American Dream 2.0

Is the American Dream Obsolete?

Technology is a driving force in an Insta-age where the traditional American Dream simply does not fit.

Source: Cartoonstock.com

Either we are:

1.    Losing sight of the values this country was built on

2.    Evolving

The Original American Dream

 The American dream is the idea that through hard work and dedication everyone has the same opportunity to achieve whatever it is they desire from life. The founding fathers were not completely specific as to what vision was truly American. I believe this was purposely to be left open to interpretation. The dream is based on the individual’s goal.

Meaning: whether your dream is to be the next Hugh Hefner (Rest in Peace) surrounded by gorgeous women and live in a luxurious mansion with obscene amounts of money OR to travel the world and teach English to children in third-world countries - nothing is off the table. That is the beauty of the freedom in this view.

However, the American dream is not as vague in its description of execution: HARD WORK. These two goals might not have the same outcome but they still have the same means of transportation: neither vision can be achieved without time and dedication.

The Dilemma: Battle between the American Dream and Popular Culture

The American Dream	Popular Culture
Hard work and dedication	Instant Gratification
Trials and tribulations	Unrealistic Expectations
The gritty truth	Virtual Reality

Just because the American dream preaches equal opportunity doesn't mean that every individual is going to be just when given the freedom. The problem is this liberty allows not just wholesome humanitarians to build something from the ground up but also those with ill intentions, that will step over others, to rise to the top. With freewill there will always be people that take advantage of the system.

Source: Google Images

Popular culture has learned how to profit off the everyday American’s dreams. They have learned to market towards the public and make it seem like these dreams can be attained with little to no effort. This culture shift plays on our wildest fantasies and proceeds to spoon-feed it as if it was logical. 

           

The Insta-Age

Social media is an excellent way to stock your favorite celebrities and dream about how they are living, but when you go on that site and stare at that lifestyle that you desire so strongly, how is that contributing to your end goal? These shiny things that are set out to attract our attention just pull us away from our own personal journeys. The American dream is about building something from the bottom up, putting your name on it and making it so uniquely and individualistically yours. But instead of putting the work in ourselves we put more work in wishing we were somebody else.

When I speak of popular culture I am referring to every magazine article, reality show, internet advertisement, Music trend, and fashion statement that gains popularity.

In magazines, you’ll see advertisements plastered all over the pages for:

·         a magic diet pill that'll make you lose all the weight you've gained in a lifetime in a matter of weeks

·         an advertisement for the nicest fastest Mercedes money can buy for a very small down payment

·         a beautiful successful couple laying on a mattress as if that mattress was going to give you the perfect life.

The reality TV shows always ironically have the word "real" in them such as “The real housewives of so-and-so” and most of these TV shows have absolutely nothing realistic about them. We watch people that are famous not for talent, skill, or humanity. We watch them because they're rich and their lives seem perfect. We idolize things that are the exact opposite of what it means to have a fulfilling life according to principals this country values.

American Idol is a perfect example of this one in regards to music. All of the so-and-so's got talent shows that popped up were a result of people wanting to be famous for having talent (Kornhaber). But not wanting to put in the extra work to make a name for themselves. My junior year of high school I went and tried out for American Idol just to gain experience (and no I didn't make it). During the first round of auditions I was to fill out a paper that stated my life story and how it could contribute to TV ratings, as well as a waiver that stated they had the right to change my name, hair color, life story or anything else they didn't like about who I was as an individual. These are the kind of things that have millions of ratings- something completely fabricated.

Another impasse we face is that popular culture just like the media isn't one specific entity it's not a person that we can point the finger at and say you're the one to blame. It's what becomes trendy in society and what shapes civilization over time. This gets to the point where everyone points the finger and then says oh well then, the government just needs to regulate these kinds of things. This regulation doesn’t just limit the freedom of troublemakers but the innocent workers as well.

Source: Pinterest

Is it possible it’s just outdated?

Before I start sounding like my grandma, who blames everything on big business while avidly investing her money in Microsoft and Walmart, I understand it is hypocritical to complain about technology while using it to convey a message. There is a possibility that the American dream this country was built on in 1776 is just not applicable to the modern age (Shiller). Technology is sheer proof that humans adapt overtime. Maybe we are progressing to become better multitaskers and apply less effort to one precise field. Research found that the most recent generation is more likely to have five to six careers in their life time, while their parents where more inclined to have only one (“How the American Dream…”).

Individualism: know yourself to avoid the trap

At the risk of being incredibly cliché, it is true the grass is always greener on the other side. As a matter of fact, most of our life is filled with these banal platitudes that seem stupid and redundant in their advice. Yet, according to David Foster Wallace, this advice relates to so many situations that it's been around for such a long period of time and we find ourselves relearning the same lessons.

Before you throw out your iPhone and shut off your cable, just know that these things are not the true death of the American Dream. We have the power to choose what is viewed as important and what is not in our society. We give attention and make these marketing campaigns successful which continues the cycle. The main driving factor in the success of these twisted viewpoints is a miseducated population. The easiest way to preserve the ability this vision provides to arm oneself with knowledge and refuse to be ignorant. Maybe it is time for the American Dream 2.0, but the beauty is it's up to us to decide what that will be. 

Sources:

"How the American Dream Has Changed Over Time." Gale Student Resources in Context, Gale, 2016. Student Resources in Context,  Accessed 18 Sept. 2017.

Kornhaber, Spencer. “The American Idol Dream Came True.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 12 May 2015, www.theatlantic.com.

Shiller, Robert, J. “The Transformation of the ‘American Dream.’” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 Aug. 2017

Wallace, David Foster. This Is Water. Little, Brown, 2009.