Who's To Blame?

While reading through The American Dream in the 21st Century, edited by Sandra L. Hanson and John Kenneth White, it didn’t take long to come across a rather interesting point. The two editors trace back the American Dream to its origin as well as provide statistics from polls that have been conducted to display the transformation that the American Dream has taken over the years, but what I found to be fascinating is the thought process people experience when they do not achieve their version of the American Dream. I would expect to feel angry and let down, but it was shocking to discover the actual emotions felt by these Americans.
When people believe that reaching their American Dream is impossible, they feel defeat, pathetic, and lied to. However, they also experience something that I would not typically associate with inability to grasp the American Dream: blame. Although, they do not blame the government, they do not blame their friends, and they do not blame their family for their lack of success: “Instead of questioning the American Dream, Americans are more likely to blame themselves when things do not turn out as they hoped” (Hanson & White 7). We work insanely hard to achieve something that may never come, and whatever that is differs from person to person. If you work hard in hopes to achieve your American Dream, you should not be blaming yourself. If you put maximum effort into making your dream a reality, you could not possibly be at fault. Sometimes we as individuals are not to blame. Obviously this is not always the case, but there are constant external forces that have to be taken into account as well.

I’m not saying that we are all perfect beings who can do no wrong, but I am trying to convey that we should not dig ourselves into a deep hole when things do not align perfectly. We do not need additional negativity in our daily lives. It surprises me that in a situation like this humans are quick to blame themselves. In any other ordinary situation, humans look to the route that leads them away from the blame. Naturally, we do not appreciate being at fault even when the outcome was not caused by anybody else; however, when it comes to the American Dream, we beat ourselves up over something that we are not in complete control of. A fitting example of when we as humans and current students should accept the consequences of our actions is when we forget to do our homework, do not study for an exam, or do not prioritize as we should. Although when these circumstances arise, we more often than not search for excuses when in reality we were feeling lazy rather than accepting our faults.

Sometimes we as humans make mistakes costing us our American Dreams. However, there are other times when there is nothing that we could have done to change the outcome of our fate, yet when the stakes are high, and it’s often not the fault of a single being, that individual takes the blame.

Comments

  1. Mary MelevoSeptember 1, 2017 at 12:32 AM

    I also found it interesting that many Americans take the blame when things don't go their way. I think that people feel like its their fault because they knew that they could have done better and they have seen other succeed and pursue similar dreams to theirs. Sometimes I wonder if they are blaming themselves because they have not achieved their dream or they are not done with achieving them. The American Dream has many aspects to it that I have come to think that it can never ALL be reality. From personal goals such as buying a house to other goals such as hoping for world peace, it is very difficult to achieve everything.

    Blaming oneself is never the answer because it only discourages you and makes you feel worse than you did before. People need to come to realize that just because things didn't go as they hoped, that it is the end of their American dream for them. There is always time to dream again or even start over.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Erin FlewSeptember 2, 2017 at 9:07 AM

    Yeah. This really is a paradox. We think if we would have just worked harder, done this instead of that, invested at that moment, studied more, then we would have been successful, so it must have been our fault, but sometimes there is more going on.

    And as humans, we do like to blame somebody.
    Good post, Lindsay.

    ReplyDelete

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