The American Experience

As the second quarter of AP Lang finally comes to a close, my thoughts on the "American experience" have changed. But first, what does the American experience actually mean? Some may confuse it with the American dream, but is it possible to have a collective American experience? Does the American experience even exist? It seems quite ridiculous, to imagine that everyone in the United States experiences the same events with the same reactions. In fact, no one person will ever experience something in the same way as another, regardless of how alike they are. However, the key word to the American Experience is collective. While most people disregard the concept of an American Experience solely on the fact that everyone does not experience uniformly, it does not necessarily mean that the American experience is nonexistent. To determine what the American Experience is, means to define what the collective atmosphere of a certain time period for the majority of the American population was or is.

I originally thought that the American experience was characterized by hardships, the ability to overcome, and the ability to progress. Certainly, these characteristics can still be applied in today's world, but is it truly the experience for the majority of Americans in contemporary society? Considering that the majority of the population is of middle class (something I had not taken into account before), it seems that my original idea of the American experience must change. As a part of this majority, I see the American experience as a kind of entitlement and comfort. Despite the ongoing economic recession, we still seem to have enough money to buy the latest iPad or the newest Ugg boots. We have become more immune to the notion that we live in the land of milk and honey, which isn't necessarily false. But, can you imagine a life without your cell phone or laptop? Probably not. It's not just the notion of entitlement that characterizes the American experience, but the things we think we are entitled to. We have come to think that the soap we discard in hotel bathrooms are worthless, but in actuality, there are people on the other side of the world who can't even imagine what soap smells like. They don't have the luxury of using soap. When we think about the term: luxury, images of driving an expensive car come to mind. America has raised the standards so that the necessities in life are merely the bare minimum while the luxuries are merely the standard. Even the 99% that many people fight for in the Occupy Wall Street Movements are far better off than most people in the world. When people say "having an iPhone is a necessity", it becomes evident that today's collective American experience is epitomized by entitlement and comfort.