The Revered in America

The American Dream. Being President. Getting into Harvard. Getting into any Ivy League or good college.  Getting a job.  Getting good grades.

There are many aspects in American culture that are highly revered, like the ones listed above.  Of course, none of these in and of themselves are bad, but there is a lot of bad pressure for people to accomplish them.  Not everyone can get into Harvard.  Not everyone can be the president.  Those are the more astronomical goals that parents have for their kids, or that the kids have for themselves.  More realistic goals would be to get good grades and to work your hardest.

Having a good, strong work ethic is highly valued.  It’s all apart of the formula for the American Dream: work hard, do your best, don’t give up, and it’ll all pay off someday and be worth it.  For good ethics, you’re not supposed to cheat: it’s unethical.  However, that doesn’t stop the thousands of students each year who cheat on tests like the SATs and the ACTs, which are a big weight in your college package.  Some kids don’t care about cheating; as long as they get the grade, it wouldn’t put one scratch on their conscience.  In September I was attending a meeting for the SAT class I was going to take and the woman speaking was stressing the importance of a good score and how if your grades weren’t top-top that having a strong SAT score would be very appealing to colleges.  I accidentally heard the mother next to me whisper to her daughter, “I don’t care if you have to cheat.  You have to get at least a 2200 if you even want to think about Georgetown.”  At first I was shocked.  What parents encourages cheating? Especially on the SAT where your cheating not only effects you but everyone else in the BUILDING you took it in.  Your selfishness would put at least 100 other people in jeopardy. Last time I checked, colleges didn’t revere cheating. 

If you’ve ever watched American television, you would have noticed that for whatever reason, we have a thing for “reality” shows.  Keeping up with the Kardashians, Teen Mom, The Bachelor, Jersey Shore, Honey Boo Boo, etc. These people have absolutely no talent and don’t really offer anything to the world, except a glimpse at their drama-stricken lives.  But we still care about them, worship them, and keep watching them.  How are those people revered in American society?  They don’t contribute anything but their lifestyles become the epitome of what we, “average citizens,” should strive for.  They don’t have any qualities that Americans are supposed to admire, yet to many, they are Gods.

In my opinion America does hold some good values, such as working hard and being able to change your life, though many ideals what were once revered in a good way have now become warped.  For example, of the girl at the meeting, the goal of getting a high score on the SAT is a very commendable goal, but if you don’t believe enough in yourself to do this and you therefore resort to cheating, then your honest goal has become twisted.  Paul Revere definitely wouldn’t revere that.