Epilogue

Abstract

One of the two major features of this short book has been the emphasis on the epic form of narrative with which to cast ideals and enduring values as part of a noble vision that become the American Dream; the other is the essential significance of the value of equality, especially in relation to education that permits informed citizenship within a democracy and also enables personal and collective betterment and generational progress towards a society that embodies these ideals more per- fectly. Neither feature I would argue is specifically American although the history of America and the unfolding of the history of the future gives the Dream and its underlying values a cultural specificity. Philosophers, politicians and historians like Rorty, Obama, and Adams have each sought to focus on the American specificity of the Dream by emphasizing elements of political philosophy and cultural history that are unique to America, yet I would argue that now it is time to understand the wider sources for the Dream of Equality, its prehistory before the birth of America and its global basis for world history. Only the global dream of equality can help America sustain itself, its values and institutions. The success of the Dream today is the extent to which it is adopted, adapted and defined elsewhere, and in this context we need to become more aware of the medium of the Dream, its narrative development, and the history of equality. The dream of equality and its representation go hand in hand.