The Hypocrisy Of The American Dream

Updated Jul 25, 2015.

The American dream [1] promises opportunities for success for anyone willing to work hard for it. It's rooted in the 1776 Declaration of Independence, which states, "... all men are created equal ..." Equal to do what? Equal to engage in aggressive competition where people seek to be greater than others? This isn't equality, it's hypocrisy.

How can you on the one hand say "all men are created equal", yet on the other hand expect them to engage in aggressive competition where everyone is seeking to be better than others, thereby creating inequality?

Here are my notes:

1. Societies Built On Selfishness:
• Today, we're all immersed in selfishness, seeking to benefit ourselves with no regard for others. The European societies of old were also built on the quality of selfishness. 
• Emigrants left Europe for America fleeing poverty, oppression and the injustices of aristocratic governments that sought to benefit themselves at the expense of everyone else. Money, power and authority was consolidated in the hands of a few.
• New American immigrants set out to create a country where "all men are created equal". However, the people didn't change, meaning their selfish nature didn't change, so the USA was also built on the quality of selfishness, where everyone was (and still is) seeking to benefit themselves at the expense of everyone else. The result? Poverty, oppression, and the injustices of the division of wealth (the huge gap between the rich and poor). Money, power and influence is consolidated in the hands of a few - those with the ability to best acquire it. Have the Americans created the country they originally set out to create? No. The USA is identical to the Europe that early immigrants originally fled.
• Every time mankind has tried to be better than others, to dominate others, to control others, to subjugate others etc., it's failed. Why? Because such systems don't work. The discrepancies created by such systems leads to tension and conflict, which ultimately results in its demise.
• The only solution is connection. We have to change from selfishness (seeking to benefit ourselves) to bestowal (seeking to benefit others and Nature).
2. Aggressive Competition & The Aristocratic Mentality:
• Aggressive competition creates an aristocratic mentality. People who engage in aggressive competition seek to be better than others, to be greater than others, to be more important than others, to be richer than others etc. This is the same aristocratic mentality that existed in Europe, that early emigrants originally fled. 
• The USA is built on aggressive competition:
• In business, people are expected to engage in aggressive competition in order to be greater than others. This isn't equality. How can you be equal to others when you're trying to be better than them?
• It brings out a type of business aristocracy - the aristocratic rich and everyone else.
• Are "all men created equal"? No, not when everyone is trying to be better than others. Not when there's a huge gap between the rich and the poor.
• In sports (baseball, basketball, football, hockey, soccer, tennis etc.), athletes are expected to engage in aggressive competition in order to be greater than others. This isn't equality. How can you be equal to others when you're trying to be better than them?
• It brings out a type of sports aristocracy - the aristocratic winner and everyone else.
• Are "all men created equal"? No, not when everyone is trying to be better than others. Not when there's one winner and a whole bunch of losers.
• In foreign affairs, Americans engage in aggressive competition with other nations in order to be greater than them. This isn't equality. How can you be equal to others when you're trying to be better than them?
• It brings out a type of country aristocracy - the aristocratic Americans and everyone else.
• Are "all men created equal"? No, not when the USA thinks it's better than everyone else.
• Some people justify aggressive competition as a motivator that brings out the best in us. It doesn't, it only brings out our most egoistic side. Also:
• When people seek to benefit themselves, their potential is limited because they're only thinking about themselves; however, when people seek to benefit others/Nature, their potential is unlimited because they're thinking of others and all of Nature.
• Love is an even greater motivator. A mother, who is motivated by love, will do anything for her children, to ensure they're well taken care of. Even when she's sick, she still performs her motherly duties.
• Cooperation and collaboration is better than aggressive competition. Nature is an integral system that's interconnected and interdependent. Nature is pushing us to connect and we must do so through mutual cooperation and collaboration.
3. Equality:
• "All men are created equal" in that we all have the same basic needs, including food, water, clothing, shelter etc.
• We need to simply our lives and focus only on meeting our basic needs. We need to ensure that the basic needs of everyone on earth are met.
• All men are not created equal in terms of our abilities and talents. Different people have different talents, strengths, abilities, ambition, etc. We're different and we have different roles to play in society. In the USA (and around the world), those with the greatest talents, skills, abilities, ambition, connections, prestigious family heritage etc., are the ones most likely to succeed. This isn't equality, it's people taking advantage of their God-given potential, attributes and station in life to benefit themselves at the expense of others.
• We all have different God-given potential. If John's God-given potential output is 100 and Peter's God-given potential output is 10, it would be extremely unfair to expect John to aggressively compete against Peter because John would win every time. In his frustration, Peter may resort to undesirable practices to compete with John. However, if both John and Peter used their God-given potential to benefit others/Nature, they'd be equal because they'd both be working at their full potential, John at 100 and Peter at 10. Even though John's output (of 100) is greater than Peter's output (of 10), it doesn't mean John is working any harder, it comes to him naturally because it's his God-given potential. Since they're both working at their full potential, they're both equal, even though they're different, and they have different roles to play. With love as a motivator, John would use his full potential to benefit others/Nature and Peter would use his full potential to benefit others/Nature.
• Equality means one thing in selfishness and it means something else in bestowal:
• In selfishness (seeking to benefit ourselves), the phrase, "all men are created equal" means all men have the equal opportunity to engage in aggressive competition, to selfishly seek to benefit themselves (even at the expense of others), to use their God-given potential and attributes to benefit themselves (for their own selfish profit and gain), to try and be better than others etc. The result is inequality.
• In bestowal (seeking to benefit others and Nature), the phrase, "all men are created equal" means all men have the equal opportunity to do good to others, to benefit others/Nature in a positive and constructive way, to use their God-given potential and attributes to benefit others/Nature etc. The result is TRUE equality, with everyone using his/her potential to benefit others/Nature.
• We have to change from selfishness to bestowal.

The American dream, where "all men are created equal", is hypocritical because the American society is rooted in selfishness, driven by aggressive competition where people are seeking to exploit others for their own personal profit and gain. The result is inequality - poverty, oppression, winners and losers, and a huge gap between the rich and the poor.

The only way the USA can realize its dream, where "all men are created equal", is if people change from selfishness to bestowal and seek to benefit others/Nature instead of themselves. This will result in TRUE equality.

The USA has a big influence on the entire world. If positive and constructive change comes to the USA, the entire world will be positively affected. It's not just the USA that has to change, the entire world has to change from selfishness to bestowal, from aggressive competition to cooperation and collaboration.

It's time to leave the old, archaic, aristocratic mentality behind, the mentality of engaging in aggressive competition and trying to be better than others. It's time to unite in mutual bestowal, in a mentality of benevolence, cooperation, collaboration, compassion and empathy, where everyone is seeking to benefit others/Nature instead of themselves. If we all did this, we'd all be truly equal.

We're different and we have different roles to play, but we're all one family. In everything we do, we should use our God-given potential to seek to benefit others/Nature instead of ourselves.

___________

References:

1. American Dream. www.en.wikipedia.org. Retrieved Jul 13, 2015.
2. Declaration Of Independence. www.archives.gov. Retrieved Jul 13, 2015.

Copyright © 2015, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.