Lesson #15

    If you think about the concept of the American dream, it sounds extremely far-fetched. It is the idea that this country allows someone to have the freedoms it requires to flourish and create a life for themselves. Although this idealist mindset appears unblemished, the reality is that the United States withholds it’s freedoms in other ways. This nation may be physically free, yet we are also the 3rd most depressed country in the world, and have leading levels in alcohol and drug abuse. So I would like to pose this question; do we glorify the United States?   

    I tend to believe that we have so many mental health issues because people focus on their external appearance and economic status more than we focus on our personal connections, and overall well-being. The lack of time that we spend simply enjoying the beauty of life is something that is pitied by those who spend minimal time obsessing over external values. The United States has a foundation that is based on the idea that “the human body is ugly.” Naturally many people would not admit to this-- yet we spend much of our lives going to the gym so we look in shape, looking at ourselves in the mirror, comparing ourselves to others, judging those around us, judging ourselves, buying beauty products, researching the ways we can change our imperfections, aspiring to be others, and wishing that we could make ourselves perfect. This country may look wonderful on the exterior, but those inside know no such freedom. There is a reason that we look so alluring to outsiders; and that is because all the outsiders see are the billionaires, and the fancy award shows, and the supermodels, and the lavish lifestyle that we all crave. What they miss is all of the people who already live in the US, who are striving to be someone that we can be proud enough to show the rest of the world. In our nation fame and riches are the only way to be well-recognized.

    When I went to Germany this summer, I came back feeling like I had seen the world in a whole new perspective. I have never met people who were as kind or as patient as them. I did not stay in a tourist city, so I am well aware that they were not simply nice to my family because they had to be. I felt more at home there for two weeks, then I ever have here. The people there say hello to each other on the streets, and pay for the meals of those at the table next to them; they walk places rather than speeding in cars; they sit in the park and talk to their neighbors rather than rushing to their phones. They stress the importance of those around them, and their community had the familiar comfort of what a home should feel like. Here I don’t even know the names of my neighbors, and our community has a very “cold comfort.” I find it reassuring that there are others there, but very few of them are involved in my life. We treat our neighbors and our society as purely others who are also trying to survive, rather than being genuinely interested in knowing who they are.

    To outsiders this is what the American Dream is. They simply see economically stable people living in a free country, and they automatically assume that it is a well-rounded place. This is how america is glorified, or might I say simplified. Freedom and wealth do not make up a country-- it is core values that shape it. We may be economically thriving, but the people within are suffering from the mental confinement that has been placed in us. We are all striving for recognition from our society. The American Dream is a very isolating experience. We all hope that one day the people in our lives may “raise a monument” for us, but the only monument most of us receive is the one we are buried underneath.

Lesson #15: It takes a full perspective to fully understand.