Beyond the American Dream (book review)
What would happen if someone collected most of todays problems
and better ideas from the past mixed it all together with
hundreds of references and tried to form a vision for the
future? It has been done many times and often ends up being
boring and tedious. There are a few good books on this topic
and a new one was just published that is worth reading.
Beyond the American Dream
by: Charles D. Hayes
The conclusion at the end of the book is that we need to
promote learning as a life long quest and stop looking to
experts or structures in society. We are the answer and
our vote matters.
Some quotes from the book:
We have grossly misunderstood the objective of education,
allowing our institutions to focus on credentialing instead
of on the fundamental need for learning that can sustain a
democracy and enable people to live their lives to the
fullest. The external motivators at the heart of our
educational system cause people to conclude that an
education is something you can FINISH even though the
knowledge necessary to maintain a democracy in a highly
technological society escalates daily.
Beyond the American Dream is about vision and values, the
thesis being that what we envision with relish becomes
valuable simply because we see it that way. In other
words, vision and value are so closely related that they
very nearly amount to the same thing. Dreams shape our
future.
Any culture which smothers inquiry sows the seeds of its
own ultimate destruction.
If we become too far detached from our emotions, we mimic
the cold, impersonal logic of our technology, or emulate
artificial intelligence. Indeed, if we are successful in
repressing our emotions deeply enough, we can walk right by
the most unimaginable injustice without feeling or protest.
Cash (symbolic) economies leave plenty of room for
legitimate communal ties, when wisdom is valued more than
material goods (desiring). But societies whose educational
agenda are covert methods of perpetuation the power of the
status quo elevate success (having) as a higher prise than
wisdom.
The media's greatest strength is society's greatest
weakness, namely, the capacity to control perception by
dominating the front pages of our awareness.
Our attitudes and opinions about environmental issues stem
from our inability to be objective -- to see things as they
are, not as we wish them to be. Even those who point to
environmental degradation often fail to see their own
complicity. Everyone who drives a car, rides buses or
planes, uses plastic, produces garbage, and participates in
general in today's society is a part of the problem.
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Jeff Owens ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Zone 7
Underground house, solar energy, reduced consumption, no TV
