American Dream

I believe there are times when the allure of the American dream becomes a perceived answer to internal pain. In the communities of the oppressed, those who suffer underneath the boot of systematic oppression, oppression that stifles potential and limits life chances are convinced that bourgeois aspirations will eliminate those conditions. We are taught to believe that simple hard work will eradicate the systematic barriers of racism,sexism and class exploitation. Our collective gaze turns inward, were we begin to believe that the problem is us, that oppression is simply a figment of our imagination. These feelings give birth to an internalized hatred that allows for systematic oppression to remain free to infiltrate the private and public spaces of our lives. The liberal ideas that America espouses remain the social drug that numbs us to the reality that the system is the problem and unless we recognize that we will continue to suffer. The American system is structurally set up to maintain divisions and keeps us fighting each other. The presence of solidarity is the only thing to combat the social forces that entangle us all. The choice is ours we can wake up and resist opppresion or continue to drink the lie that a nice house and fancy job will alleviate the internal pain that occurs from living in an unjust society.