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"...they pick it up much faster than the English lads do. Maybe they're just born with the knack." He's talking about guns/marksmanship, and I personally doubt that Americans are just innately good with guns.

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Mikko: Page 4, paragraph 6: "We beleive in the manliness of out men and the womanliness of our women, but we go to extremes of expenses and discomfort to cover and natural evidence that we are either." I did not understand this paragraph and was wondering what it meant.

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Page 10 — "I think that surviving folk tales are directly based on memory." He is saying that stories such as King Arthur are formed from memory, but I  disagree because there are tales about the 1st thanksgiving that are intentionally made up just to foster unity in America despite there being a historical record

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"The home and its equipment are purchased on time and are heavily mortgaged. The earning power of the father is almost always over extended, so after a few years he is not able to keep up the payments on his loans. That is on the losing side." This is totally accurate, especially today with the economy getting out of control regarding inflation, taxes, etc.

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"We are able to believe that our government is weak ... and at the same time we are deeply convinced that it is the best government in the world, and we would like to impose it upon everyone else." I agree with the hypocrisy in the American government, which lasts to this day. I guess we just really don't like to be wrong.

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"It occurs to me that all dreams, waking and sleeping, are powerful and prominent memories of something real, of something that really happened"
I don't agree that people's dreams are all completely based off of past occurrences. Sometimes people have dreams stemming from their imagination and that are unrealistic.

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"There isn't a man among us in ten thousand who knows to butcher a cow..." I think that this point didn't really make sense in today's society. The point above was that Americans so firmly believe we have inherited abilities in nature yet we don't know how to use those abilities but I think that for many people, especially in this community, there is no need to be able to butcher a wild animal so the time changing needs to be taken into account.

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Page 1, "We are able to believe that our government is weak, stupid, overbearing, dishonest, and inefficient, and at the same time we are deeply convinced that it is the best government in the world" it is very true, especially with a lot of people groups that have made headlines recently that they are very contradictory at the moment

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"This pattern of thought and conduct which is the national character is absorbed even by the children of immigrants born in America, but it never comes to the immigrants themselves, no matter how they may wish it; birth on American soil seems to be required."
Coming from immigrant parents myself, I do feel there is a disconnect between our generations. I wonder if the difference is from hearing about the American dream and seeking it out as opposed to experiencing it from birth .

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"Americans seem to live and breathe and function by paradox; but in nothing are we so paradoxical as in our passionate belief in our own myths." Americans, for some reason, seem to spend too much time criticizing and not enough time reflecting on their own actions. Much too enthusiastic about other people changing and not at all about changing themselves. The hypocrisy gets worse when Americans start conflicts because of it.

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"The home dream is only one of the deepset American illusions which, since they can't be changed, function as cohesive principles to bind the nation together and make it different from all other nations." He's talking about the dream of home in America, and I agree that Americans both dream of home/security and bond over that dream.

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"On inspection, it is found that the dream has little to do with reality in American life." This quote is saying how the idea of the "American dream" is something of perfection that is not attainable by humans as we are not perfect. For example, complete productivity 24/7 is not something that we can do and for multiple reasons we find ourselves having to stop but feeling bad for doing so. This is because the American dream is not a reflection of reality but is always conditioned into our minds as true.

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"There is no question that American life is in the process of changing, but, as always in human history, it carries some of the past along with it." I feel like this statement is referenced multiple times throughout the passage. I feel that American society is constantly changing in ways that are more materialistic, but is slow to change beliefs/ideas that have been ingrained for such a long period of time. For example, we tend to cycle through trends quickly, but current laws or policies often represent ideas that are outdated.

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Jane - Page 6: "Since a family's image of success in the world, or status, is to a certain extent dependent on the kind of car the man drives, he was forced to buy a new one whether he needed it or not." I agree with this, because I think that others opinion and status is what drives many people. Many Americans are materialistic and feel the need to be reassured through buying luxury items. 

