THE American DREAM




In the beginning there was a want. Freedom. A release from the grasp her majesty the queen. There was a hope for a better world. Where people were free to believe in what they wanted. People didn't have a name for the great and wonderful new world, just a vision. They had a vision so clear that they could see it plain as day, just over the vast ocean. It was a vision so great that the queen herself couldn't stop her people from dreaming about it. A land built by the people, for the people.
The forefathers took that dream to the next level. While on the ship they formed the dream on paper. They plotted the new world. They tasted freedom. They wanted nothing more to do with the Queens laws. They didn't want her religion, but want yet to be friends with the Catholics just the same. They wanted a world where the beggars could be choosers and a place where he who worked also earned. They dreamed of a world where what was theirs stayed theirs. When they set foot on Plymouth rock they put the dream to work for them. It was the first American dream. The one true American dream everyone fights for today freedom.
While out picking cotton in the field, the American dream was revamped for a second time. A new group of people saw the dream form before there eyes: freedom for the African Americans. They wanted out of the fields and in to the houses of their masters. The African Americans took the American dream one step further. One of the great African Americans by the name of Martin Luther King jr. had a dream. He pronounced it with the greatest of certainty, "I have a DREAM!" His dream built on freedom, but not from the queen. He had a dream that all Americans, whether its whites blacks or Hispanics, could live together, that they could stand by each other in line for the restroom, or even sit by a member of the opposite race on the bus. His dream was built out of freedom and equality.
Out of adversity, the American dream was sought out in another way. They had their freedom. In some places African Americans and whites were standing shoulder to shoulder, but something stood in their way for true freedom. In the country they lived in they had no say so in what they could or couldn't do. They couldn't say who would be their next great leader, or even go out and get a job. They wanted to be heard, but men in a sense turned a blind ear to them. Women fought back though. They had the American dream before their eyes and they wanted it bad. They could taste it. The taste made them want it more. They fought until man broke down. Wyoming was the first state to let them vote. To let them be heard. They were the first but not the last.
You can see the American dream in a child’s eye. More, it's on their mind 24/7. If they had the cake they would want to eat it too. Something is never enough. They dream of being ten foot tall and bullet proof. it's not all that different from the forefathers dream, of freedom. A child wants the freedom to do what he or she pleases.
A dad has an American dream. Safety for his family might be in it. He wants to be able to provide for them. He envisions of wealth and happiness. He wants a carefree land were his kids won't have to live scared, and his wife won't have to carry a gun in her purse. He envisions a dream of being able to sleep with out worrying about everything. The dad dreamt of a longer life in which he can enjoy the serenity of being human.
The American dream, though simple in nature, has many different aspects to it. Someone wanted freedom. Some one else wasn't satisfied so he added equality. Others wanted a longer life in which to enjoy what their forefathers fought whole heartedly for. The kids envisioned being ten foot tall and bullet proof. All these different angles from which the American dream is looked at it is all boiled down to one simple aspect. The American dream is the pursuit of life liberty and justice for all.


- posted by Jason @ 9:57 AM