You and the creator, Art Fine, mutually profit with the sale of your stuff. Jon labels Fine’s creativity as the American Dream with a twist. He (Fine) is building up from modest beginnings, as a disciple of the American Dream should, but with the aid of a relatively new phenomenon: the internet.

To live the American Dream, you not only need to be hardworking and smart and personable, but also creative. Jon’s example reminded me of a few others who were similarly creative, and now have lots of money or, in one case, a house.

In Vanity Fair a few weeks ago, I read a short article on a twenty-one year-old in England named Alex Tew (I know he’s not from America, but whatever). He recently began attending a three year university in England and needed a way to finance his education. Alex bought a domain for a hundred dollars and created a web site with one million one hundred pixel squares. He sold off each square for a dollar each to advertisers. A million squares equal a million dollars. But he actually made over a million dollars by putting the last one thousand squares for sale on eBay. The final square of advertising space was sold to a winning bid of $38,000. Uhh? Are you serious?

Another person, Kyle MacDonald, began with a single red paperclip. He is, as he writes on his website, “making a series of trades for bigger and better things.” Ultimately he wants a house. So far he’s traded the paper clip for a fish pen, the fish pen for a doorknob, the doorknob for a Coleman stove, the Coleman stove for a generator, the generator for one beer keg, one neon Budweisier sign, and one I.O.U. for a keg’s worth of beer, the beer keg, neon Budweisier sign, and I.O.U. for a keg’s worth of beer for a snowmobile, the snowmobile for a trip to Yahk, the trip to yahk for a van, the van for a recording contract, the recording contract for one year free of rent in a house in Phoenix, and finally, the year free of rent in a house in Phoenix for an afternoon with Alice Cooper. Amazing.

Another person sent out one million e-mails asking people to send one dollar in exchange for the secret to making a million dollars. Now, just like the Million Dollar Homepage of Alex Tew, if a million people send you a dollar, you just made a million dollars.

Why can’t I be that creative?

The American Delusion

I was having trouble thinking of a subject for this blog. When I told my roommate the topic had to somewhat relate to the American Dream, she suggested I write about her. She aspires to be a rich, popular, and immensely successful talk show host along the lines of Oprah, and the American Dream is essentially that, right? According to Kady, and probably many Americans, the dream is fulfilled when you become super-rich. And that’s it. It’s not about rising above your initial position, putting yourself in a better situation than you once were as a result of hard work and discipline; it’s only about being rich. Prior to the thorough discussions held in our English class regarding Ragged Dick and Andrew Carnegie, I didn’t fully appreciate what the American Dream entailed, and talking to my roommate this afternoon helped me to realize that. Why and how did it change from an accomplishable, understandable dream to a most likely unattainable delusion?
A few of my other classmates have blogged about celebrities. Can we blame our countries newly revived obsession with celebrities and the lives of celebrities for the delusional idea that is now the American Dream, or has it simply evolved? I suspect that passing the concept through word of mouth has somewhat skewed its original intention. Someone relates the story of Carnegie to a friend, which they then tell another friend, and soon it has become: “The American Dream is to become unthinkably wealthy.” It is not fair to reprimand people for believing this, but isn’t it sad that this is what America has become?
America, as a country, is widely looked upon as a group of spoiled brats. We are hundreds of times (not a statistic; probably an exaggeration) more wealthy than most of the world, yet we strive, and expect, to become more. I believe the illusion of the America Dream is partially to blame for this. It is sad that we no longer are content with “upper middle class” but stive to earn and buy and own so much more.

THON :)

An important part of the American Dream is the ability to give back, and help those that are in a similar situation as you once were. Here at Penn State, students are provided with hundreds of opportunities to help those less fortunate, the largest of such opportunities being THON. Thousands of students are involved with the Penn State Dance Marathon, and this year alone it raised 4.2 million dollars to help children with cancer at the Hershey Medical Center.

It is hard for those not connected to understand how impressive THON actually is. Actually, it’s hard for anyone who does not or did not go to Penn State really understand what THON is. “What is it for?” “What are you going to do?” “What are you really spending that canning money on?” “‘THON?’ What does that even mean?”

Before last weekend, I was unclear as to what THON actually was. I knew that the “dancers” stand for a straight forty-eight hours, without sleeping or sitting, and I knew that the money is raised for the Hershey Medical Center. No one can fully understand the magnitude of the event though unless actually experienced. The atmosphere is amazing: hundreds of people (students, children from the medical center and their families, and many other people just coming to see what goes on) packed into Rec Hall dancing, singing, playing catch. Everyone working towards a common goal. It seems as though the entire Penn State campus changes just a little bit to accommodate THON. CATA busses run twenty-four hours to shuttle volunteers to and from their shifts at Rec Hall at any hour of the night and fraternity parties are non-existent. Who would go? Everyone is at THON.