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Jane - Page 6: "Since a family's image of success in the world, or status, is to a certain extent dependent on the kind of car the man drives, he was forced to buy a new one whether he needed it or not." I agree with this, because I think that others opinion and status is what drives many people. Many Americans are materialistic and feel the need to be reassured through buying luxury items. 

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Paragraph 3 - "Fortunes are spent getting cats out of trees and dogs out of sewer pipes; but a girl screaming for help in the street draws only slammed doors, closed windows, and silence." Though there are a few exceptions, I mostly agree with this statement that society today is unwilling to help other people if it means getting themselves in danger or if it means getting up and having to do work. I do believe some people are kind, but selfishness is pretty ingrained in our society today.

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"Who among us has not bought for a song an ancient junked car, and with parts from other junked cars put together something that would run?" — I thought this line was laughably dated. I know almost no one who could take apart an old car and construct a new one! Is fixing cars a lost art?

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"This pattern of thought and conduct which is the national character is absorbed even by the children of immigrants born in America, but it never comes to the immigrants themselves, no matter how they may wish it; birth on American soil seems to be required." I agree with this phrase and believe that is very accurate because for most immigrants, the American dream seems almost impossible because of several factors, like not fitting in, language barriers and not being able to afford it. On the other hand, immigrants who do end up building up the American dream life seem to go back and appreciate life before. It is a cycle with no guarantee of satisfaction for immigrants.

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"Our lives as we live them would not function without electricity, but it is a rare man or woman who, when the power goes off, knows how to look for a burned-out fuse and replace it." A big portion of the American dream is about self-sufficiency, so I wonder whether it is truly a myth? Are we, as a nation, not nearly as self-sufficient as we claim? How do we measure the amount of self reliance Americans have (considering immigrants as well)?

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"We trample friends, relatives, and strangers who get in our way of achieving [security]." This line sounds pretty extreme. There may be some competition or rivalry between us and our friends, relatives, or strangers, but I wouldn't go so far as to say we "trample" them, especially for reaching a goal like security. I would certainly want my friends and family to be secure alongside me.

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"It is an America dream that we are great hunters, trackers, woodsmen, deadshots with a rifle or a shotgun; and this dream is deeply held by Americans who have never fired a gun or hunted anything larger tor more dangerous than a cockroach." This line shows a way that Americans are overconfident. I agree that they are especially when it comes to confidence about their country compared to other nations.

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"Americans treasure the knowledge that they live close to nature, but fewer and fewer farmers feed more and more people." We just watched advertisements where one of the main themes was connecting with nature and exploration of the environment, yet urbanization, deforestation, and neglect of the environment is becoming more common. America was made out to be a place where people are connected with the Earth, but people don't actually care that much about nature.

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"We are able to believe that our government is weak, stupid, overbearing, dishonest, and inefficient, and at the same time we are deeply convinced that it is the best government in the world, and we would like to impose it upon everyone else." I think this is a really modern idea that is more common than one may think. I think that although people are very (correctly) critical of the government, there is still a sense of pride and nationalism that Americans have for being American. I don't know if I totally agree with the statement that "we would like to impose" our government on other people, however I think that its more about our nationalism despite our own criticisms of America.

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"Americans are remarkably kind and hospitable with both guests and strangers; and yet will make a wide circle around the dying man on the street"
I agree with some aspects of this quote, and the idea that we as Americans are often bystanders in extreme situations, or that we tend to only perform acts of kindness when it allows us to appear as some sort of saint. I'm not totally sure if the idea of the "good samaritan" was what was meant by this quote, or if it was just kind of stating the idea directly spoken in the quote. I also don't know how hospitable Americans really are with guests and strangers...

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"The national dream of Americans is a whole pattern of thinking and feeling and may well be a historic memory surprisingly little distorted." This connects back to the analysis we did with the Duncan Donuts, David Yurman and Levi commerical, of how the idea of the American dream hasn't changed much overtime.

