FUTURE

The Universal Human Dream

Impact of stereotypical attitudes and behaviors on American dream

The American dream is no longer the universal human dream.

Stereotypical attitudes and behaviors such as selfishness, bigotry, arrogance, degrading behavior towards others, thoughtlessness in small and large, ignorance and racism, ethnocentric behavior abroad , and also at home — have they killed the idea of the American dream?

One of the biggest problems the world is facing today is a man, the person who has the role of President of the United States today — and perhaps for four more years?

Or is the problem larger than the person, the individual?

— Of course it is! Of course, the problem is bigger than the man, the individual!

If a person with character traits like this man were the prime minister in my country, Norway, or in almost any other country, I would hardly have bothered to think so much about this. In any case, I would not have bothered to write this article. But when Donald Trump is president of the country that after World War II has been the number one superpower in the world, well then it is necessary to care!

One question that I need answered is whether there is anything special and characteristic of American society, of the American way of thinking that explains why the type of behavior that Trump represents actually receives broad support in the country.

He is a president who, time and time again, speaks derogatory, unjustifiably and falsely, with racist overtones and degrading characteristics.

He is a leader with clear dictatorial features and a penchant for fascist solutions. He speaks systematically in a derogatory way about people who disagree with him, and yet he is supported by a large number of voters in the country that we in a long life have read admiring stories about, looked up to, and were fond of and grateful for America.

America, yes! How can it be that such a man is trusted by large masses of voters?

Is it perhaps the case that American society and people are largely characterized by stereotypical attitudes and behaviors such as selfishness, bigotry, arrogance, degrading behavior towards others, thoughtlessness in small and large, ignorance and racism, ethnocentric behavior abroad , and also at home?

I don’t think so. I don’t think American citizens generally speaking are like that!

Is it perhaps the case that in parts of American society one encounters unexpectedly many people who have personal characteristics and attitudes characterized by the individual cultivating himself and very often put his own needs before the needs of the community? Is it perhaps the case that in this country there are very many people who on a daily basis have a demeanor and behavior with basic narcissistic traits?

I hope not!

But I need to write these questions! Could some of these elements be a part of the explanation for why Trump has succeeded in gaining power in the United States?

Although the term “The Ugly American” is commonly associated with and used by American travelers and tourists, it also applies to American military and cultural imperialism, and so it does to American companies in the international arena.

What is it about American culture? What is so special about it?

There are many positive aspects of American culture, such as the widespread, positive attitude towards volunteering (which is otherwise strongly based on and motivated by the state of society, especially the fact that so many fall outside in economic and professional life).

Strongly rooted in American culture is the idea that you should be able to create and shape your own life and your own success:

You are the smith of your own success.

All of these are things that we have learned about America through our upbringing. I grew up in the 50s in Norway, and when before Christmas we got the America package from my mother’s aunt who was married and lived in the USA, it was always great fun! We were very curious to look at the exciting things that were inside the package that came from America.

Countries in Europe also received large handouts from America in the form of the Marshall aid that was established by the United States after the end of World War II. The Marshall Plan was the large-scale American aid program in which America from 1947 helped Europe obtain the necessary goods for the reconstruction after the devastation of the war.

Aid helped stabilize both the economic and political situation in Western Europe, and both Europe and many countries and peoples in the world are largely grateful to the United States for this important aid in a situation where many countries were devastated and low.

For most of my life — as I have experienced it — America has played a key role in the struggle to preserve freedom, promote justice and create peace in the world.

But the country, through its status as a superpower and its expansive economic and military policy, has also committed major abuses against its opponents, and there is little doubt that the United States in many ways has moved away from the positive, peace-building role since the late 1960s, a role that the country occupied just after the war, among others in the form of the Marshall Plan.

Today, most people have probably realized that America has moved even further away from the generous position the country took just after the war.

For the past four years, the United States has — thanks to Donald Trump — changed from being a leading, dominant world power to becoming a mastodon who talks nonsense as he steps on unstable feet and wanders around the world like a stunned dinosaur — a giant body and a tiny brain.

The United States has given itself a president who has practiced a headless policy — or rather has failed to pursue a responsible policy, a president who instead has focused mostly on himself and his own needs and desires.

With this man as president, the country has taken great strides away from the role that the country has played in the post-war period, ie a clearly leading role in world politics in the world community.

We see that there are very many in the United States who are critical of and who are concerned about this development, and who want this man by all means not to be re-elected this autumn.

But there are also many in the country who still support this candidate. And this is pretty amazing! After four years in power where he has revealed very clearly who he is and what he stands for, there are still many who want him as president.

This is very disturbing, and important questions to ask are:

Why is it like that?

- Why is it that so many people in America still support Donald Trump?

How is it possible that this happens?

- Could it be that it is in the American culture, not to say in the American people’s soul?

You may believe in the American Dream that says that you are the smith of your own fortune. That everyone can succeed. Everyone can get rich. Everyone can become a millionaire, almost overnight.

This is something that characterizes American society, and it also characterizes the content of American publication channels, for instance, Medium, where we can read very many articles by very many enterprising young men and women who work hard to bring out the message in the American dream, namely that everyone can succeed.

If you just work hard enough, if you just stand on, etc., etc., then you realize yourself and your potential, and that’s the American dream.

We in the West — and perhaps also today, in 2020, human beings all over the world — are in many ways embraced and captured in the American dream.

We need to sort out the positive from the rubbish in that dream, because the American dream contains so much more than the negative that I have highlighted here.

The universal human dream is about realizing one’s potential as a member of the human race, as an individual as well as in society.

We have lived for a long time in a world society that is pluralistic and multifaceted, where it is obvious that there should be room for very many different opinions and points of view.

Today we have a situation where we are facing a possible re-election of the incumbent American president. For many of us, it is almost impossible to imagine that it can really happen because we all see very clearly who this person is and what he stands for. If he gets his mandate prolonged, it would be a disaster for the Americans as well as for the world.

It is very disturbing to think that he can be let through again, that so many people in the United States should choose to support a man with clear harmful character traits that plays a strong part in the policy he pursues (or fails to pursue).

It is disturbing and even a little frightening to think that a large number of voters in the United States prefer to vote for the narcissistic candidate rather than vote for a candidate who stands for democracy, genuine dialogue, cooperation and reconciliation in American society.

It is disturbing to think that the world, as we have seen it and experienced it this year and in the last four years, does not seem to be moving forward, but on the contrary seems to be falling back into a protracted reaction.

Are the roots of this really in American culture?

I refuse to believe that it is as crazy as this!

How can America make the great electorate wake up and realize what it takes to bring the world forward in a development that benefits everyone?