The American Dream

The American Dream, as I've always thought of it, is the idea that opportunity is there for the taking in America. That, regardless of individual circumstance, one can somehow turn their rags to riches, their shack to a mansion. But unfortunately, it seems that the American Dream is dead-- or at least very, very ill. Not only is it extremely difficult to be successful (depending, of course, on how you define success), but success is becoming less and less available to the common person. For example, in modern America, four years of college just isn't what it used to be. So now that more and more people have a college degree, fewer of these people stand out, and they are all essentially competing for the same resources with which to live their "American Dream." And here's something weird to think about...Maybe the new American Dream is to be famous. In the "old days," people wanted to get a good enough job to make enough money to support their family and live comfortably, preferably with a vacation home in Hawaii, or fancy cars, etc. Now that the good job/enough money/vacation home is no longer unique, people are striving to become something more...Just a thought.

My mom's parents and my dad's parents attempted to live the American Dream. My maternal grandparents, for example, came to New York from Lithuania to escape the Holocaust, and started a jewelry business. They had both been through so much that my grandfather ended up killing himself and my grandmother was kind of disturbed for the rest of her life--but they managed to make enough money to send my mom through school. My mom got a degree in counseling and my dad was a dentist. They were both successful, especially my dad, but I would never go as far to say that they lived the American Dream.

Conflicting with the Functionalists...

When faced with the decision to decide whether or not our country's power is concentrated within the hands of a few elite individuals, my first reaction was a very strong "yes, of course." But after thinking more about it, I've decided that the power is really spread-though not evenly-between the elites and the "unorganized masses." The reason I came to this conclusion is simple, yet significant. Basically, there are a select few individuals who hold a lot of our country's power, but these individuals are supported-directly or indirectly-by the masses. This idea is similar to the simple analogy of, let's say, a bridge held up by cables--the bridge itself is very strong, but would fall without the cables.

Having said that the "unorganized masses" do have a minor role to play in the scheme of things, it is the "power elites" who mostly run the show. In America, as in all countries, money IS power, and some of the elites in this country probably have more money than several small countries. I mean, just go downtown and the banks make up most of the huge buildings in Austin's skyline. This shows the significance that most people place in money, even though they might not have much of it. And that is exactly why most people don't have power. As in the bridge analogy, nobody really notices or cares about the cables (the masses), as long as the bridge (the "power elite") does it's job.

About me...

Well let's see...

I was born in Austin on March 18, 1988, and I love this city! I went to Casis Elementary, then O. Henry Middle School, and I graduated from Austin High. I have a little brother who is 16, and he's a junior this year. Oh--and I have four cats :)

I don't really know much about politics, but I'd like to know more (because I think it's important, not because I'm particularly fascinated with the subject). However, I am interested in other things, like art, Spanish, and traveling the world. I've always loved art, and my favorite artist is Frida Kahlo. I've been studying Spanish for six years now, and the only thing I know about my future is I want to become fluent as soon as possible. And as far as traveling goes, I've been to Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, Canada, England twice, and Mexico fourteen times. There's something about Mexico that I love above all the other places I've been...

And I'm the type of person who would much rather spend money on experiences, not things. I've never understood the people who would rather have a Versace bag than a trip to a different country...I just don't get it.

There are also certain things I can't stand, like racism and closed-mindedness. I think these things are a waste of energy and, as impossible as it would be to eliminate them, the world would be a much better place without them.

And my ultimate dream is to one day meet Outkast... :)

Test post

So I've never done this before...