Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A lot of people have expressed the same sentiments as the OP, and less can be more in the sense that materialism has reached impossible heights. But youth has always seen the futility in chasing most of that which their parents cherish as life goals. I'm seventy and no longer see society as a cohesive monolith, for all the lockstep appearances of those around us, and no matter the obviousness of it, most know the pain of individual paths taken.
Timothy Leary included his mantra of "tune in, turn on, and drop out" in his condemnation of a society left to rot in the morass of mindless consumerism. The Man In the Gray Flannel Suit, a novel by Sloan Wilson was also a rebuke of what our 1955 society had become for many us. Thinking that this system can be avoided is the normal response of those who see through the "dream" and recognize its allure as nothing more than a Madison avenue endeavor meant to entice the masses.
To the OP I'd say good luck finding any exit doors to this all pervasive emptiness, Walden pond has been declared state land and ol' Henry is long gone along with his lofty proclamations of natural beauty being a liberating thing. We're left to our own devices when we no longer want to adhere to the pretense laden life of the American dream, and the road less travelled can be fraught with the pitfalls of youthful hubris that often lead back to a university campus, or a job, and the realization that all of this chaotic, irrational, seemingly senseless life didn't come about by accident, you know...The best-laid plans of mice and men, and all of that....
Nobody is making Americans do anything they don't want to do.
Yes they are. It is a constant drumbeat through the public education system, and then the corporate media takes over. You are repeatedly told what your goals must be, and constantly drilled in the pageantry that leads to conformity.
A few Americans resist, but for most, they are just obeying.
Status:
"81 Years, NOT 91 Felonies"
(set 27 days ago)
Location: Dallas, TX
5,790 posts, read 3,598,050 times
Reputation: 5696
The American Dream is just a propaganda piece. To the extent that it ever did exist, it's just mere glory-chasing materialism, done to impress people we don't really like.
The aforementioned cycle provides individuals with a fairly high probability of survival, comfort, and reproduction.
And this is bad? Life in 40,000 B.C. was no doubt full of excitement and adventure, but I'm pretty sure most of us would opt for 2015. Within the context of the cycle you describe, I have managed to maintain a high level of fitness, enjoy two happy marriages (lost my first wife to breast cancer), labor at a career of my choice, pursue a wide variety of activities and interests, and generally live out a modest version of the American Dream. My life has been one of quiet contentment, not quiet desperation. Those who are living lives of quiet desperation would continue to do so in Utopia; it's just who they are. Although you say you are talking about society in general rather than yourself individually, I think you are really talking about yourself individually. There have always been and always will be those who say, "No! I want something DIFFERENT!" and actually pursue it. The vast majority have their pipe dreams of chucking it all and moving to some beach town in Mexico, but then they realize that their lives of quiet contentment (or perhaps even quiet desperation) are an overall better choice. My brother-in-law (age 67) has actually pursued the sort of path you are describing; I might envy him for 5 minutes now and then, but I wouldn't trade places with him if you held a gun to my head.
And this is bad? Life in 40,000 B.C. was no doubt full of excitement and adventure, but I'm pretty sure most of us would opt for 2015.
All of us are pretty much stuck in 2015, so a comparisons between what we have or dream in America/2015 and any alternatives pretty much rule out 40,000 BC as not relevant to the topic.
Quote:
and generally live out a modest version of the American Dream.
And therein lies the crux of the thing. In order to have a "modest version", you have to dedicate yourself to bucking the trend. If you can do it, good for you.
the American dream is steadily becoming the American nightmare...and will continue to do so as long as the working class continues to lose standard of living...
Let's have a look at the typical human life-cycle here in the developed world: Birth, school, work, marriage, rinse and repeat. Our society is a collection of institutions designed to keep people in this cycle, or as I like to call it: rut. But do you know why it is that way? I think I have the answer to that question and the answer is survival. The aforementioned cycle provides individuals with a fairly high probability of survival, comfort, and reproduction. Cultural Darwinism if you will. The brainwashings passed onto our children are those, not of the parents, but those of society. Children are raised by the institution known as school and most adults surrender to the institution known as work.
