American Dreams
A European reflection on a lifelong connection to the United States
AMERICAN DREAMS 🇺🇸
When I was eight, America was a magical place. It was unreachable and unreal. My father had been there in '71 and brought a small booklet with photos of Disneyland; I still remember each photo.
At 20, I traveled by bus from NYC to California and loved every minute of it. After two months, I returned by bus and reluctantly picked up my studies again in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Throughout my thirties and forties, I frequently revisited the States for work on the East Coast or exploring New England, the American West, and beyond.
At 48, I lived in New Haven, Connecticut, as a World Fellow at Yale University.
By 58, I had spent years in Canada, acquiring a broader North American perspective.
Today, as the United States decides its future, I wonder where the country lost track of its intended path. Despite my extensive experiences living, working, and traveling there, I can't explain how it got so extreme.
Much of the dream has faded. Studies reveal that the chances of achieving the classic American dream are now far higher in Europe than in the US. Daily, I witness the hatred, calls for violence, and families fracturing due to polarization in American society. I see the toxic exchanges on classic social media; it's why you increasingly find me here in this anger-free environment of Substack.
At 59, I am on my beloved island to read, write, and reflect. Far from this tranquility, America votes today for joy or anger, wisdom or impulsivity, respect or misogyny, and the preservation or demise of democracy.
My eight-year-old's Disney-inspired vision of America never truly existed. However, the America I discovered during that transformative summer of 1986 was authentic. The friendships I've forged across the US since then, the awe-inspiring landscapes, and the unique culture all remain real.
I would regret losing this version of America—the one I've come to know intimately over the past four decades. I write this as evening descends on my European island; I anticipate waking at night to check the news.
I fervently hope that wisdom prevails.
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Note:
Some paid subscribers are not on Substack notes. Therefore, I shared this long note as a newsletter so that everyone would receive it (perhaps you would prefer me to say that I shared this short newsletter as a long note).
Although you are European and, more precisely Dutch, the magic and beauty you found in America is still alive in you.
The artificial things like Disneyland are fun illusions that delight children and even the child within us. But the things you found as you traveled are the true magic to hold onto and believe in.
It’s disillusioning to find the things we thought were real are actually facades. But looking beyond, one can still find the true magic if we persist.
That’s what you do and sharing that magic is your special gift.
In most situations there are elements of darkness waiting a chance to reveal their daunting hate and ugliness. That is what Donald Trump has brought to America. He opened the Pandora’s Box of the worst of humanity, a reflection of himself, and gave it permission to walk boldly among us. It has become the nightmare that haunts everything that has ever been good in this country.
We have a chance to reclaim some of the magic in this election by electing Kamala Harris as President and stuffing Trump back down the hole of hate and evil. I am holding onto hope that wisdom will prevail and we can celebrate a rebirth of what’s been lost.
Hoping America will one day again be magical