Posted on 06/17/2017 4:34:20 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Lupita Nyong'o, the Oscar award-winning actress, once said every dream is valid. It has become one of the most original quotations from Kenya. Without being so scientific, could we try to falsify this proposition and ask: Is the American dream valid?
First, what is the American dream? The Collins Dictionary defines it as, “the notion that the American social, economic and political system makes success possible for every individual”. Another definition is “the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination and initiative.”
Kimberly Amadeo traces the term to James Truslow Adams in his 1931 book, Epic of America. Observers attribute the phrase to the American founding fathers in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Free market
Emily Rosenberg identified five components of the American. Belief that other nations should replicate America’s development; faith in a free market economy; support for free trade agreements and foreign direct investment; promotion of free flow of information and culture, and; acceptance of government protection of private enterprise.
This dream has been a magnet attracting millions across the seas to go and settle in America. Kenyans are not left behind; though the enthusiasm for the Diversity Lottery seems to have died. As immigrants travel to USA, they are willing to start a new life, cast their burdens from mother country and be what they want. That includes the persecuted and refugees.
Some turn the dream into reality, like a 73-year-old Kenyan pursuing a PhD. Another Kenyan put it, “Mine (American dream) started off on a high note and then got derailed somewhat. Still wrestling with it and I am not happy where I am right now.” I wish I got more confessions from Kenyans in USA. How many lived their dream and how many had the dream turn into a nightmare? We cannot forget Barack Obama.
But not shouted too loudly is that the American dream achievement depends to a large extent on the skills you take to America, or acquire there. Remember, one of the components of the American dream is faith in the markets.
If you have a skill that the market needs, it rewards you. Some of the skills that make it easier to achieve the dream include STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). I must say loudly that lots of Asians have used this route to achieve the American dream - ever met an Asian historian?
STEM makes it easier to get a good job and enjoy the high standards of living. After all, the American dream is based on being able to make ends meet.
The dream is more achievable depending on where you study. Studying in America’s hallowed institutions like Harvard or other Ivy League universities makes it easier to get integrated into the American society and fastens your upward mobility. It is no wonder all the nine US Supreme Court judges went through either Harvard or Yale.
A PhD from Githaka-ini University might be worth less than an undergraduate degree from Harvard or Oxbridge.
To immigrants, some who might never have dreamt of a college education, where you school does not matter. But later in life when you get into the job market or when positions of responsibility are being doled out, the alma mater matters. In Kenya, we are not yet there but soon it will matter where you go to school.
The dream also favours the talented - the actors, musicians, athletes, golfers and others. Think of the market again. It always rewards the talented, very Biblical: “to those who have more will be given.” Awards such as Oscars, Emmy and Tony keep the dreams of the talented alive. The money they make keeps lots of people dreaming of their time on the stage. This dream is amplified by the media, and the money made by the talented.
Keep working
Is the dream invalid for the uneducated and untalented? There is work and money for such people, too. They work on the jobs Americans dislike. They harvest crops in the farms, work in the nursing homes, drive trucks, work as waiters and security men and other jobs that may not require lots of education.
That is why even after dropping from school, immigrants still make a living In America. We think that since they have not come back home, they are living the American dream. The fact that life would be worse if they were in the mother country keeps them working and dreaming. Many work on hard jobs to realise the American dream through their children.
The third path through which the American dream is realised is through investment. If you have at least $100,000 (Sh10 million) and can prove you can create jobs, you get a visa. If you are a great investor or entrepreneur, the US systems make it easier to experience the American dream. Add the market system and the dream can expand several folds if you get it right.
The American dream is realised through family connections. It becomes easier to get to USA if you have a brother, sister, parent, or spouse already there. But once there, your skills and talents matter. There is a misplaced notion that to make it in life you just get into USA.
It has been suggested that American openness to the rest of the world is the source of her greatness, attracting talent, ambition and endurance to come and realise their dreams. That is why Donald Trump’s attempt to stop the flow of immigrants has been so fiercely resisted.
Gee I dunno. Is it still valid for a combat veteran?
It’s questionable from these quarters
That is why Donald Trump’s attempt to stop the flow of immigrants has been so fiercely resisted...
Hmm. What’s missing from that sentence?
I know there’s something.
Dammit! Can’t remember.
No. Stay home.
I just learned that Amazon will offer their Prime membership at half price to EBT holders but not veterans.
No. Get tough and depose your corrupt leaders for starters. Then maybe you can make some dreams of your own in your own country.
I know,my immigrant grandparents (I'm second generation native born) had all the stories...relayed to me by my Dad and his siblings.
They want the Dream that Americans created over the past several hundred years. It was 193 years from the date we declared our Independence to when we landed on the moon.
Wow, that's deep. And by "deep," I mean, that's drivel.
It has become one of the most original quotations from Kenya.
Are they implying that nobody from Kenya ever said anything that makes sense? That's absurd.
A 20 year moratorium on all immigration, please. From everywhere.
The welfare state is destroying America.
If you turn back the diseased, the islams, the greedy with their hands out and the abject evil filth swarming here, then yes.
Muslims that reach America, have NO DREAM of making America Great, but only to destroy. They have been taught it is part of the Great Satan. They dream of Sharia Law and all citizens of America bowing towards Mecca and whipping their women.
The American Dream was coming here, finding something productive to do and eventually prosper.
Coming here to collect government checks is not the American Dream.
Yeah, their dream is NOT valid if it requires me to fund it.
Do you realize how much of Silicon Valley, Research Triangle Park, Austin and other job creating centers are filled with immigrants? Your idea would result in millions of lost jobs, most of them high-paying and scrapping millions of other jobs that come from those people living here. We’d be cutting our own throat.
Not every foreigner has a right to come here.
If we allow our country to be overrun, there will be no American Dream for Americans, it will become a nightmare.
Agreed.But I'd take it a bit further.In addition to the expulsion of *all* 30 million wetbacks I'd say that no new Green Cards will be issued for 20 years and anyone currently with a Green Card can keep it for the next 20 years as long as they adhere to all the requirements...but none will get citizenship during the 20 years.
Also,the "automatic citizenship at birth" policy must be scrapped.Although many advanced Western countries had the same policy 50+ years ago all but the US and Canada have scrapped it because they recognized how easily it was to abuse it.So no more sneaking in from Mexico (or China) and dropping a baby.
My ancestors came here around 1690 with William Penn. Yours?
Howard family, assistant to Miles Standish, related to William Howard Taft.
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