While it is obviously amazing that the dancers are able to stand for forty-eight hours, I find the most incredible aspect of THON to be the fact that it is student run. Stereotypically lazy, selfish college kids are devoting hours and hours of their lives to put together a record-breaking fundraiser. Thousands of Penn State students make up hundreds of committees: morale boosters for the dancers, communications teams to spread the word, finance, special events, hospitality, and several more. Penn State students have found something to devote their time to while making a difference, and they do it in a BIG way. I have always loved this school, but I never loved it more than the moment this year’s total was announced. All our hard work had finally paid off. The electricity and elation at the Ohio State football game could not compare to the environment at the end of THON because the outcome is so much more important. One day a cure will be found. Together we’ll prevail.

don't steal

The tale of Ragged Dick really embodies the American Dream. He rises from nothing (but, of course, the clothes on his back and his shoe shining kit) to a, not wealthy, comfortable, lifestyle through hard work and perseverance. Hard work and perseverance the good old fashion way. Our hero doesn’t claw his way to the top, doing whatever it takes to be the best, but rather maintains a high standard of ethics throughout his ascent. He will not fight (unless provoked, but, even then, is clean about it), and will certainly not steal. Why not? Lots of bootblacks steal. Why does Ragged Dick take such a strong stand against stealing?

Recently my camera was stolen. I take full responsibility for being careless, yet, nonetheless, it was taken and not simply misplaced. I was not alone in getting robbed that night: several jackets and, I’m sure, other electronics were stolen. A person had looted the coatroom, essentially picking up anything that looked remotely interesting. At first I was angry at simply the lack of a camera, but I realized I would not be getting it back, and that was quickly accepted. What I do have trouble understanding is why someone would steal.

Reading Ragged Dick, I appreciated his morals and found it really admirable that he would not, under any circumstance, take something that did not belong to him, however, never having something stolen from me myself, made it impossible to fully understand. When something you work hard for (or, if a gift, someone you care about works hard for) is gone, initially you are left feeling like your hard work is gone too. Basically, “All that work for nothing.”

I know, I know. You still did the work; you still have whatever accomplishment it may have been. But human beings typically enjoy having a tangible, materialistic affirmation of their success. For example, the winner of any type of competition is usually presented with a trophy. Why? A trophy is a useless piece of molded metal, wood, marble, or really anything at all, of absolutely no value to anyone else. Yet I’m sure I couldn’t find one person who would receive a trophy unwelcomingly. It’s tangible, and, to satisfy pride, when people see it they see your hard work and ultimate success.

So, anything that we purchase with earned money serves as a sort of personal trophy, a reward to yourself for your accomplishment. I think it’s understandable to feel that, with the theft of that item, your hard work was taken too. Stealing is not only about the object that is stolen. It’s about all of what led to the possession of that object.

I find it interesting that our English class is centered around the American Dream, when just recently my mom told me a story about a black woman who is essentially living the American Dream. She was raised in foster care, but never stayed with one family for very long because she was considered a “trouble-maker”. In actuality, she was simply a lively child with a rambunctious personality, but no one ever took the time to nurture her good traits. Until, that is, she met a young white woman who was a social worker at one of the foster homes. This woman bonded with the little girl, and became a mother figure to her. She told the little girl how smart and beautiful she was, and encouraged her to make something of herself. She eventually decided she wanted to adopt her, but when she tried to do so, she was prevented due to the fact that she was white, and the potential adoptee black. In time, the little girl was moved to another foster home, but she never forgot the kindness shown to her by the social worker. Since someone had told her she was capable of success, she believed it herself. She worked hard through school, and through scholarships and part-time jobs put herself through Stanford. After college, she got married and finally had a family of her own, but still lacked a mother or father. She searched for the woman who she had bonded with as a child, but was never able to find her. Recently, she wrote an autobiography in which she talked in detail about her relationship with the social worker. The woman heard about the book, realized it must be the little girl she had known, and contacted her. They were reunited, and after redeveloping their mother-daughter relationship, the social worker finally adopted the orphan. She came from nothing, and because one person cared about her and encouraged her, she found success and happiness, and eventually a mother.

tessstttt