As the United States experiences an increase in diversity, editors Ryan Zukerman and Dhruti Patel discuss the true definition of “the American way of life.”

It is social mobility.

It’s all the rage in the news today, the Occupy Wall Street Movement, recognized world wide as a symbol against corporate greed. I spent a portion of my fall break with the protestors in Zuccotti Park in New York City observing and evaluating their movement.
As I watched them protest in their calm, reserved manner, a question dawned on me.
Is this what America has become?
What used to be the land of opportunity has been reduced to this? What happened to the American Dream and the American way of life?
Go listen to “Pink Houses” by John Mellencamp. Listen to the way it describes America, the American way of life and the American Dream. Then think about it.
Mellencamp embodies America. He is the epitome of the American dream, the person who went from small town Indiana to the big time.
If this isn’t the American Dream, then I don’t know what is.
As a result of this American Dream, our country has experienced a boom, socially, economically and intellectually. We have taken the lead in globalization, and as a result, more people are immigrating to the United States than anywhere else in the world. But, as we add more people and cultures to both the world and our country, are we starting to reject this way of life-the American way of life?
Watching the protestors in the park, I came to a simple conclusion: Though we may be rejecting it now, we simply need to stop.
Even today, the American way of life provides the ordinary citizen the best opportunity to succeed. Nowhere else in the world is social mobility more accessible than in America.
It may seem cliché, but the American Dream is solely American. We are one of the only nations in the world that people come to with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and that is what makes our country so great.
So here is what I ask: be proud to be an American. No matter someone’s religion, ethnicity or culture, remember that we all have something stronger in common:
We are all American. By Ryan Zukerman

It is a mix of other cultures.

As much as many people aren’t what you’d call history buffs, everyone knows the basics of U.S. history. “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue,” is a common rhyme that explains the beginning of the history of the United States, and chances are, it’s not just elementary school kids who are singing this one to themselves during history class. From then on, a flood of immigrants from Europe, and later on Africa and Asia, came to the United States hoping for a better life and new prosperity. With this flood of foreigners came completely new traditions and cultures too, slowly establishing themselves in this country and spreading these unique customs until they became an innate part of what defined America, and an American.
This chaotic mix of cultures from around the world is where American culture found its roots and where the “American way of life” was born. The question has to be asked, therefore, whether there actually is such thing as a purely “American” way of life or whether our culture is defined by picking and choosing different customs from everywhere else, a virtual salad bowl of ideas from around the world. Even prominent symbols of American traditions, such as the Christmas tree which many Christians as well as non-Christians use and going to Kindergarten before grade school, have all been adopted from various European cultures. The record American people have for being extremely hard working and busy can be derived from the original “Protestant work ethic,” brought here by the many British Protestants who founded our country.
This mash up of various worldwide traditions in what is associated with Americanization, but the conclusions that our culture might not be truly ours is one we may not want to hear. However, we can do right for us and globally by being aware of where the culture we have adapted came from and what the consequences of it are on the rest of the world. It is important for everyone to remember that while we all might be American at heart, we are only as good as the parts that make us up. By Dhruti Patel