This Ain't My American Dream

The current economic "crisis," combined with the tone of the political season, has brought up once again the term, "the American Dream." 

The causes of the crises we are in this week run deep. The majority of America wants to blame these events on the Bush administration and Republican dominance, yet we must admit that the sources of the current economic situation began working years ago, at least during the Clinton administration, possibly earlier than that, as mortgage laws and lending limits were made "easier."

I do wonder how much of the fear in Washington and on Wall Street, which has become panic in much of America, is merely perceived. What is the worst that could happen if the government doesn't intervene at all? Will it send us into another great depression? I don't think so. We aren't having a famine. The bank system is not going to collapse. And I highly doubt that Wall Street is 700 billion dollars in debt. If America merely had confidence in the economy and in Wall Street's ability to come back, would there be a need for a 700 billion-dollar bill? What is odd is that the government talks like this debt on Wall Street is going to be valuable some day. If that is the case, then why don't more private companies like JPMorgan (which bought out Washington Mutual, with its debt) take over?

Those are all interesting questions. What I am intrigued by is what the American Dream has become. In the 1800s and early 1900s, the American Dream was the idea that in America, if you worked hard, you could acheive whatever you wanted. This was markedly different in Europe and Asia, where class systems and oppressive governments prevented the rise of a middle class. In America, even if you were hated, you could achieve a measure of personal security; you could even own your own home and land, provided you worked hard enough and made some sacrifices.

America still rewards hard work. However, the American Dream has changed. The American Dream is now, "I can have, and deserve, anything I want," regardless of the amount of work I put into it. If I want a four-million dollar house, like the ones I see on MTV Cribs, then by-golly, I should have one. If I want a loan for $50000 so that I can trick out my car, then I should be able to get it.

The principle that "I can get nice things if I work hard for them" has fallen by the wayside, and it lies in a shallow grave next to, "If you do not work, neither shall you eat." Our welfare system communicates, "You don't have to work; we'll give you food, housing, and money for luxuries." Our healthcare system, especially where we are heading, communicates, "I deserve the best health care the world has to offer, even if I can't afford the procedures." "Even if I am a lazy, unproductive, self-centered leech, I deserve to be taken care of by those who are hard-working and succeed."

This baffles me. And one political candidate communicates this even more, to the extent that "everyone deserves a college education." I'm sorry, but health care, education, and luxuries are privileges we have because of a history of hard work. 

If I don't value education and don't study, then why on earth do I deserve a college education, and why should it be given to me? If, on the other hand, I am a hard worker, and have studied hard in school, then I can get the scholarships and aid I need to get into most state universities, at the very minimum a community college.

The American Dream has become an expectation of excess. Even those who are wealthy because of hard work expect to be able to buy anything their hearts desire, to gross and grotesque limits.

To Quote Switchfoot:

When success is equated with excess,

The ambition for excess wrecks us.

As top of the mind becomes the bottom line, when success is equated with excess 

When success is equated with excess,

When we're fighting for the Beamer, the Lexus, 

As the heart and soul breath in the company goals, where success is equated with excess

This ain't my American dream

I want to live and die for bigger things 

I'm tired of fighting for just me 

This ain't my American dream

Dressing Up

A while back my brother and his roommate had a costume/housewarming party. (They're Eagle VS Shark fans). I had youth group that night, so I stopped by afterwards, and I had no costume. The next day I started pondering about costumes that I might like to wear at some point in the future, if for no other reason than wearing a costume.

Hilary and I have been getting into Dragonball Z. My friends and I watched Dragonball Z regularly when we were in high school. After a while it got old. When most of the episodes include the same fight sequences, lots of explosions, and repetitious sequences of gawking at the enemy saying, "He's so powerful," it's not hard to imagine why. Still, it is very entertaining. The characters are probably the best part of the show. Anyway, Hilary has been getting just as addicted as I have been. We've kept netflix

 movies for at least a month without watching them, because of the addictive nature of the series. Thanks, Roy!

One night before I got my hair cut Hilary found some of my old hair gel, the type that says, 

"Xtreme: will not budge even after swimming, getting hit on the head with a cast iron skillet, and then run over by a semi." I guess she was bored and not ready for bed yet, because it was near 10:00pm. The next thing I know is she is putting it in my hair, making it stand on end. Then she doubles over laughing, saying that I look like Vegeta. Of course, being the dork that I am, I start shouting, "KAKAROOOOOOT!" in front of the mirror.

So, at some point after my brother's costume party, I started toying with the idea of putting together a Vegeta costume just for kicks and giggles. I just need a blue spandex suit, some white gauntlets, some white boots, and perhaps a motocross breastplate. It would probably cost more than $100 to put the outfit together. 

At this point, you might be thinking, "Trey, could you be a bigger nerd?" The answer is yes: yes, most definitely.