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"We are alert,curious, hopeful, and we take more drugs designed to make us unaware than any other people." This line shows what the massive pharmaceutical industry is doing to us. I agree with this line as it shows the sensitivity and gullibleness of Americans. Americans currently consume 50% of all pharmaceuticals sold in the entire world. The “quick fix” has become “the way” as opposed to modifying lifestyle.

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"These dreams descirbe our vague yearnings toward what we wish were and hope we may be: wise, just, compassionate, and noble." I agree with this that the American Dream or "the American Way of Life" are just general dreams. It doesn't define a single person or group because not only one or a few people live it and its different for everyone. You may not know what yours will look like because as they said it's never exact or clear-cut its something that is practically underterminable until the time comes. The only thing you can dream and hope to be are general describing terms that carry a positive connotation but you aren't yet aware of the specifics that got/get you to that point.

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Migrants who were flown from Texas to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, under a new program by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sued DeSantis, a Republican, and other state officials Tuesday, alleging they were victims of fraud for political purposes.

Alianza Americas, a Chicago-based network of migrant-led organizations, and three migrants who landed in Massachusetts last week on flights chartered by Florida accused DeSantis and his co-defendants of executing "a premeditated, fraudulent, and illegal scheme ... for the sole purpose of advancing their own personal, financial and political interests."

In the lawsuit, which seeks class-action status in Massachusetts federal court, the plaintiffs allege that the "ruse" - which DeSantis claimed credit for as part of his effort to highlight illegal immigration - violated constitutional protections under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments and several federal statutes.

In addition to seeking damages, they are also asking the court to block DeSantis and others named in the lawsuit from "inducing immigrants to travel across state lines by fraud and misrepresentation."

The suit further argues that the money DeSantis used was unauthorized because it "originated from the federal Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund and was therefore subject to its use restrictions."

The lawsuit alleges that the scheme involved DeSantis and other Florida officials worked with unidentified defendants to identify and target migrants by "trolling streets" outside a migrant shelter in San Antonio and other locales and that they lured roughly 50 migrants with McDonald's gift certificates and free hotel stays, with the promise that if they boarded planes to other states they would get jobs, housing, educational opportunities and other assistance upon arrival.

Defendants spent $615,000 chartering the planes and told the migrants they were flying to Boston or Washington, D.C., but they were instead dropped at Martha's Vineyard without food, water or shelter, according to the lawsuit.

"Defendants manipulated them, stripped them of their dignity, deprived them of their liberty, bodily autonomy, due process, and equal protection under law, and impermissibly interfered with the Federal Government's exclusive control over immigration in furtherance of an unlawful goal and a personal political agenda," wrote Oren Sellstrom, the litigation director for Lawyers for Civil Rights, a Boston-based nonprofit legal aid group involved in the lawsuit that is representing migrants who were flown to the Massachusetts island last week.

Taryn Fenske, a spokesperson for DeSantis, said in a statement that the migrants chose to board the flights.

"The transportation of the immigrants to Martha's Vineyard was done on a voluntary basis," Fenske said. "The immigrants were homeless, hungry, and abandoned - and these activists didn't care about them then. Florida's program gave them a fresh start in a sanctuary state, and these individuals opted to take advantage of chartered flights to Massachusetts."

Lawyers for Civil Rights had asked state and federal authorities this week to investigate the flights. The group also posted images of what it said were misleading brochures distributed to migrants to entice them to board the planes.

According to Tuesday's lawsuit, the brochures were among a packet of "official-looking materials" to support the ruse.

DeSantis has insisted that no laws were broken, and he has pledged to continue his administration's $12 million program to relocate migrants.

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Migrants flown to Martha's Vineyard sue DeSantis in class action alleging fraud

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Migrants who were flown to Martha's Vineyard sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials alleging they were victims of fraud for political purposes.

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Opinion | Mental Health Is Political (Published 2022)

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Many in power would prefer to kick questions like "What caused the mental health crisis?" and "Who benefits?" out of sight. Don't let them.