What happened to my America?
When did it slip away from us? The American dream, the idea(ideal) that our generation would do as well as, if not better then the previous generation? Perhaps we can not go back there because it never was there to begin with and if and when we arrive there, would we recognize what we found?
I grew up in the 1970ʼs(actually the 60ʼs really ended in 1972) in the west mount airy section of Philadelphia. This time and place was the epitome of what I thought-was raised to believe- was the American idea (people working smart and hard ,learning, playing together). The mass influx of people who moved in then embodied this belief. More to the point, everyone worked.they were john the architect, or jane the officemanager. They were city workers, business owners.They took pride in their work because it was one,valued by the society for the contribution it made to making the American ideal strong,prosperous and defined, second it became an extension of themselves and no one wanted to contribute less.
technology was there(seen as) a way to assist them in being the best that they could be, not as competition to do their job/service as cheap as possible. we learned being doing , not by participating. the difference? one is actual engagement,where the individual is challenged to use their mind and ability to complete the task at hand with the goal to benefit everyone. the other is when the group decides what to do-with assistance-to complete the task where the goal ends up benefiting a particular individual or group.
We also learned together how to play “games”, now we learn by ourselves on a screen how to play these “games”. The significance? We have become detached socially, ethically and morally. Unable to reason and think, to separate fact from fiction, truth from distortion. So this “how to” that we use to(whether or not we realized) take with us thru out our lives, transitioning these skills from play time to work time have been “outsourced” by the very technology that was suppose-we bought into- to assist us in achieving our America. We have watched as our drive, perseverance and gumption have been hijacked by laziness, lack of ambition and easy distraction.
When all of the gratuitous self serving rancor surrounding the affects and effects that technology has reined upon us is
striped away; what is, what has been and and what shall be its influence on the American idea(ideal) past, present and future? Our past-what has been- is tethered to many important events, one which was the great depression and second, the rise of the middle class in the 1950ʼs. Much of our current economic, social and moral policies, programs and philosophies are rooted in the psychological impact and aftermath caused by the great depression. The impact and aftermath was(continues to be) severe because the technology available did not/could not/was not able to give America a hand up, let alone a hand out of the immediate effects caused by the depression. Our American ideal(technology) which was suppose to lead overnight became a nightmare, opportunity turned into desperation, optimism into despair- between 1929-1932 family income fell 40%-advancement was pushed aside by survival. Any of this sound familiar?
The second great event-what has been- that looms over us today was the affects/ effects of the rise of the middle class in the 1950ʼs. this growth came about thru the convergence of several events; first,older americans who had grown weary from the great depression and the second world war (americans across the board were ripe to pursue the politics of tranquility), second the massive influx(pent up demand for goods and services) of the veterans returning from europe and the pacific, lastly (most significantly) the introduction of automation on a massive scale. along with these self regulating machines, was the introduction of computers to run thesemachines/do tasks normally performed by people.this was a critical juncture, because it was here that the the American ideal - people working smart and hard together to make a better American for all- was replaced with the NEW ideal: two distinct classes of workers; first was white collared professionals who embodied self centered consumption fueled by a desire to be anonymous,detached, focused only upon what they could do for themselves. the second was blue collared working people who figuratively/literally over night saw the pride that they had in their work/profession (and that was valued by the greater society) replaced by scorn by the same society that now placed value on how much and what this new technology of automation/ computers could provide for them. what today is seen as a country divided into technological haves and haves nots,more so then-or combined with- the obvious dichotomy of rich and poor had its start more then 50 years ago. We have run out of sand to stick our heads in.
What is our present and future? We as a nation and people have discarded the antiquated industrial revolution and are entrenched in the technological revolution. Without regard to learning any lessons from the past. The technology that we have experienced and lived thru was seen (wether or not it did) as a means and method to lift out and up our entire american society. There were choices we had(service or professional) to make a living, to make a life for ourselves. Now the computer driven technology we are experiencing is simply replacing those who can not/are not able to change. where will we go? what shall we do to make a living?
The number of people who are officially in poverty is 42.5 MILLION Americans(or one out of every nine people you meet are living in poverty). add to that those who are just making it or are a pay check away from...Then it becomes one in six people.The American ideal is in dramatic flux. whatever form it has taken for us is firmly wedged between the second great depression were in and those who are(have been)in charge saying better days are coming..when? The new GREEN jobs are for whom? how many short order cooks, waitresses or janitors are going to be(have been) retrained for these positions? We must recognize that technology has not/will not/can not employ everyone who must have-needs-employment. technology that is just a means to an end, an end that is squeezing and outsourcing the life out of the american ideal, the one where I-we- could make a life as good as if not better then our parents, must -has to-be put in check. The fact that we are aware that are society is crumbling, that we are unable or worse un willing to put any regulation on technology,to let it run amuck because anything that incumbers are free will to do as we please is..
