Who knows how it'll evolve, but for now, tumblr shall be the home of my non-social (i.e. not on Facebook), non-tech brain purge. Well, at least some of it I guess. Or I guess I should say /at least/ one of them (since I've made an inaugural post). -p
The first paragraph of an article from The Atlantic, about how the economic crisis will reshape America, discusses history and culture surrounding our original American financial crisis, stating that:
“My Uncle Walter, who went on to earn a master’s degree in chemical engineering and eventually became a senior executive at Colgate-Palmolive, came out on top—not because of his academic or career achievements, but because he grew up with the hardest lot.”
I was immediately distracted from the true intention of the article and thinking about how American folklore, especially that of the last century, paints a picture time and again of Americans picking themselves up by the bootstraps and siezing opportunities to create success. Especially so by means of using their hardened past to help them strive to get ahead in the present and future.
The stories are inspiring, no doubt. But do the same opportunities exist today? Were they even true in the first place, or more like propagandized fantasy (a la the pseudo-myth of the perfect suburban 50s). Unfortunately, it seems too often that being “hard” in America today is more likely to result in death at a young age than success and a long life. Maybe it’s just what the media propagates, or perhaps a shift in semantic meaning.
Whatever it is, the same folklore seems to tell us that generations of past were built on the viability and opportunity of those who needed it the most. Along those lines, I hope America can again be the land of opportunity, and not just for those who are already at the top.
