Destruction of the American Dream
I’ve talked about it in the past, the destruction of the American Dream. Always,
there have been papers, writings, and thoughts that quantify a particular section of
its ultimate demise, be it due to money, education, or sexuality. Maybe the
destruction cannot be viewed as a singular event or cause. Perhaps instead it must
be examined as a whole process, the decay and ultimate elimination of a dream. Self
destruction, if you will…
Mr. Self Destruct
In all of us, there is a duality of existence which allows for the American
Dream to be within our minds. Part of the mind believes in the dream, is swallowed
up by its fantasy and perfection, while the other part is the screaming voice of
reality that tries to expose it for the lie that it is. Most of the time, such a
voice as the second is pushed away, hidden, and ignored, but it is always there,
sitting in the back of the mind, driving its owner mad. Our lies cover so many
spectrums and so many facets of life, focusing around the pleasures that keep the
dream real in our minds. The pleasure turns to control us, because without it we
would see the reality of our twisted world. It takes us where we want to go, and
gives us what we want to know. A machine that feeds on desire, sex, drugs, money,
and so many other things, and that produces a fake sort of happiness so efficiently
that it not only hides its own existence, but makes us want for it to be there and
fight to protect it. Ignorance is bliss, and knowledge is destruction.
Piggy
One of the primary fuels of the machine of illusions is materialism and
money. They are the most easily projected images of success and power and as such,
become th...
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...oms of two broken states of mind. One of
them would like to sit back and do nothing, while the other would like to end it
all. What we need, is to develop a way of thought that excludes the other two.
A way of honor that leads down a path less traveled, a path that leads to true
happiness and true success. The way is hard, the path is long, and nothing is
ever easy, but perseverance will bring about a life that is true. With hope, go
forward into the world and make the best of yourself. Don’t allow the world to
tell you how to do it. Find the way for yourself.
Works Cited
Anyon, Jean. “From Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” in Rereading
America, Gary Columbo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle, eds.
Gatto, John Taylor. “The Seven-Lesson Schoolteacher” in Rereading America, Gary
Columbo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle, eds.
come with a goal in life - to succeed on it. With that kind of mentality I
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true” (Kierkegaard)- Misleading oneself by accepting things as true or valid when they are not is a common phenomenon of nearly every human being, especially when faced with life changing of threatening situations. Self-deception can therefore be considered an option to escape reality in order to prevent oneself from dealing with the weight of a situation. Basically, those strong influencing psychological forces keep us from acknowledging a threatening situation or truth. However, oftentimes people do not realize that they are deceiving themselves, for it is mostly the action of the subconscious mind to protect especially the psychological well- being. This psychological state is depicted and in Ambrose Bierce’s short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”. He shows that people try to escape reality and seek refuge in self-deception when confronted with life-threatening situations, through characterization, alternate point of view, and the fluidity of time.
In my opinion, I have been through lots of obstacles. From one of my best friends dying to my grandmother passing, it’s hard. But I didn’t quit, I didn’t give up on life I moved on and lived for them. Purpose; be unique, not average. Growing up our biggest want is to fit in. The last thing we want to do is stand out. We should have a purpose in our life span. I want to make a difference wherever I can, and impact somebody in a massive way. Sacrifice; seek wealth not riches. A few things we sacrifice each day that go unnoticed are, Time, Money, Relationships, and health. All of those things we sacrifice leads up to us creating wealth. Not necessarily money, but having what we need to be successful. Use your wealth to change others. Even with money, don’t let it change you. I write all of this to say, I want to be the best me I can be. I constantly want to work on becoming a better version of myself. The goals I have set for myself aren’t what a normal person should believe. I am working on being unique and not average, but also keep a high quality of life and thought. If I practice these 7 keys throughout my journey, I will definitely see you all from the
A lot of attention has been drawn to the plight of women in Afghanistan. Many people understand what has been going on with the treatment of women in Afghanistan but very few understand. There should be more understanding of how women were treated before, during, and after the Taliban regime.
staff, Mayo. "Depression and anxiety: Exercise eases symptoms." Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 1 Oct. 2011. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. .
Humans often make goals to reach an exhilarated state. When a goal becomes too hard to obtain and when too many people fail to reach this goal, society digresses. The American Dream is the national ethos of the United States that was created in 1931. It is a set of principles in which prosperity and success can be achieved through hard work and the right ethics. However, over the years, the “car has stopped.” This so-called “dream” is running low and slowly turning into a fantasy. With the exploitation of an over-powering government and the reforms of education heading in the wrong direction, the American Dream is running low and is on its way to extinction.