Many folks here in America might think I am crazy or I have issues or something. But look at the misery of modern man. Look at the prison he has built for himself, the bars that he has locked himself behind. For all you 20-somethings out there look at the beer-bellies of your coworkers and ask yourself: do I want end up like that? I look at these normal career/family-minded middle-aged people and all I see is miserable, pathetic, weak, and desperate individuals casketed by their own poorly taken care of bodies.
You might be thinking: "Wow Facebones, you certainly are a cynical bastard aren't you, why don't you stop complaining and go back to work like the rest of us." But does life have to be that way? Is The American Dream the ONLY utopia available to us to strive for? Is it possible to obtain the necessary resources for survival without having to rely on the institutions of society?
Imagine what life would be like without having to heavily rely on the systems of government and corporations. I for one believe that life will be more adventurous and enjoyable when I quit my job and move to a new place 2000 miles away. I am no longer afraid to challenge conformity, maybe I won't get married, maybe I won't have kids, maybe I am still a kid, maybe I'll spend the rest of my life doing whatever the hell I want. But I don't want to make this a discussion about me, it's a discussion about all us and I think it needs to be discussed. Money and careers have made too many people in my life totally neurotic and depressed. It needs to be discussed because things are changing fast in this world and staying the current course may or may not be the best thing for us.
Life is choices. Every choice is a compromise. There's no getting around it.
I'd encourage you to follow this line of thinking and see where it goes. No reason you need to follow the same path as everybody else. Just know what you're giving up- I can speak to much of this via experience:
They say that money doesn't buy happiness. Maybe that's true- I dunno... but a lack of money sure as hell can cause a lot of UNhappiness. Money has a direct effect on your life- and if you've never been poor then odds are you DON'T know what you're getting into.
Poor people are ignored, disdained, and even hated in the United States. Not saying it's right or wrong... just saying it's part of our culture. If you don't have money, you WILL have more trouble finding friends. You WILL have more trouble finding love. You WILL have more trouble with the police. You WILL have more conflicts with neighbors, co-workers, family... basically everybody you interact with. You WILL receive sub-standard healthcare, live in sub-standard housing, eat sub-standard food. And you'll be personally blamed for your conditions. This is just the world we live in.
I spent many years living that way, and I don't intend to ever do it again. I've worked my ass off to get where I am in life (which is nothing special, but a pretty big improvement over where I started)- a corporate job, a wife, and a nice house in the 'burbs. But this isn't about conformity... it's about the most efficient path to what I want. I want financial security, physical comfort/safety, decent/intelligent friends and family. I want the option to make changes to my career or to move elsewhere if I want. To be treated with at least a reasonable amount of respect on a daily basis. Lemme tell you... all of these 'wants' were very difficult to come by when I was poor and completely uneducated. With a college education and a corporate job, all of these 'wants' are FAR more attainable.
But hey, I was also young and idealistic at one time. Took until age 30 or so for life to beat that outta me. Good luck and gawdspeed.
Working hard to earn your keep long gone?
You have it backwards. One spouse working reasonably enough (hardly hard!) for a nice keep of an entire family is long gone. Now you have two spouses working like dogs ...not to earn their "keep"...but to barely "keep" heads above water.
The "Greatest Generation" and their spoilt baby-boomer progeny were not remotely confronted with the brutal education and career demands the younger generations face today.
But so the legend has it.
The good ol' days were indeed good. But "days" should not be confused with the "generations" of those days.
Totally agree. I especially hate when I hear old people say, "When I was your age, I worked and saved money to go to college..." I'm thinking, when you were our age you could work for a year or two and be able to afford college. We could work forever and still not be able to afford college. When they were our age, they could still get good paying jobs without a college degree. Are you kidding me?
The American Dream is what it is, a dream. It isn't real. It's far too materialistic. No matter what, you will never have enough.
I think of this as the American Dream:
"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" My personal definition of happiness includes some financial stability but not necessarily consumerism. I grew up pretty poor and know it's not fun. I have done far better than my parents and my daughter will have opportunities I did not have. That's the American Dream for many of us. The consumerism is starting to go out of vogue anyway. Have you seen the new thing in housing? Less than 500 square feet of living space and sustainable systems within the home.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
