Every holiday season, Hollywood releases a series of good movies. One movie in particular interested me: “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
When I saw the movie, however, I found myself empty and sorely disappointed. It was three hours of wannabe Wall Street big shots taking enough drugs to anesthetize the Eastern Seaboard, screwing every hooker they could find and devoting themselves solely to debauchery and the pursuit of money. No vision, no goal, no plan. Instead, it was just some hard-partying fools trying to sustain the high.
The most disturbing part was that it was based on a true story. The movie was based on the life of Jordan Belfort, former New York stockbroker and founder of Stratton Oakmont Securities. Even after the real Jordon Belfort was caught by the feds for securities fraud and money laundering, he spent a little more than a year in prison and has since returned quite successfully to public life as a motivational speaker.
It’s easy to want to criticize Belfort for his past, but, at the same time, the problem is much larger. As long as Europeans have been coming to the Americas, it has been believed that, upon arrival, the problems of the old world would be long gone. They believed their impoverished past would be behind them and that an easy life was in front of them. Somewhere along the way, this easy life became cemented into our psyche as the “American Dream.” Where once we as a people were driven to accomplish the impossible, now we are lucky if we can make a plan past Saturday.
This malaise and self-serving attitude has infected society. Now the very political system that was created to preserve the rights of our citizens and serve the common good is nothing more than a playground for a select few.
Congressman Trey Radel returned to Congress just recently after leaving rehab for a cocaine addiction. Last year, Congress quietly overhauled the Stock Act, using unanimous consent to protect themselves and staffers from having to disclose financial information that might prove insider trading of information gleaned from committee sessions. Youth involvement in politics has turned into nothing more than cheerleading for a candidate or party by day, and then partying harder than the largest fraternity or sorority imaginable by night. Was this the goal of our revolution? Was this the dream that so many have fought and died for?
The true American Dream is not that of an easy life, but a better life. It’s the dream of a just people, living in a just nation. It is the manifestation of our destiny and the willingness to sacrifice all happiness and comfort in order to fulfill our ambitions and visions. United, we as a people can create a new world. Before this can be achieved, however, we must take our eyes off the bread and circuses we have been taught to pursue in favor of a great and just society. Otherwise, we shall end up no differently than the republics which have predated us.
Kyle Jones is a sophomore majoring in political science and Spanish. His column runs biweekly.