Since it would cost so much, I decided to do a search for Vegeta costumes. This was all I found. Then I remembered the word "cosplay." I had seen it around the internet, often on sites selling, or related to, anime merchandise. So I googled it. 

Apparently, Cosplay (short for costume play) is very, very, very big in Japan and also very popular on the West Coast. There are whole conventions for cosplay. What would one do at such a convention? Wear their favorite or latest costume, of course! The two main genres of costume for cosplay are Anime and Video Games. 

Then I hit the motherload, cosplay.com. First, I did a search for vegeta costumes. They were alright. Then I started clicking on other dragonball z-related costumes, and boy were there a lot of them. Then I found their featured cosplay list—oh my! Some people just have too much time on their hands.

Here are some of my favorites that I found. They made me gawk in wonder.

First, Frieza (first form) from season 3 of Dragonball Z:

Second, one of my favorite video game heroes EVER, Samus Aran:

Agent 47 from Hitman, simple, but amazing:

Ninjya, from Metal Gear Solid:

Spike, Cowboy Bebop:

Princess Zelda, from Twilight Princess

Link, of course:

A Forest Spirit, from Princess Mononoke:

And this is just ridiculous (Gigas, FFXII):

Some thoughts:

What is it about our modern society that makes us want to dress up in fantastic costumes and be someone else? It seems to me that we find our own lives dull and boring. We crave adventure and excitement, and we find it by becoming someone else. Becoming, why aren't we happy with the shape our lives are? Why do we retreat to worlds full of adventure and romance? We all do it. It may be through books. It may be through movies or TV. It may be through video games. 

There is something inherently dissatisfying in our day-to-day lives. I believe it is because we are a compartmentalized, materialistic, closed-system culture. We try to remove all the pain of life, which gives us the illusion that we are immortal. We live and work in concrete jungles, which gives us the illusion that life is mechanical. We live far away from famine, war, catastrophe, etc., though we see it every day; while the problems of the world may make us feel uncomfortable and make us wish we could do something, but we don't know how, and honestly, we would rather not try.

Ultimately, the problem is due to sin. We forget that God has created us as the crown of his creation. We forget we are a part of his grand historical story. We forget the conflict and wars of years gone by and that are being waged this very day. We forget that God is orchestrating it all. We forge that he has ordained all things. Therefore, all things happen for a reason. Boredom and dissatisfaction are results of the fall.

There will be no boredom in heaven. There will be no dissatisfaction in heaven. We will be completely and perfectly content. Life in heaven will be exciting and interesting, because God will be in our midst. We will be able to see clearly his work in us and in history. We will realize fully we are a part of it. Now, whether there will be costume parties in heaven, that remains to be seen.

Disco Baby, yeah!

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Fun Times

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just a picture

Frustration

Well, I have been trying (for ten whole minutes, I think) to load a fancy post with pictures of Amy and Pearce and appropriate text neatly lined up to a corresponding picture. I have found, however, that I am inept when it comes to loading pictures and neatly lined up text.

Some other time I will put up pictures, I guess. Maybe when I have more time and not at the end of a work day AND week when I'm about to lose it anyway. What I'd like right now is a comfy couch, my favorite throw, a good book or movie, and my Husby to snuggle. Not a stupid computer program that can't read my mind.

We had a nice cool spell today. I don't think it got past 80. Of course, this didn't make much difference to me from my vantage point of the freezing office. I was in my shawl as usual.

Trey is reading Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters. I finished it last week and then blazed through Anne McCaffrey's first book in the Dragonriders of Pern series, Dragonflight. After that I picked up Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. As you can tell from the title, it's about something going wrong. I haven't gotten through the first chapter, and I'm so filled with dread that nothing has coaxed me to pick it up again. Trey tried to convince me that it will get better and be okay in the end. But I've read too many Russian novels to believe that. I used to love reading classic literature, but the past several years I haven't been able to bear anything more intense than Jane Austen. I'm not sure why this is. Some day I'd like to be able to get that M.A. I've always dreamed about, but if I can't read a short Russian novel, I don't see much hope there. I used to get really excited about engaging my mind with ideas and concepts that were new or that were expansions on my current understanding. Now all I worry about is doing the laundry and paying the bills on time.

Not sure I'm happy with the direction my priorities are taking.

Of course, Trey has been a good priority to establish. And I should mention that I still do discuss new ideas and concepts, and he is usually the one who instigates such discussions. I'd be totally lost without him; lost from my scholastic self, even.

I am just letting my brain get as out of shape as my muscles. They're so weak that it takes massive effort for even a small workout, which is so pitiful compared to what I used to be capable of that I just give up. Looks like I need self-discipline.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I didn't mean to go into all of this when I started this post, but it's been a nice moment of self-discovery---or self-revelation---or conviction---or something. Thanks.