LITR 5439 Literary & Historical Utopias

 Research Posting 2009

Kathryn Vitek

The American Dream: A Cautionary Tale for Utopian Dreamers

            In Plato’s Republic, Socrates outlines the necessities of a state for the purpose of investigating justice and injustice. As he narrates his outline, he comes to differentiate between a state and a luxurious state, pointing out that, “in such a [luxurious] State we shall be more likely to see how justice and injustice originate.”  The oration leads the reader to the conclusion that greed is the root of all evil in a society.  This realization manifests itself most prominently in the United States of America.  Our country is one of the wealthiest in the world. Knowing that, immigrants come to America in the hope of being able to create a better, richer life. However, despite our reputation for wealth and luxury, we also have a disturbingly large number of people living below the poverty line. The gap between the rich and the poor in this country is enormous. That fact alone supports Socrates’ point that injustice can be seen most clearly in a luxurious state. But how did there come to be such injustice in a country founded on the principal that all men are created equal? How could such solid ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence lead our citizens astray? The disconnect between what our founding fathers intended to create and what has actually evolved from their ideas led me to this question:

How might the evolution of the American Dream lend insight into the downfall of historical utopias?

            Contrary to popular assumption, the concept of the “American Dream” is a fairly recent one.  It was coined in 1931 by James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic of America. Adams’ goal in his book was to explain what made America unique. He ultimately based the explanation on “that American dream of a better, richer, and happier life for all our citizens of every rank.” He points out that no other country has such a nationwide concept of prosperity and well-being. Other countries obviously do encourage people to strive for success, but America differs in that it dreams on a communal scale. We expect all people to “pull themselves up by their boot straps,” not just a few. Adams points out that our collectiveness began even before our ancestors reached American soil. “[Their] migration was not like so many earlier ones in history, led by warrior lords with followers dependent on them, but was one in which the common man as well as the leader was hoping for greater freedom and happiness for himself and his children.” This thought parallels the goals of members of intentional communities. Whether discussing historical or literary utopias, all members of the group are on an equal footing. The very foundation of the “Utopian Dream” is collective well-being. Framed this way, it almost becomes difficult to distinguish between the two dreams.

            The difference lies in the greed and material luxury that incorporated itself into the American Dream. It must be noted that when Adams made his observations, he did include the idea of richness as an element of the dream. However, “[He] was careful not to overstate what the dream promises (Kamp).” Adams identified, “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement. [My italics]” In dreaming the American dream, people seem to have forgotten that last part. They choose not to acknowledge that, “A ‘better and richer life’ is promised, but for most people this won’t be a rich person’s life (Kamp).” That misconception has led to a lot of disappointment. If one assumes that the American Dream has not been fulfilled until we are all living in luxury, the dream will absolutely never be reached. If the dream has any hope of being fulfilled, it must be realized that comfort and contentment can be achieved without luxury, as they are portrayed in literary utopias. Unfortunately, self-preservation and competitiveness in human nature lead to greed, and that greed has so far prevented the dream from becoming reality. The one place where greed has not been an issue is in literary utopias. Because utopian literature is fiction, its authors are able to extinguish the pesky problem of human nature, whereas historical utopias, and certainly Americans, have failed to do so. Human nature has simply defeated them. Just as Plato asserted so many centuries ago, greed leads to injustice and injustice leads to discontent – the downfall of utopias.

            The American Dream has evolved by incorporating more and more requirements. The Center for the New American Dream states, “Unfortunately, in recent decades the traditional American dream has been displaced by a “more is better” focus that promotes not quality of life, but rather the unbridled production and consumption of stuff.” The initial American immigrants wanted freedom from religious persecution. Then they wanted freedom from British taxes and so ultimately gained independence. It would seem that this was more than they could have hoped for, yet future generations managed to keep inflating their vision. Soon the dream included a house, then a television, then a car, then modern electrical appliances.  Beyond material goods, the dream grew to include visions of equality for gender, sexual, and ethnic groups. Interestingly, these elements of equality came into play after the material elements. Americans set out with a righteous goal in mind. We simply strayed off our intended path and ended up focusing on our desire for material contentedness rather than moral contentedness and equality. It could be argued that we got lost in Adam Smith’s notion that, “by promoting himself, a man inadvertently promotes society more effectually than if he had tried to (Wealth of Nations).” It seems that that logic is ineffectual without proper checks and balances to keep us from tipping the scales.

            Literary Utopias describe places where people have their physical, mental, and emotional needs met. It must be noted though that their needs are not exceeded. Members of utopian communities have comfortable clothing that covers them and protects them from the elements.  They do not have closets the size of bedrooms overflowing with an array of fashionable colors and styles for all occasions. Members have their fill of nutritional foods.  They are not encouraged to eat so much for the sake of pleasure that they develop health problems. Members have different means of transportation.  They do not spend exorbitant amounts of money on status stating pollution sources. The list of excesses in the American Dream compared to the Utopian Dream is extensive. Because of the American Dream’s constant expansion, it remains continually just out of reach. That knowledge supports my final conclusion. The struggle to realize a utopic vision relies partly on the utopia’s inhabitants’ ability to be content with having their basic needs met and on their willingness to sacrifice luxury. If they don’t, they will exceed their boundaries and find themselves in a position of conflict, just as Plato predicted. Those who endeavor to create utopias, whether literary or historical, should look to the American Dream as a cautionary tale of how to stray from their intentions into a tangle of insurmountable (?) complications. 

Works Cited

Adams, James Truslow. The Epic of America. 1931

“A Vision of the New American Dream.” The Center for the New American Dream. 1 July 2009. <www.newdream.org>.

Kamp, David. “Rethinking the American Dream.” Vanity Fair April 2009.

“What is the American Dream?”. Library of Congress. 1 July 2009.

<http://memory.loc.gov/learn/lessons/97/dream/thedream.html >.