April 28, 2008

A Lesson on the American Dream

By George Lightbourn

OK, we get it.  And more of us are getting it every day.  We know that if we are to succeed, it will be due mostly to our own guile and initiative. 

We know that if we have to depend on government to make things better, we are only setting ourselves up for disappointment.  The reality of the bootstraps economy, once only espoused by libertarians and conservatives, has begun seeping in as the new reality for all Americans.

That is why I read with such interest a book that a friend recently gave me.  Scratch Beginnings, as distinctive a book as I’ve read in awhile, is the story of a quest to find out whether the American Dream is still alive.

Adam Shepard, instead of using his college degree to find a career, went off to explore that question.  Equipped with only $25 and the clothes on his back, Shepard was plunked down in Charleston South Carolina.  He gave himself 365 days to see if he could get on his feet using only his guile and initiative.  He slavishly eschewed seeking refuge in the comfort of neither his contacts nor his education.  

This likable, naïve goof will remind many readers of themselves at 23.  Devoid of political bias and apparently blind to race, Shepard set out to explore his new world.  “I aim to find out if the American Dream is still alive, or if it has, in fact, been drowned out by the greed of the upper class coupled with the apathy of the lower class.”

Did he cut corners?  Not as far as the reader can surmise.  Young Mr. Shepard spent a fair amount of time living in a shelter (he didn’t shower without his shoes on lest he come in contact with mildewed floor encrusted with discarded Band-Aids and soap chips) and working day jobs.  He learned that there is and endless supply of people willing to take advantage of other people and an endless supply of people willing to be taken advantage of.

Success came to Shepard in small bites.  Setbacks came in capricious gulps.  We follow along as he moves into an apartment and we celebrate along with him as he lands his first real job: moving furniture.  His is a journey few of us would choose as our own.  But his is a journey along a path well worn by generations of Americans. 

Does he make it, does he become a success?  I’d encourage you to pick up a copy of this self-published book to find out.  You’ll find it enlightening if not overly uplifting.  And you will find a story told by a relentlessly honest and open young man. 

Of course, where he finished the race turns out to be almost secondary to the lessons he took from his experience.  In his words: 

“I learned …  that we are a product of our surroundings … if a child grows up among poor attitudes, zero ambition, and parents that say, ‘I ain’t go no sugar,’ then he or she is probably going to one day have a poor attitude, zero ambition and is going to say, ‘I ain’t got no sugar.’

...that life is a bitch.  Everybody faces adversity.  Everybody.  … Or actually, let me rephrase that: life can be a bitch.  It’s all about how we look at things.”

...that we live in the greatest country in the world.  America is more fertile and full of more opportunities than any other country,”

...the ultimate irony of my project is that the American Dream has evolved into so much more than financial ambition. … Coupled with the ideal that you have the freedom to work hard and accomplish what you want in your life, it’s about finding happiness and solace in your present lifestyle.”

Unfortunately, few of us take ownership of our lives…. Nothing is our fault.  We’re fat because of our genetics, we suck at math because we had a bad teacher, and we’re cheating on our wives because they aren’t putting out like they used to.”