I Had a Dream

James Adams once said, "The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position."

What do you think of that?

Looking at this carefully today. You can't but see how far from the truth this really is. This Dream focuses on consumerism and economic materialism. Its emphasis on material possessions as a way of finding happiness is seen by critics as being somewhat superficial or meaningless. Many literary works level exactly that criticism at the American Dream, such as Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman. It lacks social justice. The American Dream has been criticized as promoting an ethic of selfishness and promoting social inequality. High paying jobs in the United States increasingly require some sort of college or university degree, but higher education can be very expensive, around $10,000 per year at public institutions on average, going up to as high as $40,000 per year at the most prestigious private colleges. Financial aid is widely available, whereby the poorest students are increasingly being given guarantees of a high proportion (up to 100%) of grants, removing the obligation to pay back their university. However, for those without scholarships, the costs of higher education can be prohibitively expensive, which can act as a bar on children from poorer families from entering professions that require a college degree.

The American Dream has become the pursuit of material prosperity - that people work more hours to get bigger cars, fancier homes, the fruits of prosperity for their families - but have less time to enjoy their prosperity. Others say that the American Dream is beyond the grasp of the working poor who must work two jobs to insure their family’s survival so they have a place to sleep and simply "dream".

How many of the 6 Billion or so on earth will Saint Nick visit tonight? Is it only those in pursuit of the "American" dream? Does Santa visit Africa, SouthEast Asia, those areas in big cities we always purposefully avoid? I really can't help but wonder...