Genius Research Essay

American Dream, or Capitalist Nightmare?

Many today, when asked, would say that the American Dream is a dream of riches, success and fame. Many more aside would say that that the American Dream is to simply be economically sound, owning just enough to survive the harshness of American capitalism. But a few, a precious few, have the blessing of seeing through the lies and propaganda, and recognize the American Dream for what it truly is: freedom and opportunity.
One might ask why so few Americans have sense enough to simply recognize the true American identity. The answer is simple enough, although many choose not to see it; the answer is that a certain group of people, a certain one percent, is made up almost exclusively of monetary gluttons. and these economic singularities are propagating a lie so big, the public just has to believe it. These men go by many names: robber-barons, millionaires, entrepreneurs, innovators, politicians; but they are all united under one banner, a standard that flies over all of America like a dark thunderhead waiting to tear itself asunder and vomit its burdens upon the less-fortunate; these men are agents of capitalism, and they will not stop until they have saturated their bank accounts to the brink of domination. These men are the embodiment of the exact opposite of what our founding fathers envisioned for the country to which they would soon give birth. In the Declaration of Independence, author Thomas Jefferson proclaims that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. Jefferson, speaking for all of the oppressed leaders of America, were simply content to have three basic rights. Not once did they mention the right to wealth, the right to fame, or the right to success. Some might argue that these are simply rights that Jefferson is talking about, not dreams. But under King George, Americans had no rights, and thus Jefferson’s, and by delineation America’s dream was to possess rights these rights. But somehow, this dream has devolved into that of gaining fame and wealth, and it has done so because of the corrosive qualities of money.
The founding fathers didn’t dream of wealth simply because there was no wealth to be had at the time. There was no opportunity to become rich in the way that we know it today, for at the time, America was an agrarian society, as opposed to an industrial one. One can trace the inexplicable shift in dream-thought to the late nineteenth century, when America fell under the influence of industry. At this time, certain men such as Carnegie, Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, and Morgan seized the opportunity to become powerful amid the confusion of the booming economy, and it is thence that the Dream became one of unimaginable riches. These men served as an example of the supposed endless possibili ties that were simply waiting for the next man who was willing to work hard enough to attain them, and thus the public became infatuated with hard work, and they became infatuated with themselves. This is the root of the selfishness that is evident amongst the one percent that holds almost all of America’s wealth today.
In order to understand the nature of the transformation that our beloved American Dream-to which many if not all Americans look for inspiration-underwent, one must also understand the driving force behind said transformation; money, and those who wield it ruthlessly. A recent study, undertaken by faculty at the University of Utah, found that when participants were asked to conduct simple tasks such as word-scrambles, which contained subtle allusions to money, they were more predisposed to performing unethical tasks in order to further their hypothetical economic progress. A similar study conducted by Harvard University yielded similar results. This serves as merely one example of the power to bring any human to the lowest form of animalistic nature: a raw thirst for power and wealth. This power of money is the reason for the morphing of our American dream into what it is today.
Even though the meaning of the American Dream has been knocked askew over the centuries, traces of its original intentions endure. According to Wikipedia.org, the American Dream is defined as “a national ethos of the United States, a set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers”. Present this to today’s generation, and they would certainly agree, especially upon reading the second half of the statement. Google has something similar to say regarding the Dream. According to them, the American Dream is “the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.“ Although the definitions vary somewhat, the general purpose remains consistent, and although they may seem to fall in line with the lies and propaganda discussed earlier, there is one redeeming quality contained within both said definitions: the word opportunity. This single word embodies the true nature of the American dream, and proves that not all is lost, and that there remains some hope of saving our society from the grasp of greediness and power-lust.
Upon the founding of our wonderful country, the founders themselves had one dream to which they returned ceaselessly: the dream of having rights, most notable of which is the right to the pursuit of happiness, as stated in the Declaration of Independence. However, due to the passage of time, and the subtle yet iron-like grip of money and the consequences which accompany it the American dream has changed, most likely for the worst. It has changed from an innocent, humble dream of rights to a pretentious, cocky, self-infatuated drive to become a powerful influence throughout America and the world, and to acquire as much bullion as possible over the course of that pursuit. In this manner, what was the American Dream has now become the Capitalist Nightmare.