What do others think about the AWOL?

What is the American way of life? Is it “A house on one acre, with a trophy wife and two kids?” Is it freedom to what one wants?
To answer this question I interviewed five people, my mother, two fellow students, and three men that I asked randomly on the street, so my data is fairly limited. A trend that I noticed was that those who criticized the AWOL removed themselves from their opinions whereas those who seemed somewhat or genuinely positive about it tended to personalize their answers. Two of the people I interviewed openly criticized the AWOL and demonstrated this.
My own mother, a woman with 51 years of experience and thought, was quick to criticize the AWOL by calling it “Overindulgent, ethnocentric, and isolationist.” She feigned almost any responsibility and involvement in her characterization, and when asked if she lived a typical AWOL she hesitantly answered: “Probably. We live beyond our means, which is what most Americans tend to do…” then she quickly added, “In some ways we do not.” When I asked one of (Jack) the student the same question he raised his hand to his chin, stroking it in thought. It took him a minute to regain his composure, then he answered: “Its self centered to say that one is unique, we all think we are special but we really aren’t.” Does he live a typical American way of life? He almost avoided answering it so he would not be included in his own negative portrayal of the AWOL. Both of them were very ambiguous with the answers, there was a almost a tug of war between the need to prove their point and their own self respect.
The other three people that I interviewed were very supportive of the AWOL. These people stated that they live a typical AWOL. The first man that I interviewed was a middle aged, working class, Hispanic male smoking in front of a Duane Read in paint covered clothing. He said that the AWOL was working hard to succeed, being happy with ones kids, and admitted to living his life the way a typical American would. While this mans answers were very succinct he also provided me with some understanding of the American working class. While the others I interviewed in this category thought of the AWOL as the freedom to do what you want, this working class man was happy with getting by. A middle aged, white, male working as a door man said that as Americans we are given “Freedom. We have choices, we aren’t a dictatorship…You can do anything you want.” This man had a very positive outlook whereas the working class man seemed as if he was just going along with it to be able to support he and his family. People who work more simplistic jobs such as the working class man, didn’t seem so sold on the AWOL. The doorman looked as if he probably made more money than the other man, which in our capitalist society equals more comfort. Someone who is more comfortable in America is more likely to be supportive of their countries path while someone like the working class man that I talked to, is less supportive of it because he is not benefiting from it.
Obviously whether or not one benefits from their government is a major factor in whether or not they support the AWOL. My mother, and my parents in general are not very comfortable, we don’t have much money and care little for material possession, so the American capitalist system doesn’t necessarily work for us. We are also small business owners in a dog eat dog society, and people like my mother, and the working class man, dislike the competition. On the other hand somebody who is well situated and doesn’t have as many challenges to face is more likely to be supportive of a society that works in their favor. My good friend David lives on the upper east side, owns his apartment, and his mother receives a pension for her job, and his opinions are far more different than mine. Sometime ago he and I had a conversation on whether or not we thought our country should supply welfare to lower class family. While I spoke in favor of welfare reforms, he spoke against them, saying that people in that situation are there because they did not work hard enough. So one can assume that social class has an important role in peoples decision making process’.
Chris Mathews stated that during times of economic depression the middle class tend to be very liberal, and during times of economic prosperity they tend to be very conservative. I know that when Bill Clinton was president my mothers characterization of the American lifestyle was far more positive. We owned a large chain of restaurants and were very well off economically, but when we lost our business and George Bush came into the white house, she became more cynical of our country. This change in circumstance resembles Chris Mathews’ statement. She now states that if Barrack Obama becomes president, her faith in America will be restored. But will a change in government really change that much about the AWOL? A president can only do so much, pass and veto laws, give consent for war, monitor Americans behavior, but control the very way people live their lives? It seems unlikely.






Keep in mind that this is a very rough, first draft, so be very critical.