Dreaming

There are, I suspect, any number of definitions of The American Dream. Many of them seem to boil down to living a life of relative ease; having enough wealth to not need to worry about day-to-day expenses and providing a respectable standard of living for one's family, but not necessarily so much wealth that working becomes entirely optional. A job leaves time - time during the day to relax, regular time where one doesn't have to work that day, time to enjoy the fruits of years of working, and time to get away from it all, at least for a while.

But as time has worn on, it's becoming clear that many understandings of The American Dream are, put simply, unsustainable. From before the United States was a nation until perhaps sixty or seventy years ago, The American Dream was built on the ability to exploit places, and people, without anyone really having to be concerned with taking long-term care of them. There was always more land to push into, or more people whose wealth could be taken in order to provide the mainstream with a standard of living that was noticeably, if not spectacularly, better than the generation prior.

And now that engine is exhausted. There are no more virgin lands to claim, and no more large populations to be left in poverty. At least not domestically.

One of the problems the United States faces is the idea that it is grasping and rapacious isn't really in dispute. While critics may see the nation as constantly looking for wealth to steal from others, people who understand themselves as the country's defenders often argue that other people around the world don't deserve the wealth they have. Neither, when viewed neutrally, is particularly flattering.

As an American, I've found it interesting to watch the nation turn on itself. At least, more openly than had been the norm. Although the nation's past has certainly had its moments, and that fact leads me to believe that the warnings that this time may be the last are somewhat overblown.

Nothing, however, lasts forever. Especially not things that are built on a foundation of their always being more just within reach. It's a pattern that, although I have only a limited grasp of world history, appears to be repeated over and over again. One part of American Exceptionalism may be the belief that the factors that have played out throughout recorded history don't apply. The calamities that have befallen other nations in the world were the result of their own lack of foresight and wisdom. And therefore, It Could Never Happen Here.

If humanity does not scale well, perhaps the reason is that a group of people may only grow so large before people lose the ability to see one another as just as intelligent, hardworking and thoughtful as themselves. But it's remarkable the degree to which a species, or a nation, can succeed, even without that trait.