There have been enough works of literature, of theater, of cinematic explorations, and other examples of artistic endeavors that illustrate the plight of what is known as the “American Dream.” This should be no surprise, since it has always been that one of the roles of the artist is to express in words or through visual means the pain of what is experienced by the masses. The Deconstructionist movement, the Dada movement, and the Pop Art movement come to mind.
The masses, entailing that large chunk of the population who are not free to articulate what gnaws at their consciousness; it takes the artist to do so. What has been the focal point of the “New World’s” artists is the analysis and deconstruction of the American dream, what it is defined as, what it includes – and what it does not include.
Typically, this mulling over what the dream means to the citizens who pledge allegiance to this country has produced an increasing backlash against the dream. Thus far it has given rise to this apex, or teeter-tottering of the fence.
We have now come to either of two conclusions: Is the American dream worth pursuing, or has the dream ever existed in the first place?
Does pursuing the dream of acquiring money make one truly happy? There are no hard scientific facts about whether this is supported or not. Happiness is about as fickle as a cat. The masses have reached an unconscious agreement among themselves – they are unhappy as long as they still dream.
Dreaming in and of itself does no harm. Why, but by the sheer act of dreaming have the great things hailed throughout history been accomplished? It is therefore not the dreaming in itself which shackles the masses.
In the masses there are three groups which comprise the followers of the American dream.
There is the group who believe vehemently in it, struggling day to day to gain that inch to achieve the mile.
Likewise, there is also that group who believes in it, but does not take on that same struggle the first group does. They find that they are merely dreamers – eager to indulge in the fantasy, but not strong enough to pursue it.
Finally there is that group who, having not found the American dream, either give up or turn their back and spit on its name. They are the ones who have failed to reach their goal.
All three groups comprise the masses of the American public. All three groups are slaves to its false promise – that if you work hard enough, you will have a better life.
True, the great accomplishments of the Industrial Age were brought about by making it bigger, better, faster. But these successes are a small minority compared to what is promised. There is also the question of at what cost have these successes been met.
The American public is waking up; the dream is not what they envisioned or expected.
It was Thoreau who said many people lead “quiet lives of desperation.” Karl Marx identified the proletariats, the bourgeois and the petty bourgeois. Dostoyevsky, likewise, warned against the false hope in progress.
In a society constructed the way it is, there is no way everyone can meet their goal. If everyone can win, then no one will. The separation of social classes makes it as such. There must always be a lower class, a slave class in which the higher classes will profit from.
Nothing has caused so much suffering in our society than this dream, the American dream. It is seen in the desperate faces of the blue-collar workers, filled with hostility against their supervisors. It is seen in the white-collar worker, frustrated over competition for a promotion. They might call it the natural order of things.
The natural order of human affairs does not need to be so unjust. The desire that is present in the citizen, fueled by the dream, peddled by the higher class, only gives rise to more desire. Communism might have fallen, but it can be resurrected by the principles put down into another form.
How can this insight the masses have be resolved? What will stop the gnashing of their teeth and the rattling of their brains? We are given the promise of the pursuit of happiness…few attain it.
If the final success for the citizen is happiness, can it be found in material accumulation? Can it be found in the mile you have gained or in the social ladder you have climbed? It would seem this is not the case. The aristocracy who already have the wealth continue to accumulate more of it, though they really have no need for it. They are already at the top.
The resolution must start with one person. It must start with their conscious decision to recognize the illusion of the American Dream. The desire must be identified, then put to rest. Happiness cannot lie in a system that oppresses it.
Lyz Holder may be reached at webmaster@kdcouk.com.