American paradoxes. There are many… throughout our readings we discussed everything from the racial inequalities within our free nation, to the fascination with the upper echelon while simultaneously praising the democratic virtues of the people. We discussed the altruistic nature of Americans, having the country with the most volunteers per capita, but simultaneously our selfishness and our inclination to hord our money from the government. The consumerism that fuels Christmas, yet overshadows the spiritual significance and mocks the puritanical notions of abstinence. These notions coincide with the larger issue of American self indulgence, something very contrary to the puritanical, spiritual roots of the founding fathers we read about in history. In the very same note we talk about the rugged individuality and self reliance that paved the way for our constitution. This stands out as a contradiction. In all our fierce creative individual pursuits, what we seek most is a unity of the masses. These masses drown our voice. ”Society- where you go when you lose you voice.” This paradox of conformity and individualism is pervasive. In the current culture car companies, manufacturers, and software engineers are striving to meet the popular demands of the people. What do these people seek? They seek the opportunity to customize themselves. To stand out. How do they do this? The same way everyone else does it! They buy the Toyota Scion model that advertises the individual, and customize it to their liking. They buy the IPhone and add the application that reflect the tastes of their interest.
Racism… it was mentioned in our book although I feel it’s a little less prevalent. The idea of racism in the past had a strong reflection on the slavery of African Americans and the continued biased towards them long after their freedom. Today the issue of racism is more concerned with national security than of color and genetic potential. While I would be inclined to say that racism has all but disappeared with the advent of the mass media, internet, and other mediums of communication that break down one sided the walls of ignorance, I do notice trends that illustrate an intolerance that persist as a result of fear. These modern examples of racism and national security that make headlines and nurture a stigmatism are immigration issues and terrorism. Racism is now about those that threaten our democracy. Mexicans that cross the border illegally to take jobs from tax paying citizens, or that contribute to the overall Mexican border drug trade. Denouncing small specific groups of people as terrorists has always been a way to promote xenophobia towards a greater population. Clear examples of this can be clearly seen after 9/11 when we immediately identified fear mongering and terror with middle eastern peoples
Funny thing is that American, and all its democratic sentiments, advertises itself as the haven for the tired huddled masses, as in Emma Lazarus’s words on the statue of liberty:
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, the tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door (Emma Lazarus).
>The paradox that exists in America lies in that while we hold our relativistic and tolerant values supreme, we are terribly protective and afraid of anybody watering this down and wavering from these values. Freedom is not free for all, it is reserved for a select few… maybe just those who’ve earned it…even though earning it may just mean being born into it.
What I find humorous and saddening is the American paradox of affluence. We have the best: GDP, productivity, business startups, long term unemployment, expenditure on education, university graduates, R&D expenditure, high tech exports, movies exported, breadth of stock ownership, volunteerism, charitable giving. American, paradoxically, has the worst poverty, economic inequality, carbon dioxide emissions, life expectancy, infant mortality, homicide, health care coverage, HIV infection, teen pregnancy, personal savings, voter participation, and obesity. These two lists show a major incongruity with we’d expect from our modern democracy.
William Dare 