(part 1 is below this entry)
Dear American Dream,
Please allow me to get right to my thoughts. I apologize for not including any salutations.
The last time I wrote to you, I was comparing you and your seeming flexibility in the eyes of those who seek you to the mechanics of a rubber band. I was concerned of your being stretched too far, and of you possibly being overused and worn which could lead to an eventual breakage much like the rubber band under the same pressures.
Do you think I am on to anything with such an analogy? Or, am I overreacting, taking things a little too far?
The reason I ask is because I care about you. I care whether or not you are capable of being able to live up to the ideals that so many have of you. I care not so much that I need for you to exist as an autonomous entity, but rather that you should exist only if you are true to what you are. You should exist only if the eyes of the seekers are rewarded upon finding you.
But what kind of rewards should the seekers be finding? How would the rewards look? What would the rewards do?
Is it enough for a dreamer to find his dream of lifting his family out of poverty if it means him being simultaneously treated inhumanely by working long days, being the punching bag for bigots and racists, and getting paid an unjust wage? Where is the dream in that?
Is it enough for the dreamer to find her way to political freedom in a country where she will still earn less than her male counterpart, much the same way it was in her home country? Is it enough that she will maybe have her own home, but her dignity will still not be acknowledged by the boss man who wants to get her in bed, and the cat caller on the street who reduces her to an object?
You see, American Dream, I do not think it is good for you to be many things conceived by many people. You need a foundation, a foundation that stands on its own, not in a historical context, but, rather, in a universal understanding of human righteousness.
How do I dream you? American Dream, to me, you are the impossible made possible. You would provide for the less fortunate, calling on the fortunate to contribute to a cause of greater goodness, both here and abroad. I am not simply talking of a financial contribution either. We need to take you a little farther, or deeper if you will. The contribution would include active participation, hands-on, get into the thick of things and do something about it action.
Also, you would infiltrate all minds and hearts with the lesson of respect for others so that racism and sexism would no longer detriment humanity.
Greed and power would not be sought because the government would not be their best examples. Instead, the political state would work to abolish it, giving power back to the people.
Yes, American Dream, you should be these things in real time, not in the imagined. It is time for you to shed your abstractness and come into the now. It is time for you to end. It is time for us to be you.
We need to be the American Dream.
Sincerely,
Jim
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