If you have noticed on occasion I will usually tweet some sort of comment about America. Usually it’s something that is not flattering about the country or it’s people. It’s not because I hate America and love my adopted home in Asia. It’s the opposite I love America. I’m an American. There are things about the country that I don’t like, but that’s part of being a citizen of it. You are free to dislike and openly criticize it.
Right now my current beef with the great USA is that all I hear is whining and complaining coming from the country. Every which way I turn I hear “There are no jobs,” or “Obama and the democrats are turning America in to socialist country,” or “Universal healthcare is bad idea.” To tell you the truth I don’t really care about these things. When I hear these complaints what I really hear is the death of the American Dream. People are passing the blame around. Here’s an idea, less whining and more doing things.
There have always been these stories of immigrants who come to America with nothing more than the clothes on their back and make themselves better off. Have we really become that lazy and no longer hold ourselves accountable for our own actions. Let’s address this last statement. What happened to, to quote hip hop, “Hustliing.” Hollywood has some great examples of these types of people. First up is Vito Corleone. He comes to New York from Italy alone and becomes the Godfather. Here’s another example, Tony Montana. the guy arrives from Cuba with nothing, makes some moves and becomes a drug kingpin. Although these guys are gangsters they worked hard to get to their position. They took advantage of opportunities when they saw them and made themselves. They had the work ethic that exemplifies the American dream. They embody the idea that there are no boundaries and You can move in any direction you want, be it up, down, diagonal.
One of my good friend says that, “being born in America, is like winning the lottery.” I won my share of the dream and have seen what it’s like to be on the losing end of this lottery. Many of my fellow Americans have never been to a developing nation or any foreign country that lacks the things that we take for granted in our society. Seeing street children and crippled elderly people begging on the streets of Bangkok made me realize how lucky people in America are. People in America don’t realize how fortunate they are. They live in a society that supports women, immigrants, disabled and minorities in the work force without disscrimination. I can go on, but people just won’t understand until they actually experience what I am talking about. What is there to whine and complain about when you live in a country that has so much freedom and social mobility. People have the freedom in America to change not only themselves but society. If you don’t like something you are free to change it. Don’t like the government, run for office make a change. Change starts with you, “the man in the mirror.”
Now let’s move on to accountability. The individual is accountable for their actions that have placed them in their current situation. You can rarely blame anyone else for how you arrived at the position you are in. No one forced you to do anything. You made the choices and here you are. The old saying is so true, you reap what you sow. Today I really irritated one of my friends by saying that I don’t get all the comments about a lack of job when I see a ton of jobs posted everywhere I look. There are jobs available but they require that the candidate have some sort of skill. If you dropped out of high school and work at a factory and was laid off, and can’t find a job, you can blame yourself and your lack of skills. It was the choices that were made in the past that put you in this position. Even if you just graduated from a university and can’t find a job, I will still say you can’t blame anyone else. You bought into the idea that has been floating around that you need a college degree to get ahead. Too bad there were no commercials on tv saying “silly rabbit only certain degrees will get you anywhere.” However in this day and age a degree is not enough. It’s about worth as much as high school diploma. So many people got one that you need something extra to get ahead. I believe that a master’s degree is the new bachelor’s degree. Please don’t throw those examples of people who didn’t graduate from college or high school and have become successful. Guys like Bill Gates, Richard Branson and the Great Gatsby hustled their way to the top. Unless you can match their hustle and determination you can’t compare yourself to them.
My advice to everyone is don’t get upset at the job market, be upset with yourself about the choices you made that lead you to you current state. Be upset about your lack of transferable skills. In fact I think that is something that is difficult to admit is that you really have no skills. It’s okay to be mad or feel down about it. It’s okay to admit you failed. These are all natural emotions. Here’s the great part about all this, you live in America and can do something about it. Feel bad for a little bit then pick yourself up and get to work at making your life better. Even those Okie’s left the dust bowl to try to move ahead.
The American dream is dying because we are let ourselves down. I and all those people waiting to immigrate to America still believe in it. I’d rather chase a dream than sit around complaining and whining. The great spirit of overcoming adversity and hardships has been replaced by instant gratification and self-grandure.
