The Dream evolves

Arkansans reflect on how economy, immigration, politics have changed outlooks in the good ol’ U. S. of A.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

The phrase “American Dream” - the proverbial idea that patriotism and national identity evolve from a shared value system - was coined by James Truslow Adams in his 1931 book The Epic of America. He described “a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.”

But William Schwab, sociology professor at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, says the American Dream as a concept is much older, rooted in the writings of Thomas Jefferson, our third president and a principal author of the Declaration of Independence. A strong advocate for democracy, Jefferson wrote that “all men are created equal … endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,” among them, “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Wayne Baker, a University of Michigan professor and author of United America, outlines American values as patriotism, belief in God, self-reliance, achievement, equality, freedom, respect for other cultures and belief in the free market system.

“These values have remained remarkably stable over centuries,” Schwab says.

But America is changing. Is the dream also changing?

“By the end of this decade, the majority of American children will be African-American, Hispanic or Asian. ... So the dynamics of population change in our society are bringing into question, by people already here, whether or not we are going to maintain these core American values.”

“What’s notable is that immigrants hold these same values, and that’s why they come.”

But in a political era marked by divisiveness, what makes an American an American? How much do Americans differ from region to region?

“My mother’s version of the American Dream is that you do what you love for a living. That way you’re not really working,” says Veronica Wirges, 35, a hairdresser from North Little Rock. “The way she sees it, I’m in my 30s and already doing it, so I’m a huge success. She instilled in me that the American Dream wasn’t a certain type of house or car … that it was more of an experience thing.”

A 2012 poll by Arkansas’ Diane D. Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society and the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service surveyed 2,560 self-identified Southerners, living in the South and elsewhere, and found that 53 percent agree that, to be fully American, someone must be born in the United States.Seventy-one percent believe someone must speak English well. Fourteen percent believe someone must be white, and 38 percent believe someone must be Christian.

More black respondents agreed with these statements than white, and Hispanics were the least likely to deem these criteria necessary.

Sixty-one percent of respondents said the federal government should ensure minorities receive equal treatment by courts and policies. Forty-one percent oppose “healthcare reform”; 54 percent favor stronger immigration laws.

In data released last month from a general survey of 1,141 Americans, The Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs found that 52 percent of respondents believe health care leads a list of the top problems facing the country. Unemployment followed at 42 percent, trailed by the economy, the federal deficit and immigration.

In 2011, Xavier University’s Center for the Study of the American Dream surveyed 1,003 people and found that 83 percent have less ‘‘trust in politics’’ than they did a decade ago, and 57 percent believe the world will look beyond America for future guidance.

Schwab says faith in the government has been declining since the 1960s.

“We need campaign finance reform,” says Kevin Smith, 51, an insurance entrepreneur and former state senator from Helena-West Helena. “All the other issues … they’ve been co-opted by the overwhelming presence of money in politics … it paralyzes our government.”

Schwab says millennials, born between the early 1980s and early 2000s, “have a very realistic view of life chances. They saw what the great recession of 2008 did to their parents … so research suggests that they’ll more likely be renters than homeowners … they’ll want to live in walking communities … they’re getting married at an older age.”

These millennials, in the early stages of adult relationships and financial responsibility, may be the most accurate indicators of the current state of the American Dream.

THE STATE OF THE DREAM

What follows are the thoughts of Arkansans, selected to represent a statistically representative snapshot of the state, as depicted by census demographics on age, race, sex, education and marital status. Ten people can’t speak for everyone, of course. They simply speak for themselves - their dreams, their definitions of the collective American Dream and how they wish their government would shape up.

Shun Strickland, 41, dream coach/brand consultant

Female, black, married, homeowner, juris doctorate

Born in Fordyce. Lives in Springdale.

“Fundamentally, people want to live in a place where they’re safe and free to provide a good living for their family. In spite of our problems, America is still viewed as the land of opportunity. It’s still the country people fight to get to because it’s still the place where you aren’t limited by class or color.

“Growing up, I heard, ‘Go to school, get a good job, work there forever.’ Now as a mom, obviously I want to make a good living, but I care more about flexibility, not just working all day and only seeing my kids on the weekend.The world that I live in says you aren’t guaranteed that a job will let you stay there forever just because you’re loyal to them. I work from home now, so I’m pretty close to living my American Dream.

“My greatest values are faith and family. My grandmother was instrumental in making me believe that anything was possible.

“We need a working wage. People want to go to work. They want to pay their bills. No one should work every day and still be in poverty.”

Lidia Mondragon, 21, university student

Female, Hispanic, single, renter

Born in Guerrero, Mexico. Lives in Fort Smith.

“The United States started with the American Dream. People would come here to find peace and work and build a new home for themselves, for their children. My family, that’s what they wanted to find.’’

“I’ve fallen in love with genetics, and I was thinking of going to grad school for genetic engineering. I’m still considering medical school, but my adviser told me I couldn’t register for medical school since I’m not a resident of the United States. … At first I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to go to college, but I made it here. So I’m sure I can make it [to medical school] one day. I just want to give back to my community, that has helped me and helped my parents.

“My parents were the ones to push me to go to school. They were like, you don’t want to be working at chicken plants, your fingers hurting, your body exhausted. You want to do something better with your life.”

“Immigration is so important. … I think if the government gave the opportunity, even to the people that are here, they would have a great outcome, even in the economy.”

Kyler Fletcher, 11, middle school student

Male, white

Born in Benton. Lives in Alexander.

“The American dream is a lot more [about] unity and people coming together. And more people getting into a good college, so they could have better houses and more money to buy the nicer things they want. America would be better if there were a lot smarter people. Because China, they go to school 24/7 practically.”

“I would like to become an officer in the Army. I want to go to college. I would like to serve my country and be able to make enough money to have a good house and provide for my family.

