One thing I have learned over the last few months here has to do mainly with large groups of people and how they think. For the longest time now, I knew that there were people with very different opinions than my own and that nothing I could say or do could change that, but I kind of expected that people actually took as much or nearly as much time in trying to back up or explain their opinions. After recent events, I’ve seen a much more realistic, and somewhat alarming truth that people don’t think for themselves very often, if at all. What I have seen, especially on campus, is that whatever the majority is thinking, that’s where people’s opinions come from. The majority opinion is in turn based on whoever has the loudest/wildest/most entertaining thoughts. The really concerning part is that not only are they not thinking for themselves, but also they aren’t even following other well thought out opinions. The majority of people seem to just want to fit in and express what they think people want to hear. Based on that understanding, its very easy to see how fast all of the recent stuff got way out of control. With little information, a lot of emotion, and a population known to act irrationally from time to time, it’s no surprise what happened after the Board of Trustees decision.
Another thing I have learned, or more paid attention to, is how wildly inaccurate some of the information sources, that I had trusted before, could be even in high interest or high importance stories. I would think that most news sources would be very thorough and as unbiased as they can get, but that is not always the case. Sometimes it’s the truth with some media pizazz for more ratings. Other times it’s just blatant opinion with no substance being sold as hard facts. Whether it was through my classes or just being more aware, I now realize that not everything is always as simple as yes or no, or black or white, or up or down. But unfortunately that’s what we do as humans in general, and even more so in the “media”. We take big issues and turn them into two sides. “You’re either with us, or you’re against us.” That’s not how life really works though. Actually, “life” is one of the only things that are that way. You’re either alive or dead. Everything else though generally has many more than two sides, or two different ways of thinking. Most issues don’t have a right answer, although the people who try to tell us what to think want us to believe that. And questioning sources, or questioning in general, is not the exact same as not trusting. I trust my parents, but I still question them, as they should and do with me. Being skeptical of things doesn’t make you cynical; it makes you a well-rounded rational thinker.

I think the idea of the American Dream has definitely evolved over time and also means something different to each generation of immigrants. At the core is always the idea of success coming from hard work and self-motivation. For the first generation, it means establishing your family in America and having a better life than the poor or less appealing environment you left behind. Anything better is the goal and that’s why I think most potential immigrants still have a firm belief that it exists. When there is no real benchmark to perform, it is easy to believe in the Dream. However, the second and third generations have seen how America works and have grown up with different ideas of success. For some, this may still just be working hard and earning your own living freely. For some, the first couple generations may have done great things and have managed to keep the Dream alive within their family. Then there are those who have tried to earn a living and maybe failed once or twice, those who have grown up seeing the American system not work so well, and those who have just completely lost it all. That’s becoming the vision of the American nightmare: the idea that no matter what you do, your success isn’t based on working hard or being a good person. It’s based on where your family fits in the socioeconomic ranking scale already, whose ass you kiss, and whether your luck is ample or scarce. The American dream hasn’t disappeared, but it has definitely lost a large portion of American believers. Those outside the US and those just recently coming may not always believe fully in the Dream, but they must believe in something good or else why would they come? And those who have lost faith in the Dream, do they take stuff for granted? It’s possible that they take some freedoms for granted, but it’s not for lack of reason. They haven’t known anything else so there’s no comparison. People see the average “baseline”, maybe middle or even upper middle class, and if things are worse than what they perceive as the average, chances are they will take a few things for granted and see more things as negative. However if things are going as planned in life and they are above the baseline, they might have more respect for the freedoms they have. Of course, people go the opposite way too, and people who are successful take for granted certain “luxuries” that many other people in the world don’t have. In the end, the idea of the American Dream is different for everyone, and you either believe it or throw it out based on what you have already seen and think about America. In my opinion, it seems the less you know about America, the better chance the American Dream still has meaning to you.