college in terms of the american dream
After WWII the country developed a sense of invincibility. Euphoria over defeating the 'evil' in the world led to strong nationalism and extreme confidence. Our ability to overproduce and overpower lesser nations quickly sparked an ambitious and enthusiastic population. Finally, we had definatively proven to the rest of the world, that America's self-elected role was not a farce. Our 'superiority' in the war had provided evidence of our superiority on other fronts. However, being the light to the world is not an easy task. Although it had become more managable via our success, our standards had been multiplied by ten times that. People had something to live up to. People had hope and ideals that they were responsible for achieving. Our very nationhood beckoned us.One way in which people set out to manifest their elitism was through a college degree. This is not to say that the common man was not first and foremost on a mission to provide for their family, as all 'great generations' do, but I do believe it was in the back of their mind. We are modern day Puritans, we are the light, we are the strength of democracy and capitalism (two words that I must point out are very far from synonyms). It is our duty to be all that we can be and ask what we can do for our country.
This trend lasted for years and insighted great achievments all across acadamia. The SAT was developed so that no longer was it the smartest kids from Phillips Andover going to Harvard and screw everyone else. Competition was encouraged and breeded an intellectual country (stop me fellas if you want because I'm definately talking out of my ass).
Fastfoward a few decades. It is 1999 and a movie from the mind of Mike Judge has just come out and already begun to symbolize the new and disillusioned American culture. We had set unrealistic expectations and a fall from grace, a surprise when technology led to apathy instead of the perfect society, was prompted. Peter Gibbons and millions like him sat on the couch, treasuring their leisure time more than the pursuit for knowledge. Watching TV while other countries like Japan and China gained the competitive edge in the fields of math and science.
You see, the question is not whether higher education is worth it or practical, but instead who cares? We are in the middle of an epidemic, an epidemic of laziness and discouragement. "Why bother," says the white suburban kid at public high school. "Why bother," says the black drug dealer in the Bronx with his 1500 SAT caliber intellect.
My answer to your question takes the form of another question: Why not?
posted by So it goes... @ 18:52
3 Comments:
I love this post, T-Dawg. While you always tend to glorify America's past, your writing style is one of the most active I've come across, especially for a peer.
I think a flaw in your argument lies within your belief that after WWII, America achieved this notion of the American Dream. You ignore the motives for entering the war. You ignore the fact that America and other countries watched on for years while mass genocide crawled across Europe, only entering the war upon attack ourself -- that doesn't beam "light of the world" to me in any sense. When the motive's for entering "The War to End All Wars" weren't as pure as they should have been, can we really look at the outcome (your perceived "American Dream achieved") as a success? I think that in order for America to have considered itself a "light of the world," we would have had to 1. establish a common ideology relating to this notion of a paternal figure in the international community and then 2. act upon this ideology. This relation between the "ends" and "means" is especially important in modern times (Iraq).
While I'm not a huge Emerson buff, the big guy once said, "Society never advances." I believe this, and by the same token, I feel societ never retreats. I think it's foolish to believe that humanity today possess a greater moral fabric than those of yester-year, and in conjunction, I would doubt the Greatest Generation of the 50's was any more idealistic than we are today. This matter is quite complicated, as it calls to question, how do we judge a society? By superficial levels of success, or by less evident ideological matters?
Good post, keep 'em coming.
You make some excellent points. I meant merely to state the fact that it is in our jeans to believe our superiority (consider 'city on a hill' and 'manifest destiny').
I think the difference between me and you, however, is that I do not think this is nessecarily a bad thing when the mentality is used efficiently. What I mean by this is that when a generation uses notions, however false they may be, to be more ambitious and make something of themselves, to consequently fulfill the notion they started with, than that is a great thing (however, being ambitious and being downright self-righteous is a fine line and if crossed can lead to war).
Contrast the use of the American Dream by the Greatest Generation, with the use of it by today's teens (our embarassing peers). Having notions of superiority has led to a belief that we don't have to work to sustain our gifts.
Society can't move because we take a step foward and then a step back. Although you are right about the motives for entering WWII politically and our apathy towards the suffering (something we try to combat today as long as there is money to gain at the same time), I do believe that that time period was the step foward. We are the step back.
PS - I think the war to end all wars was WWI but I'm not sure.
PSS - I'm too young to be so God-damn cynical.
Hey, I'm a friend of trevor's, he sent me this site. Great posting too.
One of the reasons that we delayed entering WWII was the fact that we were still recovering from the Great Depression. We had not fully recovered from the Depression until the Baby Boom in the late 40s and into the 50s. We had plenty of domestic issues to deal with, before attacking the Hitleresque vision of the world.
Also, the war to end all wars was WWI. That idea was abandoned after Wilson's 14 points were mainly thrown out by French and British Leaders at the Versailles Conference.
Great posts
-dan
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