“The Republican and the Democratic party, they have too much of a feud. I think they put the feud in front of working for us.”

Larry Delashmit, 65, retired military

Male, white, married, homeowner, associate degree

Born in Millington, Tenn. Lives in Fayetteville.

“My American Dream has been to choose my own path.I’ve done what I wanted to do, and, at 65, I’d go back and do it all again. The United States Army, working on the railroad, owning my own home, raising my child the way I want to, freedom to dissent, freedom to chose my own religion. To me those are the things that, when you travel the world, mean something. I’ve been stationed in Korea, Vietnam, Europe …

“Fiscal responsibility is the most important issue facing the federal government. In the state, it’s more freedom for social issues. The last five words in the Pledge of Allegiance are ‘liberty and justice for all.’”

Wade Wichman, 33, technical support provider, bartender

Male, white, single, homeowner, no degree

Born in Tyler, Texas. Lives in Jonesboro.

“It used to be, you’d start as a bagger and work your way up to middle-management … but now corporate America has taken over … they’d rather just fire people and start over than give people due credit and raises. And it’s to the point now that corporations run the government.

“My late father lived the American Dream, to an extent. But now, I imagine, my mom would say it’s pretty extinct. She didn’t work much till my father died [in 2004].

“I’d like to be my own boss, start my own restaurant or sports bar. Nothing too extravagant. I wouldn’t mind living on a houseboat. I absolutely think I can get there, saving money.”

Alex Christie, 17, high school student

Female, white

Born in Fayetteville. Lives in Little Rock.

“Norman Rockwell and my history class, a chicken in every pot … the freedom to make the money you need to to support your family, the freedom to practice whatever religion you want to. We still don’t have all the freedoms we want, like gay marriage … but I really do think you can define the American Dream as freedom.

“My mom’s parents, I think, for awhile, they were living the American Dream … being able to see their kids go off and be successful and then being able to live together and be comfortable and be exactly where they want to be … my grandma’s favorite thing is to work at the botanical gardens. Being fully content is what they pretty much revolve around.

“Poverty is the most important issue facing the government. My mom worked at Our House [a shelter for the working homeless] for a while, and she would tell me all these stories. Now I can’t look around, even in my own school, and not realize how much poverty there really is.”

Victoria Meyers, 44, singer-songwriter manager

Female, white, single, renter, associate degree

Born in New Port Richey, Fla. Lives in Hot Springs.

“It used to be that you would grow up, get a job, buy a house, get married, have children, have a car or two, a nice house, raise your children and retire. I don’t think that most people I know even believe that’s possible anymore. Everything costs too much.

“For me, the American Dream is just to get off food stamps. My number one dream is to possibly leave the U.S. My number two dream is to just kind of drop off the grid and not have to deal with the craziness in this country … There’s also this new dream, that Maxine [my daughter] will make it big and we’ll live like rock stars. She’s 15 and a singer/songwriter, working on her second CD.

“My mom was a single mom in the Air Force … that probably has a lot to do with my views, just looking for a home. I remember we used to move from house to house, even when we had a long duty station, and every time she would get a more expensive house … I would say, here’s this place, it’s so much cheaper. And she said to me, no, you don’t ever go backwards.

“I started researching diet years ago, and that led me into all kinds of forays - why is our food so messed up, why is there fluoride in our water, why are there chem trails in the skies? But I’m a Jehovah’s Witness, and we don’t believe in voting in political elections. We don’t believe there’s a political answer to the problems going on.”

Crysty Henry, 42, preschool teacher

Female, white, married, homeowner, no degree

Born in Long Beach, Calif. Lives in Jonesboro.

“My American Dream is to have a healthy family and raise my kids to know who God is … and just to be able to prosper in this world. It’s hard economically right now, but I have four happy children and am married to the same person I married when I was 24.

“For my parents, it was more about building things around their career, while mine is more building things around my family. And I think men think differently than women do. Men need to be the provider, and women are more into, at least I am, raising my children … I only work part time so I can be there when my kids get home from school.

“Obamacare is not quite what they made it out to be. I’m lucky that my plan has been grandfathered in till December [2014], but because of my husband’s pay, our insurance will go from … under $500 a month to almost $1,500 a month.”

Carl Miller, 65, former manufacturing worker, current volunteer

Male, black, married, homeowner, no degree

Born near Monticello. Lives in Tarry.

“My parents’ American Dream was working and going to church, having things nice. Nice house; we had a lot of land. They worked and got all of that.

“At my age, I’ve been dreaming to find a job somewhere to get more money … a night job, cleaning up around a building, something like that. When I was younger, my dream was being in a movie. I’d still like being in a movie.

“The government is helping themselves … but doing nothing for our country. Cutting off food stamps, fighting insurance, don’t want to give unemployment. But they’re still getting paid.”

Joseph Sheridan, 50, owner of organic grocery and restaurant

Male, white, single, homeowner, no degree

Born in Los Angeles. Lives in Hot Springs.

“The American Dream is the ideas of the Founding Fathers - that we’re all treated equally, that we’re able to represent ourselves in collective government, that people aren’t oppressed. America is such a melting pot. We have a responsibility here to show that people from all kinds of different cultures can get along peacefully.

“I’m alive in a time period where prosperity, financial gain and things like that are becoming less valuable. I think my parents lived in a time where personal gain and financial independence were higher priorities, but now we live in a society where we’re measured by how much we care about our neighbors, how much we care about our planet … people are seeking spiritual satisfaction rather than material satisfaction.

“The American government needs to create a spirit of consensus and that goes past democracy. Consensus is still majority wins, but you’re taking into account the people who have different needs from you, as well.”

Style, Pages 45 on 02/09/2014