The American Dream as we know it is the principle that if we work hard no matter what social class we are born into, we should succeed. We should find happiness in our lives because America has set up a system where hard work and determination will pay off. This is what I’ve been taught pretty much ever since I was old enough to understand. How do we know that this is still true? What if this is no longer the case. What if some of us can’t achieve the American Dream even if we do the things we were supposed to. This is what author Noam Chomsky outlines in his book, Requiem For The American Dream.
Chomsky outlines The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth and Power. This book is unusual as it’s very visual and the organisation is different than what we are used to. In my opinion it’s better as after each section he provides evidence for his arguments in the green pages.
Out of the three principles that I read, Redesign the Economy stood out to me the most, especially the subsection titled Offshoring. He starts the subsection by saying, “There's been a conscious decision to hollow out the productive capacity of the country, by shifting production to places where there's cheaper labor, no health and safety standards, no environmental conditions, etc - Northern Mexico, China, Vietnam, and so on.” While this may benefit the owners of large corporations a lot it really hurts the American working class. According to Chomsky the manufacturing sector in the United States has faced the same unemployment levels of the Great Depressions, and those jobs aren’t coming back. I mean why would they if people in Southeast Asia are getting exploited for intense and very very cheap labor. This hurts the American Dream. If many can’t get a jobs in the first place no matter how hard they work because the jobs are over seas then how are they supposed to achieve the dream? The one percent of wealthy and privileged are making bank and leaving everyone else behind, thus creating the huge wage gap we experience in our country. It’s literally impossible to compete with a sweatshop worker because who wants to make a dollar a day, it just doesn't make sense.
Chomsky completely contradicts what I learned about America and the American Dream. We have serious problems in our country today and he is bringing them to attention in his book. Controversial pieces like these are very important as they give us fresh perspectives. I’m happy that we’ve been assigned this reading as it will really make me think and challenge what I’ve learned, whether I agree with what Chomsky says or not.
I feel the same as you in that the chapter that stood the most out to me was Redesign the Economy. I think that it is extremely selfish and un-American for large companies to send their jobs overseas. That eliminates so many jobs that American citizens could have obtained and therefore stops them from achieving the American Dream. The ideas in the book also went against what I was taught in school but I too agree that it is important and necessary to hear these kind of viewpoints. We need people like Chomsky who aren't afraid to speak their mind and say what they believe is true.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you don't mind being introduced to these ideas, Pablo. They certainly make me feel uncomfortable, but I feel compelled to explore them.
ReplyDeleteI feel the exact same was as you do when it comes to the current state of our nation. I agree we do have to make some changes soon, or else it could become too late. I, too, am glad we have to read this book. This will show us a lot of information we have never been exposed to and, hopefully, will ignite some change in our own lives.
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