21st Century American Dream

The twenty first is a very exciting yet scary time to be a part of. Thanks to the birth of the internet information is exploding and growing exponentially in every direction. Thanks to this people that once did not have the resources to achieve their dream now have a mobil library in their home. Someone who lives in a remote region of Alaska that is 100 miles away from any university can attend college online. I believe it is now easier for people to achieve their American Dream more than ever before, however I do not believe that everyone has equal access to the American Dream. If someone works really hard someone could get into an Ivy league school and get their dream job, or someone who's family is wealthy and has parents that attended can get in purely on their families status and depending on his grades maybe a little extra greese in the form of a donation. I do not believe that this is right however this is how the world works. The people who right the checks are the ones who run the world. They have money and everybody needs it to live unfortunitely. It has been this way thousands of years, whoever has what others want whether it be power, money, land runs the show. Although we like to this over the years that we have become more sophisticated and less barbaric we have only gotten better at hiding corruption. Sadly no one wants to adress these issues because they would essentially be shooting themselves in the foot by trying to knock down our captains of industry a peg or two. No one wants to hurt their own careers to make their point. No one can blame someone for wanting to protect themselves, however when do we say that we have had enough?

Woman Warrior

Maxine Hong Kingston gives a series of educational stories meant to inspire in several different ways. For instance the stories told in the chapter "White Tigers" is meant to make you think that as a woman it is possible to achieve wondrous things. In the case of girl in "White Tigers" she became a great warrior and conjured armies to overthrow the emperor and feared nothing. These are fantastic feats for any one person to achieve, man or woman. However I must say it is a larger triumph for a woman than a man to have achieved these things in the settings given. I knew that in a lot of Asian countries (China in particular) woman were/are belittled and not that to be as great as a man. However I did not know the extent of abuse and neglect that they undertook compared to boys. The fact that villages would celebrate for a week if someone had a boy and if they had a girl people are sad and tell the parents it is more profitable to raise sheep than a girl seems to me extremely disheartening and backwards compared to the culture that we have been raised in. After hearing about all of the verbal and physical abuse that girls went through I am not surprised that some of them took their own lives rather than go through with their arranged marriages their abusers had set up. The reasons for her success to me seem to be because of spite towards her parents and fear that they would control her life until she is married to a man who would control her life. She rose above the abuse and went to school got an education and has become a successful woman. The path to her self righteousness may have started with ill intent but has blossomed to help fight for women's rights everywhere.

Dearly Beloved

Toni Morrison's "Beloved" was an insightful look through the eyes of someone undergoing extreme amounts of stress and desperation. More particularly it shows us the lengths that slaves were willing to go to to protect their children after being exposed to the extreme amounts of abuse they undertook. I find it interesting what desperate people will do in extenuating circumstances. In Sethe's case it was murdering her child to keep it from enduring the hardships that accompanied slavery. Psychologically what must have been going through her head to murder her child especially in such a gruesome way is mind boggling. I find it unimaginable in any state to cause physical harm to a loved one. However I have not been abused all my life and then chased like an animal through the Kentucky and Ohio countryside so it is truly impossible to say what I would do in those circumstances. Morrison's own hardships that she went through dealing with discrimination undoubtedly added a lot to her characters emotions when being treated like a lesser animal compared to white America. Although some people have not cared for the book because of its raw and disturbing depictions of the human psyche I appreciate it for not being sugarcoated. Real life is not rainbows and gumdrops and in order to understand our fellowman we need to be hit with how they really act and think no matter how gruesome. Morrison's "Beloved" is nothing short of gruesome in parts and not so hard hitting in others much like real life.

