Before attending this course, I treated the concept of an American dream as something definitely desirable but utterly vague at the same time. Today, when the course is about to end, I still feel somewhat the same about it, despite learning a lot about its origins and nature. However, I do not consider it the absence of any progress; on the contrary, it only proves the great spiritual value of the American dream.
If I were to provide more concrete examples, I would first compare my original vision of it to the Pink Houses song by John Mellencamp. At the beginning of a song’s clip, we can see an older man sitting at the entrance of his house; from the lyrics, we understand that his wife is inside the house (Mellencamp, 2010). It is also apparent that the man is satisfied with his life – the overall image invokes the feeling of serenity. In other words, I interpreted the American dream in its narrow meaning – personal satisfaction with life achievements.
After the course, my scope of satisfaction broadened to envelop humanity as a whole. It can be compared to the ideas shown in the song Imagine by John Lennon. The video clip showcases the house and a happy couple who probably live inside in the same fashion as the already mentioned song (johnlennon, 2016). It provides the starting point for the “evolution” of the American dream.
Lennon expresses the concepts that surpass the individual well-being in the song’s lyrics. Within the lines “Imagine there’s no heaven,” “Imagine there’s no countries,” and “Imagine no possessions,” I see the features of positive globalism and cosmopolitism (John Lennon – Imagine Lyrics | Genius Lyrics). It applies the American dream on the scale of the whole world – common satisfaction with global achievements. Indeed, I do feel the same as Lennon called himself in this song – a dreamer.
The American dream became much more than a simple vision of personal happiness – it became a dream for humanity’s better future. From my perspective, it evolved from an individual’s perception to grasp global well-being. In addition, it still invokes completely the same feeling of serenity and satisfaction as it used to do before I attended the course. In conclusion, I became even more confident in this vision; thus, I will continue to dream and put effort into its achievement, both individually and globally.
References
John Lennon – Imagine Lyrics | Genius Lyrics. (n.d.). Web.
johnlennon. (2016). IMAGINE. (Ultimate Mix, 2020) – John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band (with the Flux Fiddlers) HD [Video]. YouTube. Web.
John Mellencamp. (2010). John Mellencamp – Pink Houses [Video]. YouTube. Web.