Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami is becoming one of the best books that I will ever have read.
I would love to delve into some Russian literature after this.
I read a great article in Vanity Fair about the American Dream. It really made me see the mutations that the concept of "The American Dream" has gone through since the 50's. The notion was founded on the idea of "freedom from want", that somehow, the fledgling United States of America was going to be able to provide a lifestyle, more specifically the opportunity to attain whatever lifestyle a person wanted, that they may see their family's never go hungry and have all of the amenities that make life good and not really with the intent to focus on excess. That freedom from want principle is a beautiful thing.
But what has it become? Freedom to want everything. No longer is the American dream a comftorable livelihood that a family can exist by itself and how it pleases, but an excessive force that has become an unattainable thing for every American. 50 years ago, a man would walk through a parking lot and say, "I'd love to have a car like that someday." Now, a more common thing to hear would be "I want every man to want my car someday." Status has perverted that idea of American prosperity. And what of all of this? "Why is it so bad that people have more things now than they ever have?" After all, the average american makes 60% more per capita than we did in the 1950's (adjusted for inflation). Does it mean anything though if the rate of unhappiness is skyrocketing? Stress rated illnesses and diseases are at an all time high. Depression is at an all time high. Obesity is at all time highs. Something is wrong. I really feel that something is wrong, and it's not just with this country. But it's with this BS "dream" that the whole world has for itself. Granted not everyone wants to drive a porsche, or wants to be able to pick from 1 of 3 colors of rolls royce every morning, but almost everything we have is outrageously taken advantage of. Our life of material excesses is going to kill us all. If not physically, then mentally or spiritually.
End rant.
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4 comments:
Funny you should post about this today, Dr. Housing Bubble has a great piece today, Wave Goodbye to the Bankrupt Joneses: Deconstructing the American Dream. The Shifting Financial and Societal Goals of a Country Mired in Debt., that talks about the changes going on in America right now. Our materialism was fueled by debt and people are realizing that it simply isn't sustainable. Check out the table showing shifts in how people define "The American Dream" about half way down. And the "pressure to keep up with the Joneses" has dropped significantly since 2006, 20 percentage points across all generations.
So the material excesses of the past have burdened many with debt (except those of us who consciously avoided getting into that situation) and society as a whole is learning a lesson and moving in a new direction.
Great article Andrew. Just wonder what happens to all of us who are supposed to eventually bear the brunt of everything.
The more we increase the burden now, the bigger the impact on us later. Those in power (regardless of party) will continue to take our money and spend it without consideration of the true cost or the results. They don't care about the messes they create and the deficits they run up. Good intentions are all that seem to matter.
I think this helps describe my bias towards government:
As the burden from the government's yolk increases we transfer our economic and personal freedoms to those at the reins. Those at the reins increase the load on our backs hoping that it will lighten our burden. If the burden does not break us, then eventually it will become too large for ourselves and even our masters to remove.
This dream has definitely gone from use to status. It really is a dream now, rather than a hope.
What makes it better is that people can now buy what they don't need with money they don't have!
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