13.9.06

Tina's comment on my last post got me thinking again about this topic of media influence on American society. The American Dream is such a fallacy. Not everyone can "make it" because there is a finite amount of money. If somebody has a large portion of that money, it means that somebody else doesn't have it. That's where the credit card companies jump in, allowing even the plainest of Average Joes to buy the things necessary to project an image of a certain level of status. Want to show that you're moving up in the world? Go ahead, buy that new Lexus; just charge it to your card. So what if you have to spend the next 10 years of your life struggling your way up the corporate ladder to pay it off? Oops, did that major purchase cost you exactly the quality of life you were hoping to gain? Too late now. Visa's on your butt and the interest is adding up. Might as well buy something else that costs more than you have; it'll be your only reassurance in a life that is becoming increasingly dismal due to overblown ownership.

I miss Germany.

Gotta go; more on this topic later.

2 comments:

t.leaves said...

I'm so glad you mentioned this because I left it out of my comment. The American Dream, for the most part, is an illusion, and the media is serving to subdue the nation into accepting the status quo by distracting them with champagne dreams. Granted, my parents fled to this country with almost nothing and now have somehow managed to provide me with a lifestyle in which I'm never found wanting, and there are numerous examples of other "success" stories, the reality is there is a massive economic gap in this country. The middle class is slowly disappearing and the working poor are increasing. Minimum wage doesn't allow most people to meet a basic living standard. There's an increase in people needing food stamps and/or going to food banks. People can't afford heat or gas and food in any given month. A person can work three jobs in the service industry, for example, and not be able to feed their family. There's an inherent problem in the system if good, hardworking individuals can't provide for themselves in the most basic terms: food and shelter. We can't assume to know every low-income person's circumstances, and then generalize and point to the reason why they are to blame for their situation and leave it at that.

Obviously, it has everything to do with the people in office and what their interpretation of the nation's values are. Just because the U.S. is Capitalist doesn't mean it should be a completely free market where anything goes and it's the survival of the fittest. We should have evolved beyond that and recognized the importance of humanity. There has to be some degree of regulation so that we reduce the corruption and abuse. A major criticism that I have is that we seem to ignore the big picture in our policies, and we end up scrambling to figure out how to clean it up later. Taking care of and helping the people in this country is an investment in the country's future. We seem to forget that. And I'm not talking about free handouts. I'm talking about providing more opportunities in many ways. To start, let's adjust the national poverty rate to actually reflect poverty (which is different in every region, state, county, and city, so a "national" rate is ludicrous), and then set a living wage standard. The minimum wage as it currently stands doesn't even account for inflation. Ridiculous!

I have so much faith in all the ideals our country was built upon, but I get so discouraged when the power is in the wrong hands and poor decisions are made.

/rant...for now. Ha.

t.leaves said...

p.s. Kyla, I have a second blog of a more lighthearted nature, and its link ("Everyday San Francisco") is on my "2 Cents" blog now. I hope to post on both more regularly.

p.p.s. I miss you!