You see, a couple months ago as graduation approached I was anxiously considering the traditional post graduate options: job, graduate school, or some form of saving the world via service work (like saving starving children or something of that noble variety). As I was frantically trying to live up to what everyone expects a college graduate to do - get a job, make more money than they can spend, contribute to society, have kids and die...after much deliberation I decided this was a terribly depressing, and not so well thought out plan (for most of us anyway).
The more I considered it I wondered "why did people do this?" As far as I personally was concerned it seemed like a terrible idea.
While, I do acknowledge that there are a few "freaks" who have know since they were 8 years old exactly what they want to do "when they grow up," unfortunately this is not the norm. I mean think about it, most of us making these decisions have little travel experience, serious immaturity issues, and a good portion have a severe fear of commitment. Furthermore, it is this same unprepared group who are supposed to chose one place to live for a long time, plan ahead to make "responsible" decisions, and commit to one person (perhaps FOREVER)...I mean I really could not think of a worse path for most of us than the traditional one mentioned above.
Side Note: This is like taking a hippie yoga instructor who is incapable of sitting still for more that 5 minutes and thirty seconds, and asking her to sit in front of computer for 8 hours a day working for a major accounting firm on the east coast. Guess how that is going to work out...(anyone who knows Elyse should be more than aware of the answer to that question...sorry, I couldn't resist girl).
Anyway, the big question remains - So Why?
Why do so many of us follow this route?
Because that's what everyone says you're supposed to do?
Well that's a dumb reason...what are we doing as a society here?
Shortly following this realization was a statement by one of many well meaning, yet still annoyingly unconcerned, adults (asking only because that's what you are supposed to ask a kid about to graduate)
"So Talib, which path are you taking to the American dream?"Baffled, I paused and actually considered the question rather than give my typical automatic response of "I don't know" (by this point I had stopped trying to give real answers because 70% of the time the question was merely asked out of social obligation). However, with my recent epiphany at hand and not sure how to respond, it hit me - "How the hell am I supposed to live the American Dream, if I don't even know what it is?"
As a result, I decided that in order to correctly pursue the dream someone must investigate to clarify, sift through all the ambiguity and vague references, and actually find exactly what it is people are chasing. Someone needed to do some research, more exactly, a literature review needed to be done. Just in case you're wondering, a lit review is a preliminary phase that must be undertaken before a research question can be accurately addressed. The investigator first reads all the prior research done, and gains as much knowledge as possible on the subject area. Only in doing this can the researcher then identify gaps in the literature, or areas of specific interest. In essence, he must know the background in order to identify the actual issue.
Now fortunately there has been considerable investigation into the "American Dream" to build off of, some of the primary areas I have identified for investigation in a sort of "giant interactive lit review" follow:
- The investigation of past voices such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hunter S. Thompson, and other influential artists (writers, painters, movie producers - artist is to be taken in the loosest sense). Note: This list should not merely be limited to Americans; as there is the definite possibility that an outside view could shed light on the research question from a different perspective.
- The investigation of traditionally considered "ideals" some of which I have noted:
- Marriage
- Alteration of conscious (the experience and encounter with different states of consciousness or "reality")
- Spiritual exercises (meditation, prayer, sacred rights)
- Substance consumption
- Complete immersion in an art form (dance, running, painting, etc)
- Acquiring great sums of money
- Accumulating many material "things"
- The idea of a "family" (Having strong social bonds and support)
- Excessive indulgence in worldly pleasures (excessive commitment to a hobby or specific activity for reasons of pure enjoyment. For example: video games, sex, partying, fantasy games, etc.)
- The investigation of the traditional (and not so traditional) physical landscapes of America. This may include American: architecture, cities, natural wonders, different climates, etc.
- Interaction with as many different people as possible to get a feel for the dynamic personal makeup of American character including: people of different social classes, race, ethnicity, values, religious orientation, and people simply from different regions of the United States
- Investigation into the reality of the statement "this is a land of equal opportunity"
- do those on a tight budget still have the same opportunity to travel?
- Access to similar experiences.
- Access to the same quality of health.
- Equal opportunity to succeed. (perhaps better question is equal opportunity to find happiness.)
- The final piece that should be investigated, and really which I think is an underlying thread throughout most (if not all) of these areas, is education. I believe this lies at the heart of the matter because not only does it often dictate who will have the tools and means to live their dreams, but it actually has such a huge influence on our thoughts and ideals that it usually shapes what our dreams are in the first place. Note: The term "education" also should be taken in a more "loose" sense as well.
