Chasing the American Dream

 With the unemployment rate reported at 6.3 percent (as of October 2007), this age-old problem remains unabated. While Pinoys are willing to try their luck in the Middle East or in other Asian countries, it seems the United States remains to be the typical Pinoy’s dreamland – the land of milk, honey and employment. According to the US Census Bureau as of March 2007, the Filipino-American community is the second largest Asian American group in the United States and the largest Southeast Asian American group. Filipino Americans are also the largest subgroup of the Overseas Filipinos.

Immigration stories of young, able-bodied relatives and friends abound in our social networks. It’s feels as if someone close to us is always ready to jet for abroad and leave…like they all do, in pursuit of the American Dream.

The term was first used by James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America, written in 1931. He stated, "The American Dream is ‘that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.’"

According to Wikipedia, the term American Dream has had many shades of meaning throughout American history. Today, it generally refers to the idea that one's prosperity depends upon one's own abilities and hard work, not on a rigid class structure. For some, it is the opportunity to achieve more prosperity than they could in their countries of origin; for others, it is the opportunity for their children to grow up with an education and career opportunities; for others, it is the opportunity to be an individual without the constraints imposed by class, caste, race, or ethnicity. In general, the American Dream can be defined as having the opportunity and freedom that allows all citizens to achieve their goals in life through hard work and determination alone. In the 19th century, "rags to riches" stories of business tycoons like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, as well as popular fiction writers like Horatio Alger, contributed to the belief that talent and hard work could lead to riches.

But that’s just one way to look at it. In a class, one of my sister’s professors who had worked in the USA for some time said that working there teaches one to be materialistic. You are told you can have everything you want, but the fine print says ‘on credit’. Some say that the American Dream has become this pursuit of material prosperity: People work long hours and double shifts to get bigger cars, nicer homes, and pay off debts, but have less time to enjoy their prosperity. The working middle class are always on the run, on the go, always rushed. It’s a harried, busy life fueled by coffee and greasy food. Sure they have classy cars and neatly mowed lawns, but many can barely afford to get a medical check-up, much less pay for out of savings. It’s a mixed bag of Filipino immigrant stories: Some encouraging, others terribly disappointing.

Yet others still look to the American Dream like it’s manna from heaven. For those who have nothing but ambition, America beckons. It’s the open highway and the land of second chances. It’s the place where relatives have struck gold and where you’re invited to dig up some, too.

For countless Filipino hopefuls, that’s the great American Dream. Is it also yours?

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