This is the kind of bull-pucky that our 'friends' in the media provide daily; a recent article about 'The American Dream', chock full of what they produce best - NOTHING!!!
This little gem begins by reminding us that we too can achieve success. Then they promptly tell us the definition of success, "The big home in the suburbs, the luxury cars in the garage, the kids off to a good college and the retirement in a sunny locale." Funny how Merriam-Webster views success in more spiritual, less-tawdry and materialistic terms as "favorable or desired outcome; also : the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence".
From the stock, bullshit 'American Dream' teaser and half-assed success definitions, this fine piece of writing moves on to another constantly and frequently misrepresented concept, the economy, and says that the weak job market is thwarting the best efforts of good honest folk (like you and me) to 'get ahead', by which I PRESUME they mean attain the aforementioned (theirs, not Merriam-Webster's) 'success'. Now I'm not unrealistic or particularly cold-hearted about the job situation and the difficulties some people are currently experiencing with employment and lack thereof. But somehow I think that our journalistic scribes are providing us with third-grade-level oversimplifications of the situation.
The particular tome that provoked my ire went on to, in short, states that although many present-day citizens truly believe that Americans all have an equal ability to achieve success if they merely (and that's a BIG merely) work hard. It does not venture (at least I did not detect it) into any possibility that there exist many additional factors in education, employment, the economy and geography that exert substantial influence in the seeking, achievement and maintenance of something called success.
The best, and most intellectually substantial, part of the article was a quote from the academic world that, in summary, stated possibly Americans need to rethink the definition of the American Dream, putting less focus on having a huge house and lots of cars and more focus on building successful communities. Whiles supporting our families is certainly important, “we need to scale back what the American Dream means to us.”
And may I add, we must be more critical of what we read in the news and not be so childishly willing to accept everything in print as true and factual.
What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html
My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)
Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com
Tweet
