subject: The Altered American Dream [print this page] It was the vision of de Tocqueville and Jefferson, expanded by Thoreau and Emerson. It was all about simple happiness enjoyed and shared by everyone. Getting a job, a wife, children, a car, of course a house to live in, all the necessities for humans to enjoy that was the American dream. Somehow it all got morphed into a pursuit of possessions - cars, houses, yachts. But now it has morphed - mutated - into something beyond the tragic. The American Dream is now about celebrity.For some reason, American culture has become one where celebrities set the tone. And how does one become a celebrity? By engaging in evermore outrageous behaviors like to kiss another girl. Drive drunk. Drive drunk with a baby on your lap, right at the wheel. Unfortunately for this new generation of success comes the ultimate factor: laziness. If we look back at the times our forefathers and ancestors lived, laziness was out of the question. But now laziness has become so popular it practically began controlling humans and is officially a force to destroy humans.The list goes on and on. The sex tape has become a veritable rite of passage, the demarcation line between true celebs and wannabe posers. And it's not all just harmless fun. For one thing, it has a morally corrupting effect on the character of both our young and our old alike. Moreover, the pursuit of celebrity gives every mentally unbalanced person (the seriously, clinically unbalanced, that is - it's arguable that caring about celebrity is a sign of mental unbalance to begin with) the drive and wherewithal to buy assault rifles and pistols and shoot up schools, churches, offices, malls, hospitals, and other public places.And it all has to do with celebrity, fame, the desire to "be somebody." If no one knows no one cares is the motive and for some reason everyone in the world must know what's going on to become famous. But what happens when there are more celebrities rather than the dying fans? As crazy as it may sound, many people really feel that the only way to be somebody is to be famous, to be known - after all, does a tree exist if it falls in the forest but no one is around to hear it fall?Issues of acceptance run throughout the countryside and it becomes lower and lower to those who are not able to make it. Some give up their own life thinking they will never succeed merely following those who just happen to know someone famous so whatever they say goes. This is one reason everyone is the same because ultimately they have the same goal, which is to become a celebrity. Nonetheless the balance has been destroyed a long time ago.To paraphrase that dandy Oscar Wilde - a celebrity and provocateur in his own time - the only thing worse than bad publicity is no publicity. Thus celebrity culture encourages the worst, because the best among us are discovering new things, building new things, and helping society. But the American Dream has become about being famous. It is no longer about being free.
The Altered American Dream
By: Paul Wise
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