little green footballs?

Yep. I find it quite absurd. This human has a narrow focus, and yea I understand that it is HIS(I think this individual is a male) blog and therefore he can choose to cover whatever he wishes, blah blah blah.... BUTTTTTTTTT, I have a hard time with people that are not able to look as closely at their own beliefs, and their own actions( or the actions of people whom share your beliefs) as they look(and in this case judge) others. Come on now Mr. Little Green Football, you need to be able to challenge your beliefs as harshly if not more than you judge others. But that's just my opinion, in my blog. and I'm done.

lucid dreams are much more fun

I believe the American dream breaks down into two perspectives. In the first perspective, (the view from the top) the American dream is just, well, a dream. Wait, no, not a dream, a tool. A tool used by the government and/or the ruling elite to make social classes of lesser wealth work harder than necessary in hopes of one day being at the top, or just closer to it. This propaganda was used to create a false sense of hope, all in an effort to keep others out of the game. You see, this game requires high admission and a brand new pair of sparkling Tiffany's cuff links, which the general public usually does not own, rent maybe, or loan, but definitely not own.
For the second perspective, this dream is a sort of faith that eventually one's social and economic situation will be more advantageous than it is at the present. In this respect, the hope that should come along with the 'myth' works as one might think; people believe it, then work for it, and are able to enjoy their rewards. Now, their rewards might not compare to the glamour of the elite, either way, the people are enjoying the outcome of their hard work. Of course, this idea does not always break down cleanly. Some people never get to enjoy their hard work. These instances are terribly unfortunate, but it happens.
So, what is the American dream? Well, in the pluralist nation of America, the dream is subjective. Interpret it as it applies to your situation. Use it as you see fit.

The rich get richer while the poor get poorer

I firmly believe that America holds itself up with a crutch of lies made by a group of individuals known by the conflict theorists as the power elite. Yes, Mr. Chomsky, I think you hit the nail directly on its star spangled, red and white stripes head in defining America’s political economy as a plutocrary. I mean look around, have you ever noticed the people that run our country? Have you ever noticed that these people, with a few exceptions, are all exactly the same? And by the same I mean that they are all rich, white, men that pay a ridiculous amount of money to make themselves look good on camera in an effort to obtain office (notice how I use ‘obtain’ here, because they certainly are not elected by the people), so they can then be the voice of the ‘people’. But whose voice do they mimic? Surely not mine, and most likely not yours either, because if it were our voices, government would spend less time on corporate, profit-based interests (twisted to appear like they are being discussed/passed for the benefit of the people) and more time on issues that really matter, like socialization of medicine, or how to disperse wealth so there is not an enormous gap between rich and poor, for example.


Now, to further illustrate my point, I would like expand on two of the five ways in which the conflict theorists define the ‘elite model’ that so obviously mirrors American society.


1) Elites possess the greatest wealth, education, status, and other resources and make the most important decisions in society.



Mmmmhuh, hello bureaucracy. These elites are a Bush-approval-rating size percentage of the population (meaning small) that have the ability to remain powerful because they have a wealth advantage over others. They have this ability to remain in their positions because they were most likely born into a wealthy family, which paid for an expensive, well-known institution of higher education, which reinforces their status on top of the hierarchy, which allows for them to be elected into important offices to make decisions that protect their class’ interests. By the way, the majority of America is not wealthy, so they are not protecting the majority of America. The rich get richer while the poor get poorer.



2) elites generally agree on the basic values and goals for society.



Of course they do, because the values and goals for society, which in their eyes consists of their socio-economic class, are all used to protect their self-acknowledged privileges.




No, I do not think America is corrupt, I think that an overwhelming majority of the decision makers that shape America are corrupt and that makes me shake with anger, hence the intensity of this entry. And no I do not hate America, I just am severely distressed at the shape of things because I believe that this country has the potential to be as great as our high school government textbooks say it is. So, as the saying goes, fight for your class, not for your elitist and plutocratic country.,br>