Not living the American dream

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Gob
Posts: 33646
Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 8:40 am

Not living the American dream

Post by Gob »

While one in every seven Americans lives below the US poverty line, their stories remain largely untold.

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For Danish photographer Joakim Eskildsen, what he witnessed traveling around New York, California, Louisiana, South Dakota and Georgia for seven months was a far cry from the 'mythical' images he associated with the US as an outsider.

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But he found the American Dream was persistent within the country as well, working as a dangerous set of ideals that did not account for the realities of more than 45million people.

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Eskildsen, whose photographs are featured in the book American Realities, described his experience as 'heartbreaking' and said: 'The influence of the mass media is massive. Many people experience themselves as losers since they cannot live up to the ideals that are presented to them on TV.'


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“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”

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dales
Posts: 10922
Joined: Sat Apr 17, 2010 5:13 am
Location: SF Bay Area - NORTH California - USA

Re: Not living the American dream

Post by dales »

Sixty million doesn't go as far as it used to:

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Your collective inability to acknowledge this obvious truth makes you all look like fools.


yrs,
rubato

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RayThom
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Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2012 4:38 pm
Location: Longwood Gardens PA 19348

Not Living The American Dream

Post by RayThom »

The American Dream: The quintessential carrot and stick.

"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."
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“In a world whose absurdity appears to be so impenetrable, we simply must reach a greater degree of understanding among us, a greater sincerity.” 

rubato
Posts: 14245
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 10:14 pm

Re: Not living the American dream

Post by rubato »

But he found the American Dream was persistent within the country as well, working as a dangerous set of ideals that did not account for the realities of more than 45million people.
Dangerous ideals?
'The influence of the mass media is massive.
Visual media, he really needs to stick to visual media.


yrs,
rubato


Mind you, I agree with his overall point. And being Danish he has seen how a far better society can be made to work.

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