Americans are...

This past Tuesday, Fox's popular television show "Glee"returned for it's second season. One of the characters, Rachel, a head-strong, lead vocalist for the high school's glee club, perfectly personified our definition of Americans as 'ambitious' from our first day of class. Generally we positively associate ambitions with dreams and aspirations leading to ultimate success, however the rigor with which Americans protect and pursue their ambitions can have detrimental affects on society as a whole. In the Glee episode, the group has lost members so they must recruit new members. Out of fear for her own place as a lead vocalist, Rachel misleads a prospective member, (and a very talented singer) to a crack-house instead of the correct time and place of auditions. As a result of Rachel's selfish actions to secure her own spotlight, the group suffers because without more members they do not qualify to compete at Nationals. We often don't realize that we have become blinded by our ambition until it is too late. Rarely do we consider the consequences of our actions for the environment and society as a whole rather than just ourselves.