From the selfie culture to the Obama Presidency, the bankrupted argument is rising, one of self-definition and redefinition, as though we own nothing to past generations, or future considerations.
Jenner, Szegedi, USA: There's More to Identity than "I"
One crucial tenet of the American Dream, and by extension our country’s political temperament, is the notion of “self-made man.” From the Puritanical and then Protestant Work Ethic, to Emerson’s featured essay “Self-Reliance”, to latent talent of young immigrants turning into wealth, fame, and influence now celebrated on “American Idol”, making something of ourselves is a theme as American as apple pie (and Johnny Appleseed, by extension).
