The American Fantasy: Our Great Faux Pas

Hello everyone,

Here is my final presentation. I look forward to discussing it in the comments. 

-Patricia Hummel. 

 This presentation analyzes that of the stereotypical American, if such a thing exists, and discusses the issues of embracing such a mindset. I hope you will see this presentation as a critique and that it will lead to future discussion. Enjoy! 

Venture beyond the promise of a new day, that eternal hope that we can all achieve the American dream of obtaining a never-ending stream of happiness, mentality be damned, all through the foreseen path of hard work, matrimony, religiosity, and the spawns. Ignorance is bliss, so says Thomas Gray,  and that is at the very core of American ideology, except we must add to it to say “Purposeful ignorance is bliss” for it to apply fully. 

The American mindset progresses beyond that of one thought process. We believe in science until it conflicts with religion(or vice versa). We believe our history until it reflects badly on our ancestors (or vice versa). We cannot decide on one avenue to follow, else we be labeled as “extreme” or “radical”. Fantasyland discussed oddity well, just with a whole lot more banter and small jabs at religion. We, as Americans, declare that it is our right to think and act and feel however we want, and if we get called out for contradicting ourselves, we start citing the bill of rights, though incorrectly and out of context from its original intent. Stick to your guns, ironically an American-made expression, until you have an arsenal then pick the gun that matches your unique argument and fire. 

As we pick and choose our guns and build our arsenal, we create our own personal fantasy. We don’t focus on what society and life is, we focus on the perception of what it should be based solely on our own Arsenal. All else is refuted, debated, and “cancelled”.  For a more philosophical example, the American mindset is to exist in one’s own cave and when someone else tries to steer you out of the cave unwillingly, the American will instinctively bare their teeth and fight against that change unless it already exists in fragments in their own cave. 

Understandably this argument could be made for different countries too, but here’s the kicker: The American ideology is infamously referred to as a near “golden standard”, despite statistically being a Global cultural minority.  This concept is explained in a few different Freakonomics podcasts. One of which discussed in depth just how different the U.S. is in terms of culture. 

Gert Jan Hofstede, a professor of artificial sociality at Wageningen University, in the Netherlands, described an individual’s place in culture and society as “drop in the Mississippi River. You may decide to go another way, but that doesn’t make the river change.” 

But is this the case for America? Signs say no. 

This definition of culture is relative to countries with strict or even relatively regulated cultures. Our culture is that of an anti-culture. We do not embrace one way of doing, one way of thinking, or even one way of living. It is our culture to invent new culture or to even revolt against it. 

To continue Hofstede’s metaphor; if the world embraces the droplet, we embrace the boulders that interrupt the currents and change tides or we are the tide pools from Greek Mythology. To summarize, the American waters are not easily trodden by those who embrace a single path and thought to living. 

This makes our ability to measure our happiness much more complicated. We will also discover that we are our own hypocrites as we do have traditions and customs we follow, though it is just as much a tradition and custom to deny them. 

So what’s this big faux pas?  Cue the “American Dream”.

 The almighty belief that if we continue to grind, we will reach a bountiful harvest of god knows what, and somehow that level of attainment will be enough. 

Except that never happens, it’s never enough, and the pursuit of happiness continues on in a neverending racetrack.  Is such a thought cynical in nature? Perhaps, but such a statement is not without merit. If taking this class has shown me anything, it is that happiness is not meant to be the product of life, it is in fact a byproduct, a complement of good choices, and most importantly, it arrives when we stop looking for it. This is why the American Dream doesn’t work. It doesn’t work because it links the grind to the pursuit of happiness, rather than allowing them to remain separate. 

If we expect happiness to come from working, then we will naturally assume more work equals more happiness, but this isn’t always the case. Often enough, people will try to obtain happiness thinking “I just need one more raise, I just need to work harder, I just need that promotion.” And when they get that promotion, those thoughts will come back because we will still want more. It’s human nature to want, to adapt to your living situation, and to look towards greener pastures. The pursuit of the American dream validates and increases this nature, and happiness cannot be obtained if the seeker is constantly looking at greener meadows. 

We, as Americans, seem to know this for a fact(or at least Hollywood does because they have a million movies on this subject), yet we have a culture of individualism that encourages us to think that we will be that one who is different, the one who will find happiness at the top, but ponder this: if we all make it to the top, then the top doesn’t exist.

Extra Content:

For some interesting statistics, look no future than the first chapter of Fantasyland, of which Anderson discusses these strange percentages that define Americans whether that be those hopelessly pious or insane conspiracists! If my critique be "biting", then let Fantasyland be the Jaws theme as he grounds himself in spicy lines such as "In other words, America was founded by a nutty religious cult" on page 27 or when asking why we are so sporadic in our beliefs, "The short answer is that we are Americans, because being American means we can believe any damn thing we want, that our beliefs are equal or superior to anyone else's, experts be damned. " on Page 7.

Thomas Gray is the man who coined the phrase "Ignorance is Bliss". Here is his poem!

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44301/ode-on-a-distant-prospect-of-eton-college

Gert Jan Hofstede was a guest speaker on an intriguing episode of Freakonomics. If you would like to listen, here is the link and transcript!

https://freakonomics.com/podcast/american-culture-2/

For more on how the different the U.S. is on a global standpoint, this episode of Freakonomics is sure to shed some light!

https://freakonomics.com/podcast/american-culture-1/

Lastly, some Hollywood Movies!

A recent one is Falling INN Love, a story about a successful business woman who wins an inn and decides that her happiness will be found living at the inn as opposed to continuing her big dreams in the city.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9860728/

An older one would be The Family Man, staring Nicolas Cage. Living a luxurious lifestyle in the Big Apple, Jack finds himself all alone on Christmas. After accidentally making a wish to a magical being, he is transported to an alternate universe where he married his lost love and had a kid. He is stuck in this alternative universe for just a few short days. Is it enough time to make him cherish the family lifestyle? Watch and find out!

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0218967/