For a while, (not a very long while) I have struggled with this idea of the "American Dream". If you are American, or if you grew up in America, especially within the last half of the century, you'll know what I'm talking about. You've grown up with this 'ideal' constantly preached to you, since early childhood probably, by your parents, teachers, and your government. It's been so engrained in your way of thinking and it's so common that you probably haven't stopped to think about it for a minute.
If you fit into this category like myself, then you were probably told at some point about the "American way of life". Save up money so you can go to school. Get your degree so that you can get a good job. Then save up money for your retirement. So does the whole point of your life all funnel down to those last few years, when you will have enough money to sit around and do nothing? Certainly that can't be all there is.
You see, America from it's foundations was built on capitalism. It started with the slave trade, which was a highly lucrative business, on all sides. Our laws are set up so that people have the opportunity to go as far as they want to go, and to amass as much wealth as they can. As you've probably noticed, our current American value system reflects this ideology. Go and work, and horde as much money as you can for yourself, by any means necessary, no matter who is starving all around you. Even today's church is cashing in on this message of living the "good life." There are so many messages on prosperity and 'how to invest in real-estate' being preached from the pulpit nowadays.
Even I had bought into this way of thinking, and counted it as my own purpose in life, until recently, that is. I am a young man in my twenties, still living at home with my parents. Many times I have stressed over the fact that I am not out on my own, like so many other young men my age. This is because all around me, in the media and in everyday life, I am having this message shoved down my throat.
There are certain young people, though, who are beginning to think differently about their purpose in life. One time while attending a 20-somethings ministry here in Orlando, FL, I heard a message preached. The pastor talked about a traditional Jewish ideal, or way of life, called 'Tikkun Alam'. This means literally "repair the earth". I think of it this way: that for me, my purpose in life is not to amass wealth and forget about everything. But, it is to work to help repair this world, to go and give, and to bless others.
Since hearing this message, among others taught recently, I have slowly reworked my way of thinking about my life, personally, and what I should be working towards. I don't just work so that I can have money, because money will never make me happy. I should work with the purpose of making a difference in other peoples lives, even if it means I won't have my dream house or car. I don't care if I never have those things, because they're not important anymore.
With all that said, I move to vote that the American dream be retitled as "the capitalist dream".
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