Is American Dream tarnished?
What does the American Dream mean to you??I?ve asked that question often to my Motlow students.
Their answers follow the widespread belief that America is a land of opportunity, where individual initiative and hard work lead to economic success.
Our faith in the American Dream has persisted through the vagaries of war and peace, prosperity and depression throughout our nation?s history.?Whether realized or not, it speaks to our most deeply cherished hopes and goals.
Such a complex set of ideas has many antecedents, but surely one is ?that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.?
This was radical rhetoric, indeed, in the old world of 1776. It challenged the natural order of things ? where kings ruled by divine right, and the individual was just a cog in the system. It introduced bold new concepts of individual rights and the pursuit of happiness.
The Declaration of Independence was the promise of the American Dream.?Our Constitution, written in 1787, was the beginning of the fulfillment of that dream.
Since then, our nation has evolved into a large, populous, pluralistic country of nearly 300 million Americans. Yet, we have formally amended our Constitution only 27 times. It remains the oldest written constitution still in use today.
The pursuit of happiness, defined largely in economic terms, is alive and well in the USA today. For many Americans, though, ?bigger is better?? so is more.?We tend to Super-size everything ? from what we eat and drink, to what we drive, to where and how we live.?We are a nation of conspicuous consumers- extravagant spenders of money, often to impress others or to satiate ourselves.
The ultimate price we pay for our conspicuous consumption habits is yet to be measured. However, the warning signs are ominous and growing.?
For example, our gluttony has contributed to an epidemic of obesity in America.?Despite the obvious health problems attributed to obesity, nearly one-third of American adults are obese [have a body mass index of 30 or above], and that number is growing. Ironically, gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins in Christian tradition.?Yet, many so-called Christians continue to dig their own graves with their knives and forks.
Similarly, our addiction to our gas-guzzling vehicles is but another sign of our conspicuous consumption habits run amok.?We blame others for this predicament, but we are part of the problem, too.
As for conspicuous consumption in housing habits, just look around. The average so-called ?starter home? in 2006 is roughly three times the size of its 1950?s counterpart.
Do we really need all that space??I doubt it.?Still, many of us want it ? and we want it now!?The idea of delayed gratification is no longer fashionable in our popular culture.
In sum, it seems to me, we have taken such noble ideas as the American Dream and the pursuit of happiness to ridiculous extremes.?There is a fine line between living the ?good life? and living it to wretched excess.?Have we crossed that line?
Thomas B. Vaughn is a professor at Motlow College and co-host of the WCPI radio show ?Viewpoints,? which airs on 91.3 FM.