How the Other Century Lived

How the Other Half Lives:


The line I was really drawn to in reading Chapters 1-4 was in the third chapter (yeah no page numbers), "The poorest immigrant comes here with the purpose and ambition to better himself, and given half a chance, might be reasonably expected to make the most of it". I found this to be particularly striking because of the differences I see between the immigrants of the turn of the century and the people of today. Riis  seems to agree with Alger, that the American dream is still real, and that one just needs to have the drive and maybe a little luck to achieve it. Today so few Americans are still chasing this dream. They believe that the rights and privileges of American citizenry are obligatory, that they are entitled to them. This cannot be further from the truth. One still needs to WORK for a living, they need to CONTRIBUTE to society in a meaningful way, they can't just party it up like the idiots on Jersey Shore (I know, I'm ashamed I even mentioned that show here too). Thats why I admire the individuals Riis portrays so much more than anyone in my generation (Very stereotypically of course).

The immigrants that Riis shows live hard lives, unfair lives, lives deemed to be of little consequence or meaning, but they fought for what they had. The policies that the government enacted to preserve their lives were just, and long overdue. The contributions they made helped to bring this nation into the modern age. They lived in squalid conditions to be sure, but out of that filth came a generation of men and women who rose above the odds, to "better themselves", and who overcame. They were the true Americans, regardless of their origin of birth.

Ok, that does it for my tirade. How does it make you feel? Do you pity those depicted less? Do you not feel so superior to their conditions? It's humbling to me at least.

Agur,
Jon