Marxist Analysis of the American Dream

Marxist

Capitalism and its values revolve around material possessions and their acquisition. In this society, the poor man strives to be rich, and a powerless man to gain power. Many of these people however don’t have access to these privileges, and so to be one of the few taking the limited seats of wealth and power they compete, most often times against each other. Such environments are not only often times promote conflict but confrontation as well, and many times the winners of these altercations are relishing in “The American Dream” While capitalism promotes the belief that this dream is achievable, it is more often than not, a literal dream, and leaves its pursuers poor, and weak. This keeps the working class powerless, and pacified to propagate capitalistic values.

Clean cut examples of this are cases in such societies where people do not have the chance to advance but have the chance to succeed. A strange position that seems to contradict a culture that’s “Dream” is to be powerful and wealthy at he top of the ladder. Many people in these positions only perceive themselves to be succeeding but in actuality, they are failing at achieving what they most desire, and not knowing. “Success” and “Advancement” have attempted to be separated in this scenario, and keep the working class placated to ensure the wealthy upper class has little or no threat of takeover, or integration. Materialism often plays a large role in keeping this cycle in progress, as not having material goods, and money, even if only in small amounts and increments means not succeeding. Even moderate success is prized in a capitalistic society; as such a place promotes poverty amongst other social ills.

A real world example of this is the middle manager at a fast food restaurant. They are not doing badly for themselves; they have a small amount of power, and a greater sum of money and power then their subordinate counterparts. A job opening is available to advance themselves out of their current position, while giving them an opening for advancement previously not possible. This is overlooked however as they currently “succeed” at what they do. This is a grave misconception that leads people to believe that success is too hard earned to let go, and that competition is too steep to overcome. It is however a primary tool in keeping the American dreams out of reach of those who aspire to reach it.

In a capitalistic economy, driven by materialism and greed it’s easy to see how competition can be steep, and even overwhelming. Many aspiring for the American dream find themselves in the above position, often times succeeding without advancement, for fear the competition is too steep, and the resources too little. Although entrepreneurship has become a booming industry in America, and all capitalistic governments, it seems that corporations, or large business has all the advantages, often times running smaller companies into the ground, buying them out, or offering prices, or deals that can’t be competed against. People see the American dream as just in front of their reach is situations like this, when in actuality they are separated by miles of competition that is far too steep, or unfair. Materials are sometimes presented to those who wish to attempt competition, but most times it is unfortunately unfair. Situations like this also promote each party to do whatever it takes to succeed, even if that may be immoral, or inappropriate. The competition sometimes gets too intense for the average person, especially without the proper utensils