Truth be told, I didn’t know that this blog would be a weekly essay, but a grade’s a grade. On a related note, I hope I did this right.
I’ve started to notice a theme regarding the texts and media we’ve read into thus far, not including Churchwell’s “Behold, America” yet. It’s more of a conclusion I’ve drawn that loosely connects these things together in some way. That conclusion is that the American Dream is a facade, beliefs and ideals telling you what America should be, what it should stand for, hiding lies and deceit and spilled blood.
For example, the Constitution’s Preamble and the Declaration of Independence both outline and imply what America should be: A “more perfect union,” “Free and Independent States,” et cetera. Their goal was a message of freedom and justice, and especially in regards to the Constitution, the creation of a prosperous land only restrained by the individual’s capabilities.
Depending on your point of view, these words have either aged like fine wine or spoiled milk. We’ve looked at the former through Northwestern Mutual’s American Dream advertisement, and we’ve seen the latter thanks to Willie Jones’ and Peter Lupsha’s respective works.
On one hand, Northwestern Mutual depicts the continuation of independence within our nation, changing the idea of the American Dream to that of the individual’s wants and dreams, claiming that there are “330 million American dreams”.
On the other, Jones and Lupsha believe that America’s prosperity is more spoken word than righteous actions. Jones’ “American Dream” song displays a clear knowledge and understanding of America’s issues with racism – heavily focused on the mistreatment of Black lives, from enslavement to civil rights movements, even the ongoing struggles of modern America. One particular part of the song comes to mind – the bridge, where Jones unsubtly berates the American flag: “Die for the flag”, “lie for the flag”, “wrong for the flag”, and “keep an eye on the flag”. There are other hints throughout the song, “Your granddad done went through hell” is a big one, but the point is the same.
Lupsha’s “American Values and Organized Crime: Suckers and Wiseguys” offers a not-too-dissimilar perspective of America’s unclean history, describing the rise and reign of well-known criminals of the post-Prohibition era of America, such as Lucky Luciano and Al Capone. One of Lupsha’s points was the alternative world view, explained as criminals seeing businessmen and politicians as crooks and hypocrites, being excellent thieves by following a personal code and abandoning the morals of “suckers”.
Both see America as a corrupt power, but while one side fights to fix what is broken, the other exploits these broken parts to their advantage. (Activists and criminals, I mean.)
In summary, the works we’ve covered thus far in class have set up America to seem like a malicious and deceitful country hiding under the guise of “the land of the free”. The institutions of government and large corporations are willing to accept and commit to this American narrative, but individuals beneath those lofty heights can understand and identify the greed hiding within.
Sources: [Constitution Preamble] [Declaration of Independence] [Northwestern Mutual] [Willie Jones – “American Dream”] [Peter A. Lupsha – Suckers and Wiseguys]
Cover image by Tim Green from Bradford – Tragedy and Comedy, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51864375