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A Dream

The Dream

"Thought"

"Of persons arrived at high positions, ceremonies, wealth,
scholarships, and the like;
To me, all that those persons have arrived at, sinks away
from them, except as it results to their
Bodies and Souls,
So that often to me they appear gaunt and naked;
And often, to me, each one mocks the others, and mocks
himself or herself,
And of each one, the core of life, namely happiness, is full of the
rotten excrement of maggots,
And often, to me, those men and women pass unwittingly the true
realities of life, and go toward false realities,
And often, to me, they are alive after what custom has serve them,
but nothing more,
And often, to me, they are sad, hasty, unwaked sonnambules,
walking the dusk."

"Leaves of Grass"
Walt Whitman, 1900


As early as the beginning of the twentieth century Walt Whitman, famous American poet, realized that people compromised their happiness and liberty by buying into the American Dream of status and wealth. It is apparent that possessing material goods is not a full proof solution for happiness and fulfillment in life and the "American Dream" is just that, a dream or an illusion that is not clearly defined or achieved in any reality. The people of our country have for so long been drowned and suffocated in a society that instructs through its advertising what is valued and therefore are in a hypnotic state where they are not even aware that their freedoms are compromised.
The concept of the American Dream has been ingrained in our minds for generations through books, media, advertising and educators. The idea is that if people work hard in our...