“We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon.”(Roosevelt).
We always believe that future will be better than the past, yet, in the modern world, we are facing different circumstances which may change this point. But we still believe in our country no matter how it changes nowadays. Most of us are the skeptics because of current political and economic position in the USA and the world. Are the “good times” passed? When will they come back? What kind of America do we see now? And how can we change it to get a better future for everyone? What is the real American Dream our Founding Fathers chosen for us? Do we follow their will or just left it behind?
Someone thinks that American Dream is a house and family, others think that being rich and famous. There are numerous materialistic things we connect with American dream; however, it doesn’t lay in things. It is actually beyond things. The American dream is a set of notions and principles we follow as our Founding Fathers left us. It is our freedom principles which we usually forget about when we are thinking about America. In the Declaration of Independency our Founding Fathers clearly stated and defined the basics of American Dream, and it will never be connected with property, driving a luxurious car or something we can get through the financial independence. They stated:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Our Founding Fathers in 1776 founded the Constitutional Republic and called us a nation under God which is free to choose the path and follow the route we have chosen – the road of society which has liberty to choose the path of wellness and support it. The nation with the future! And it is not a financial future; it is the future of the country where each has his or her rights and freedoms. And these freedoms cannot be taken away by anyone because it is supported by the nation which trusts them. The country, which started its independent history with these freedoms and followed them for numerous years.
Why have we forgotten about the real American Dream? I think, the central issue of our society is that our children are not being taught what American Dream is. On the TV we are talking about things we are interested in issues of the society, financial independence, ecology, feminism, money and many other things which are not connected with real patriotism. Everything there is around things and current events, and there is no even a small word about real American Dream. At schools, colleges and other educational institutions we are talking about independence, about our rights and how to protect them, but we are not talking about American Dream of our Founding Fathers. And I think it is the main mistake of our education.
We don’t educate real patriots who do wholeheartedly believe in the America, society which was founded under the skies to share the same rights and freedoms. The society which should believe in aims our Declaration of Independency states about:
“…and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which the Independent States may of right do.”
Our American Dream is the support of our independence and rights our society has. And this freedom started from our separation from the British Crown and forming the free society where each voice has a value and this value each of us has. The American dream should be beyond material things; it should be a community which I believe in. And this society is my America.
We had a long history and connected so many cultures, religions, and races under one government. Each year there are more than a thousand of people expresses their will to become a part of our society. And our immigration authorities are not teaching them what is the actual American dream is. But these people, I think, do understand liberty of our society better than Native Americans, people, who for several generations lived here and founded this country, have forgotten about our Founding Fathers dreams. Of course, they are searching for better life in our borders, but this better life for them connected with the freedom each of us has. And they respect this freedom more than us. I want to be different from other natives; I want my children to respect basis of our society outlined by our Founding Fathers.
The America I believe in is the dream society, which is patriotic not only on the 4th of July. The society which strives for the freedom we have. And I hope that my children will also follow my thoughts and dreams and won’t be thinking of America in a materialistic way. I hope that my family will be able to share the patriotic spirit with people surrounding us and more and more people will understand the American Dream, as do I.
The sixth president of the United States John Quincy Adams once said:
“Posterity — you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.”
And I hope my generation will use the freedom our Founding Fathers gave us in the way they expected us doing so. We just need to do some changes in our way of living and, as a result, we will give a birth to new patriotic generation our country deserves to host.
References:
Dream, T. (2016). Founding Fathers and the true American Dream. [online] Todaysamericandream.com. Available at: http://www.todaysamericandream.com/ [Accessed 19 Dec. 2016].
Franklin D. Roosevelt: “Address on Hemisphere Defense, Dayton, Ohio.,” October 12, 1940. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project.
Presidency.ucsb.edu. (n.d.). Franklin D. Roosevelt: Address on Hemisphere Defense, Dayton, Ohio.. [online] Available at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=15870 [Accessed 19 Dec. 2016].
Ushistory.org. (n.d.). The Declaration of Independence: Full text. [online] Available at: http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/ [Accessed 19 Dec. 2016].