20th century French writer and philosopher, Albert Camus once said, "Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better." That quote perfectly exemplifies what it means to be an American. It is commonly appreciated that Americans have the freedom to do what they want, say what they want, and ultimately be what they want. There is a difference that truly makes being an American great. Though there are many free nations in the world, and in those nations, you have the same kinds of freedoms, the beauty of being an American is that you have the ability to become more than what you are, and to transcend social and class barriers. The root of these barriers is an imposed subjugation that is willingly accepted for many different economic reasons.
These reasons cultivate groups of people that seek to decrease mobility and raise these barriers. Our ability to struggle against that is one of the many freedoms that we enjoy and in light of all this, people still come from all over the world to America knowing that being here makes it at least possible for them to be better than what they were.
The picture that we've painted is that America is the land of opportunity and when seen from the outside-looking-in, America looks like just that, especially compared with many other countries in the world. Although America has many economic woes, people are still very optimistic about the opportunities we have.
America has the best universities, one of the highest standards of living, a beautiful environment, and a set of rules and laws that generally promote an idea of justice and fairness. There is that feeling that people have in America which is that you can do whatever you would like as long as you work hard enough. When directly compared to the rest of the world; developing third-world countries or countries with repressive governments, America looks very bright. Another factor that people see is that America is the richest country in the world by far and in the age of trickle-down-economics, people would rather be in the richest place to hope that some of that wealth will trickle down to them. When the realities of the opportunities we have are looked at in great detail, especially in comparison to other developed countries, there is a bleaker picture to be painted.
When asked what it means to be an American, a group of ten year olds almost unanimously stated that what it means to be an American is our freedom. That freedom, compared with most other developed countries is not necessarily unique. A survey by Forbes Magazine did not even rank the United States in the top ten countries for happiness. America spends more than any other country on health care per person, yet it is far down the list regarding actual health service and coverage. Among developed countries, the unemployment rate in America is higher than most even with data obtained after the recession. Most disturbingly is our class system being ever more stiff and unyielding due to economic conditions that encourage submissiveness and menial servility. This fact is not at the forefront of peoples' minds though which can be a good thing regarding optimism. Michael Norton, a professor at Harvard Business School conducted a study which showed a graph of the income distribution of Switzerland and the United States. This graph was shown to a group of Americans and these people were asked which one they thought was the United States. Everyone in the study thought that the income distribution in Switzerland was in fact the United States. Income distribution in Switzerland is considerably less consolidated in the top 1% than the United States yet most people in this survey thought that that graph represented America. What is even more disturbing is the rise of a new global plutocracy, populated by the well-to-do's worldwide. In Paul Krugman's book, The Conscience of a Liberal, he speaks in great detail concerning the vast, and growing, divide between the haves and the have-nots.
Though the perception of America is that it is the land of opportunity; there are forces at work that are basically extracting wealth and enslaving people. Although politicians would never say so directly, their actions show that they're now fully bought and paid for by this new plutocratic global society. In Thomas Stanley's book, The Millionaire Next Door, there are surprising statistics that attempt to show people the scope of what is going on. It is very hard for people to imagine the forces at work or the extreme inequality that we face.
The richest 1% of America has more wealth than all the lower class, all the middle class, and half of all the upper class, combined. There are some who would call these statistics and others some sort of an attack on the rich, but as wealth concentrates into a select few individuals' hands, the dream of America and the fundamentals behind being an American are being oppressed. Woodrow Wilson once said "No country can afford to have its prosperity originated by a small controlling class." The enslavement of America and the oppression of the American dream is done, in part, by debt and interest. Integral players and leaders of this plutocracy are the banks. Thomas Jefferson once said:
All these doubts and fears prove only the extent of the dominion which the banking institutions have obtained over the minds of our citizens, and especially of those inhabiting cities or other banking places; and this dominion must be broken, or it will break us.
The fundamental value and what it means to be an American is this ability to become more than what you are and to have the freedom to fight and speak out against those who would hold us down.
For us to hold onto the meaning of being an American it starts with acknowledging the forces at work that seek to take that away from us. These forces are not ruthless cold-hearted individuals per se, but in peoples' endless yearning for wealth, there are actions taken specifically for the purpose of exploiting to satisfy ones greedy desires. When put into the right perspective, people will not stand for it. We do have the ability to become more than what we are and to rise up and surpass the class barriers we face. Americans have a way of turning these complicated issues into policies that promote justice and fairness and doing that, is what it means to be an American.
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