Afghanistan has had a history, full of violence and wars since the last 176 years, from being invaded by the British in 1838 to the soviet Russians in 1979, but those long wars have left the once prosperous and wealthy country, into a country torn apart into shreds (BBC News). The future of Afghanistan will be highly unstable due to its high levels of poverty, which is a major factor on the outcome of the country’s future. Wars are great contributors to high poverty levels and it is reported that “20 million out of the 26 million people in the country, are living under the line of poverty” (Rural poverty Portal), that is about 75% of the country’s population. When 75% of the country population is living under the harsh living conditions and poverty, it leaves the country’s economy running on fumes. The high level of poverty also leaves most of the country in a survival mi...
From families looking to flee harsh living conditions in their native country to American citizens wishing to escape impoverished conditions through hard work and determination, the “American Dream” is a concept that people throughout the world have aspired to achieve for hundreds of years. Regardless of birthplace or socioeconomic status, the “American Dream” promises success, prosperity and upward mobility to any citizen with ambition and work ethic. Hundreds of millions of American citizens as well as immigrants have flourished in the United States throughout the course of history in a society with a thriving middle-class. However, in recent years, this dream has become increasingly difficult to achieve for those who are not already wealthy.
However, when our vision is stripped from our secluded selves, reality is all you can truly “see.”
The American Dream is referred to by many people as the reason to come to America. It is, or so they say, the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness. Unfortunately they are incorrect, there truly is no American Dream, it is all an illusion given to us by our founding fathers as a reason for the inequality in which people are treated. I have lived in this country for 16 years now and have all the patriotic bullshit about how we give everyone equal opportunity and how everyone is equal in the eyes of the law. I just laugh when I read this. Throughout our country’s 300-year history, it is all about raising one person over the other. It started with the movement of the Native Americans. They were here before anyone else, and they were moved because they did not live with all the violence our ancestors did. The founding fathers continued to push them further and further away because it was beneficial to them at the time. They said if you stay here we will not bother you anymore, then when they decided that area was nice and they needed it for the white man. Then we began to take the black man out of Africa and use them on our plantations so the white man could get more money. The President ended slavery, but there were ways around it and everyone knew it. No one ever said any persecution of the black man is wrong for years and why not, because it was more convenient for us to ignore it. Now the people from Latin American countries have come in homes of freedom, and better lives. We tell them they have to speak English, since they are in America, but I do not recall being taught the language of the Native Americans. Since they were here first should you not have to learn that language?
Some hypothesize that moderate levels of exercise will decrease the symptoms of mental health conditions (Blumenthal et al., 2007; Diaz & Motta, 2008; Motta, Kuligowski, & Marino, 2010; Rosenbaum, Nguyen, Lenehan, Tiedemann, van der Ploeg, & Sherrington, 2011) and therefore be used as an alternative or complimentary treatment option for mental health (Libby, Pilver, & Desai, 2012).
Afghanistan since its beginning has been a place of conflict, despair, and at times lost hope. It has been taken advantage of and lost its sense of identity, which has had a direct effect on its people, and there own sense of what justice truly is.
Sleeping and Dreaming Despite the large amount of time we spend asleep, surprisingly little is actually known about sleeping and dreaming. Much has been imagined, however. Over history, sleep has been conceived as the space of the soul, as a state of absence akin to death, as a virtual or alternate reality, and more recently, as a form of (sub)consciousness in which memories are built and erased. The significance attributed to dreams has varied widely as well.
Due to continuous changes in the concept of the American Dream throughout its prolonged existence, it is difficult to have one sole definition. The American Dream has always been a major concept that stems off of many ideas such as liberty, prosperity, equality, and opportunity, which still exists, to some degree, in our vision of the Dream today. America has always been known as the “land of opportunity” and has always emphasized the importance of future generations surpassing the success of their previous ones. But just because our present concept of the Dream may seem to overlap past concepts, it does not mean the Dream has remained what it was in the past. Actually, it is an entirely new image, morphed by social, political, and economic issues. What has it become? A society corrupted by materialism and deteriorated by the failing economy, leaving younger Americans hopeless and older Americans fearful of America’s future. It’s alarming that Americans are constantly taking their rights and freedom for granted, always wanting more than they can get– and quite honestly, what they can get is not even that much to begin with. As our economy collapses into chaotic hardships and our desires override our moral obligations, the American Dream has ultimately become the American Nightmare.
Each day, people wake up in their beds to find things exactly as they left it. The sky's still blue, the leaves are still green, and the pile of dirty laundry still sits at the bottom of their bed. This world of known qualities, filled with objects we consider to be real, is often referred to as reality. A simplistic definition of the word reality would be “the state or quality of having existence or substance” (Definition). But what exactly does this mean? For example, a world where everything that must be felt, seen, tasted, or heard in order to be considered “real”, does not account for the molecules that dance under our nose or the germs on our fingers. Therefore, when one takes a closer examination of the meanings of the words real, reality,