Page 63 - Šolsko polje, XXVIII, 2017, no. 3-4: Education and the American Dream, ed. Mitja Sardoč
P. 63
m a City on the Hill to the Dungheap of History
An Interview with Peter McLaren
Mitja Sardoč
What you think is the essence of the American Dream, i.e. what it
stands for?
The concept of the American Dream is one of the most recognizable polit-
ical hieroglyphics of what it means to live in a free market democracy—the
standard by which all other countries should be judged. It is emblemat-
ic of the successful market democracy built upon the foundations of ra-
cial equality, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all. The term also
has historically situated value—and if you examine the palimpsest of the
American “good life” you will discover ever fading images of a white fam-
ily, a wood paneled recreational room, a television set tuned to a situa-
tion comedy featuring canned laughter, two cars in the garage (a fami-
ly station wagon and a sports car for the hubby), a home in the peaceful
suburbs, amicable neighbors who graciously take in your empty garbage
cans for you on days that you forget, and enough savings in the bank ac-
count to send your children to a good college—all resting comfortably in
the shade of a tree—the tree of liberty, of freedom of expression, of con-
sumer comforts. It is a concept whose roots are firmly planted in the En-
lightenment, one that is firmly tethered to the ideals of free enterprise and
freedom of expression, and fundamental in shaping the sense of embod-
ied selfhood as American citizens. Those were the 1950s. The concept now
serves as a chimera of cynicism, to be manipulated by politicians bought
and paid for by transnational corporations—most progressives and rad-
icals in the U.S. recognize this. It is a term that describes frozen ideals
rather than contextually specific realities—that the grass is always greener
on the other side (and Americans always love to manicure their suburban
61
An Interview with Peter McLaren
Mitja Sardoč
What you think is the essence of the American Dream, i.e. what it
stands for?
The concept of the American Dream is one of the most recognizable polit-
ical hieroglyphics of what it means to live in a free market democracy—the
standard by which all other countries should be judged. It is emblemat-
ic of the successful market democracy built upon the foundations of ra-
cial equality, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all. The term also
has historically situated value—and if you examine the palimpsest of the
American “good life” you will discover ever fading images of a white fam-
ily, a wood paneled recreational room, a television set tuned to a situa-
tion comedy featuring canned laughter, two cars in the garage (a fami-
ly station wagon and a sports car for the hubby), a home in the peaceful
suburbs, amicable neighbors who graciously take in your empty garbage
cans for you on days that you forget, and enough savings in the bank ac-
count to send your children to a good college—all resting comfortably in
the shade of a tree—the tree of liberty, of freedom of expression, of con-
sumer comforts. It is a concept whose roots are firmly planted in the En-
lightenment, one that is firmly tethered to the ideals of free enterprise and
freedom of expression, and fundamental in shaping the sense of embod-
ied selfhood as American citizens. Those were the 1950s. The concept now
serves as a chimera of cynicism, to be manipulated by politicians bought
and paid for by transnational corporations—most progressives and rad-
icals in the U.S. recognize this. It is a term that describes frozen ideals
rather than contextually specific realities—that the grass is always greener
on the other side (and Americans always love to manicure their suburban
61
