“We’re not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that is fairly earned. I do think at a certain point you’ve made enough money, but you know, part of the American way is, you know, you can just keep on making it if you’re providing a good product or you’re providing a good service.” [emphasis mine]
While he did qualify his remarks, I was still struck by that statement because it exposes a bit of his philosophy, and opens up a discussion on the American dream. So what is the American dream? Let's turn to Eddie Izzard for an explanation, who compares the American dream to the European dream:
America, you have the American Dream, you have the American Dream! We haven’t got the European Dream yet, that’s what we’ve got to get; we’ve got to get a dream to build on. You have the American Dream; the dream is to be born in the gutter, and raise, and grow up and get all the money in the world and stick it in your ears and go ( blows raspberry ) The American Dream! A fantastic dream of money in your ears and swimming through fivers. The American Dream!
In Europe… I don’t know, we haven’t got a dream yet. Well, the dream was… (mimics sleeping and dreaming ) “Oh… get off, you fuckin’…! Flag. No! ( wakes up with a gasp )
“Hilda, Hilda, wake up, Hilda!”
“What is it, Dr. Heimlich, you waking-up type person?”
“I’ve dreamed the European Dream. I dreamt that every country in Europe spoke a different language and they hated each other… Oh, that’s true, isn’t it? Yes.”
That was the dream, but now, maybe now, the dream is to be in the South of Europe – to be in Greece, in Italy, in Spain, and to be on a moped with no helmet on, riding along, going, “ciao!”
That’s a pretty cool dream; it’s not much of a dream, but it’s as good as we’vegot so far, and it’s pretty funky, ‘cause when you die… you look a mess, but I don’t know, I just like it. ( mimics riding on a Vespa ) ‘Cause you’re in a fucking hairdryer. There’s dogs walking faster than you! It’s just pretty damn cool for me. That’s the European Dream, thank you very much.
On a personal note, it's not my American dream to make gobs of money. But what Eddie is alluding to in his joke is that with America, the sky's the limit. That optimism is part of our cultural fabric; we simply do not have the fatalism in our culture that plagues many other societies. Most of us believe and smile knowingly when parents tell their kids to work and study hard, and you can be anything you want. Some American dreams are modest. They want a good college education, or to open up their own cozy neighborhood restaurant. For others it's to be the American Idol winner, or a CEO of a multi-national corporation where you can make an unspeakable amount of $ so your family will be insanely rich until the cows come home. The point is, the American dream is precisely that, without limit.
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