Discrimination in the Heartland

I personally have not witnessed an overabundance of discrimination towards minorities. In the small town that I grew up in there was very few people who were not white. Finally once I was in High school we had three people that were not white if you did not include the foreign exchange students and these kids were not treated any differently as far as I could tell. However in my work place I have witness reverse discrimination on a daily basis. The company I work for has taken so much flack over the years because of their employees being white and the image that they portray in their marketing as being white based. Because of law suits and the company wanting to conform with the politically correct image of the twenty first century they force us to hire a certain percentage of minorities qualified or not. When the executives analyze our hiring information and we haven't hired 20% (as an example) of the minorities that we've interviewed then we get into trouble. I have heard my managers say that we are overstaffed and can not hire any more white people but if someone of a different ethnicity were to apply they would be hired. Yes, I believe that prejudice does still occur in this country but being unfair in the work place isn't the way to fix it. People should be receiving employment because of their credentials and not because of their heritage. Discrimination is occurring but so is reverse discrimination which is an issue that I believe needs to be made aware to the general public and law makers to ensure that we are all treated as equals in the future no matter what our skin color may be.

Reading Response: Indian Killer

Sherman Alexie delivered a top notch piece of literature when he wrote Indian Killer. It was a fast read that gives you a look into the culture of urban Native Americans. I did enjoy the homeless aspect that was emphasized, it makes them human. A lot of people assume that all homeless people are alcoholics and drug addicts however this is completely untrue. Some at one point in time were respected parts of their community however were caught in a cycle of bad luck that they were unable to recover from. It touches on the social etiquette of native Americans and also an insight into the inner workings of a serial killer. I think it was smartly written however I was not sure what to make of the ending. Did I miss something? .. or did the author simply want to leave the end open to interpretation. If so I am not sure what to think. Either John did it the entire time and scars Wilson because of his harmful writings towards Native Americans, or Wilson was the murderer and John scars him and kills himself because of his own inner turmoil. I enjoy this version the most however I find it unlikely because of the strength that the killer would have needed to carry his first victim on the trail. I do not believe that Wilson is capable of such feats being an overweight cripple. Although as much as he wanted to be an Indian it would make sense that he want to do something over the top to win over the favor of Native Americans.

Reading Response: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was a particularly enthralling view into the drug culture of the 1960's and 70's. He shows what its like to be just another victim of the drug wave and how it runs your life. The occasional street user becomes the avid junkie losing their grip on reality. Thompson floats throughout the story at times losing control of the situation and his Samoan attorney while attempting to find their American dream. After abusing the locals and running up every last bit of credit they had, Thompson and his attorney begin to realize that this dream is unattainable. They were sitting in the bar at the Circus Circus riding the vortex along the main nerve and were unable to attain their feeling of nirvana. This is a cruel and realistic look at how everyday people have dreams crushed whether its from something as extreme as a death or not getting into that dream school that you wanted to go to and realizing that what you wanted for your life is not possible. I am extremely fond of the book, however I had already seen the movie numerous times and watched interviews of Thompson so I was far from surprised after reading about his dastardly deeds. I love the relaxed morals that Thompson exhibits throughout the book towards drugs and breaking the law. Although I find such behavior entertaining after witnessing acts like Thompson shows throughout the book it makes me not want to act in this way. I personally do not partake in this lifestyle partially because I have studied the consequences of living in this manner and do not wish to waste away what few working brain cells I have left.

The American Dream

A dream can be several different things, one of which is a fading in and out of consciousness while attempting to sleep and believing a used car salesman is charging at you with a murderous look in his eye wielding an ice pick that he undoubtedly just used to pressure a customer into some dodgey sale, “yeeessir this 1980 pinto is exactly what you need 15 mpg and 200,000 miles on’er.... sign here.” However the usage intended is meant to imply aspirations of an everyday American citizen. In the words of the late great Ian Robins Dury the ideal lifestyle is that of sex, drugs and rock and roll. I personally have found refuge in this way of life occasionally but have no plans of building a summer home here. To deny yourself the simple pleasures of life would be cruel and obscene, this is why fascism never caught on in this country. Our country is partying more than ever and wasting even more. The youth of America is plagued with being sloth, drooling on themselves to drunk off their old man’s booze to find the remote so they don’t have to watch the situation fist pump on some unsuspecting bar goer. These mindless drones dream of being more successful than their parents. However, I’m afraid they have set the bar to high and will suffer many trial and tribulations while attempting to reach their mountain top.