Objectify This

The American Dream has great power. Merriam-Webster defines it as “an American social ideal that stresses egalitarianism and especially material prosperity”; but this is incomplete.

The American Dream is also bound up in those four words, “the pursuit of happiness,” an “unalienable right” guaranteed by the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson and Franklin elided our right to “the means of acquiring and possessing property,” a phrase appended by the shorter-sighted or more egalitarian George Mason. For those guys, egalitarianism was only extended to other rich, anglo-saxon protestant males.

The idea of pursuing happiness without a material basis is so contradictory as to be comical to us, apparently. This fact should be sad, since not we do not grant everyone enough material goods to survive, let alone be happy. For brilliant blues/spoken word poetry on this topic, see Gil Scott-Heron (who wrote The Revolution Will Not Be Televised)‘s recent album, I’m New Here.

But the pursuit of happiness is a serious hunt. Witness this brilliant Nutrigrain advertisement (after the jump); which also demonstrates the hyperbolic humor of Sarah Haskins, Arrested Development, or The Mighty Boosh. It’s a shame that there isn’t advertising that’s this awesome in our lives every day. Hat tip to Davi and Katie for bringing it to me.

If it’s true that, once we have enough to survive, potential happiness has less to do with material possessions than with attitude, in the end, we answer to ourselves.

And that seems to be what more and more people are doing, at least in the U.S.. I should pause here and specify, since I apparently have not done so elsewhere in this blog, that Americans are technically those who reside anywhere in North or South America, as my South American friends rightfully point out. It’s a fairly significant oversight that our language doesn’t have an accurate adjective for ourselves which many languages do have —for example, in Spanish, it’s estadounidense.

But back to the hunt for happiness –a recent study by the Pew Research Center describes the “Millenial Generation” , who are now between the ages of 18 and 29, as the most diverse generation in U.S. history; only 61% white, 19% Hispanic, 14% black, and 5% Asian. That contrasts with those 30 and older, a group that is 70% white.

We “Millenials” are significantly more tolerant of others’ differences, and we generally believe that gay and interracial marriages are, or at least, can be beautiful things. We’re all about technology: 83% of us sleep with our cellphones nearby. We are also “expressive” (they explain: 38% of us have a tattoo), and more liberal than previous generations. We voted 2 to 1 for Obama. More of us are in school than ever before, and we are on track to become the most educated generation in our history. We’re less likely to have a full-time job, partially due to the recession and school—but we have good values. We are less likely to seek high-income work, and instead, we seek happiness, or report as much to researchers.

While it’s clear that this ad mocks other crazy ads suggesting that happiness can be bought, it also suggests, on some obvious levels, that it can. Take it with a grain of salt—to be honest, I’m just grateful that it advocates agency while mocking crazy gender stereotypes. Enjoy.