There are some people who feel and know the power of the American Dream: immigrants

A friend posted this to facebook recently and I'm so glad I took the time to watch it.

30 Days: Immigration on Vimeo

Morgan Spurlock has done some good work, but never has one touched my like this one, or caused me to reflect so much.

It brought a few things to mind, and now into words.

First, that there is something beyond our impersonal principles and politics, our theoretical polemics and postulates, our lofty ideas about how we think the world works or our often black and white view of how things should be. For these things can be so far removed from the reality of the world and the truth of our existence. Beyond them, there is something that can contain so much more truth, and holds greater importance: that is, our relationships with people, what we learn from the interaction with others, the understanding we gain from human experience, the connection we have as we look someone in the eye and really listen and realize who they are.

To paraphrase Frank, the central character in this excellent short program: "you can cling to political ideas, but an idea does not laugh, an idea does not cry, an idea doesn't have memories....an idea is not a human being." This is a story of human beings. And it is well worth watching.

Second, this program reminds me of the power of the American Dream. Frank has a powerful idea of what American is, and what it should be. Armida has her own idea of what she whats to accomplish in life; it is something deeply tied to the American Dream. It is interesting -- and shouldn't be surprising -- that people who have risked so much, tied so much of themselves and their hopes for a better life to this country, would have a particularly strong idea of what the American Dream is. It brings to mind how this country has been shaped by immigrants, and an immigrant spirit, one which has created and defined that American Dream. And these people in this program, give the American Dream life, a reality that goes beyond that idea to something deep in the human spirit.