Greedy Masterminds

Our country is simply the best. That is the only way to put it. I have grown up knowing and believing that statement thanks to endless reinforcement through television, the media, popular figures, and from the biased opinions surrounding me.

Immediately after diving into Requiem for the American Dream by Noam Chomsky, my previous thoughts about America are torn apart and questioned. What I thought I knew about our country was completely obliterated.

Obviously I knew that America has several issues that in need of addressing; however, I was not aware of the complexity nor the extent of the problems in our so-called “opportunistic” society. Once upon a time, America represented a symbol of hope, a symbol of optimism, and a symbol of desire for a new life. Past settlers came to our new and amazing country in search of a fresh start and equal opportunities.

Unfortunately, this reality of the American Dream is no longer a roaring flame, it is nothing but a small ember. As Chomsky addresses thoroughly throughout his novel, this happy image in today’s society is nothing but a façade. Our country today is a country ruled by the wealthy and therefore the powerful. The rest of us, the “precariats,” are wrapped around their greedy fingers. With all of this talk about democracy, the have us thinking that the power lies within the hands of the majority of the people. Despite this common belief, Chomsky claims that currently “the plutonomy is much more rigorously following Adam Smith’s vile maxim: ‘All for ourselves, nothing for anyone else” (53). According to Chomsky, the wealthy have become more greedy for control over the direction of our country. As the rich increase their wealth capacities, the division between the classes becomes more apparent. This cause and effect scenario represents one large flaw we at least recognize in our society as the situation worsens.



Following those lines, several of the roots of our problems remain uncovered. This is extremely problematic because we do not know what we are dealing with: “ It’s really a serious problem, and we’re heading toward a cliff” (54). Chomsky emphasizes the panic he feels and addresses that we must recognize this trend of the selfishness of the wealthy and put an end to it before there is nothing to be done through extensive exigency. This is an issue we must address, and we must do it now. He expresses the importance of this claim. Simply noticing the power that the wealthy hold in our country is the first step to exposing their secrets.

In revealing these issue to our innocent eyes, he compares our society’s current relatability to this statement to that in the past. When Smith established this vile maxim, there was a truth to it that not everyone could see. However, as we are better equipped to decipher the true intentions and actually see the control that the rich has over society, we are able to relate to Smith’s statement in a new light. Sure in the past some people followed Smith’s ideals, but the majority remained in the dark. Chomsky is exposing the intentions of the rich to make a change in the future. Something that the “masters of mankind” do not plan for (54).

Chomsky employs use of this loaded language to awaken our emotions. However, the emotions that people experience are unique to themselves based off of what they believe and their past. Chomsky is aiming to influence educated people today who are already skeptical about the concept of the American Dream. Those within Chomsky’s target audience will feel betrayal, frustration, and possibly confusion by these powerful words. This use of loaded language portrays the rich as the enemy, the dark side, or maybe even completely evil. Chomsky instantly enters into an alliance with the readers as he places himself on the same side against the enemy. He has become our friends, and real friends tell us the truth. However, if one is a diehard American patriot, Chomsky would become the evil figure, evoking emotions of pure anger and even hatred towards him.

When making this claim, Chomsky argues against the American Dream as a whole. Chomsky breathes the idea that the American Dream is not what is seems. In reality, it is a large scheme to keep the power where the money is. The American Dream is not what is used to be. Today, it is in the form of an illusion controlled by the corrupted minds of the wealthy. Only a small fraction of the system of the United States is truly controlled by the people, the rest is strategically set up by the rich who convince us that our voices have strength.

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