The five page handout I gave you in class is really just some impressions I had of this thing called "The American Dream." I am particularly struck by what Dr. King said: "The American dream reminds us, and we should think about it anew on this Independence Day, that every man is an heir of the legacy of dignity and worth." I am struck by this because the concepts of "dignity" and "worth" are not often spoken of these days—certainly not by our political nor religious leaders.
So what jumped out at you from the packet? It can be something big or major, or it could be something small and minor. And what about it made it stick out for you in the context of its illuminating of "the American Dream"?
Write a couple hundred words. Remember, this isn't a text message. Be grammatically correct. Don't repeat what others have said, though you are welcome to add onto what has been written by your classmates. Feel free to comment on what a classmate(s) said.
Finally, in today's New York Times is this article I mentioned in passing in class about the carpet business bust in Dalton. Reaction? Comment?
Tomorrow in class you will work on preparing for the paper on Thursday. Remember to post your response to this blog by 8:30 tomorrow morning. See you tomorrow.
I was really struck by what Martin Luther King Jr. said in his sermon, "America has been something of a schizophrenic personality, tragically divided against herself. On the one hand we have proudly professed the great principles of democracy, but on the other hand we have sadly practiced the very opposite of those principles."
ReplyDeleteThis was odd to me. He talks of how America has been divided into these two groups, where one practices democracy, and the other not so much. But what I find strange is how he talks of these divisions as if there were a choice to be made, and some have chosen against his belief. It seems that many people are not given a choice, more rather they are born into a situation and they can choose whether or not to change it. MLK's thoughts paint a certain air of destiny that I find controversial to the core of the american dream which is that the choice is yours.
I was also interested in the income of senators. Most of the top 10 are democrats, which may be incidental, it may not. Inn contrast to what the president makes I always wondered what set the line for what a president makes personally.
Lastly on the article, It amazes me how interconnected jobs are in the world and how a drop in the housing market can put an entire supercell of a business to nothing. The complexity of jobs may be too much.
I really like what you said in reference to Martin Luther King's quote. I think it's true that it is unfair for King to declare that everyone makes his or her own choices. In some ways his quote is ignorant of the many hardships that Americans face, hardships that can make the act of "choosing" so much more difficult. That being said, I don't think I have any room to call Dr. King an ignoramus, especially when it comes to knowing hardship. If anything I find what he said to be inspirational, as it highlights the battle between equality and inequality. Even though it may be hard to find the strength to act with equality for some people, I still find that Dr. King's words hold true, in that no matter what, it is our duty to try to be the best possible upholders of equality and justice. Tell me if you agree, or if I completely misunderstood what you said.
DeleteYou're right. Even though he may have divided the two sides, I believe what he said was meant to inspire as well as offer conjecture. Good Point.
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ReplyDeleteWhen reading the article on poverty and college tuition statistics, I was really shocked by how high the poverty rate was and how immensely expensive college was. It changed my view of the American Dream because surely it should be attainable by everyone. However, with these rising tuition and poverty rates, it is becoming harder for people to accomplish their dreams and goals in life. I think that the idea of an American Dream is somewhat outdated, because at this point in time, there really isn't an American Dream anymore.
ReplyDeleteWhen studying U.S History, I saw that the idea of an American Dream was most prevalent and believable when the U.S started industrializing and creating more cities and thus more jobs. This created a place where immigrants could find jobs and start new lives, and THIS is where I see the American Dream.
Now in times of economic downfall, where there are higher poverty rates, higher unemployment rates, and an increasing number of foreclosures, the idea of an American Dream seems to be more relevant to the history of the U.S rather than the present.
In the handout, the first thing that jumped out at me was what James Truslow Adams said in The Epic of America, that “each man and each woman... be recognized by others for what they are.” I found this interesting because in a lot cases an individual tries to achieve the American Dream by assimilating to a culture different from theirs and trying to fill a mold created by a society different from theirs. What George Carlin said about consumption being the new national pastime is true. The products people are consuming are in advertisements that portray and sell an image of the American Dream. These advertisements show how you can “have it all” and perpetuate the idea of the American Dream. Many people strive to fit the mold of the American Dream created in advertisements and may lose themselves in the process.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Christine in that because of how high tuition and poverty rates are, the goal of the American Dream is unreachable and many people are being robbed of a dream that everyone has the right to have. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “this dream is an amazing universalism.” Every one should have a shot at the American Dream, but because of the economy, it is not even a possibility for some people.
What Barrack Obama said in the handout really jumped out at me. He said, "Because what binds us together, what makes us one American family, is that we have to stand up and fight for each other's dreams... It's time to reclaim the American dream." I agree with Obama, because as individuals or individual families, we are all fighting for this American dream. But it's difficult to accomplish that dream when our whole nation's economy isn't doing well, because this economic crisis is hurting each individual and stopping most from accomplishing their dream. In order to accomplish our own dreams, we have to help each other and fight for the one big dream together. We can't reclaim the American dream as individuals. Not one individual can fix the economy and make it all better. Even though each individual may have a different or varied American dream, we all must help and "fight for each other's dreams."
ReplyDeleteThe excerpt from the World Socialist Web Site stood out to me. The idea of the American Dream is that anyone, no matter what means they come from, can attain anything they desire. Senators are supposed to be our representatives, they are the voice of the people. How can they truly represent us, however, when they come from an entirely different world than we do? They do not suffer from poverty, they don't have to worry about what the entire rest of the country has to worry about. Children are told they can be whatever they want to be, do whatever they want to do. This is, sadly, inaccurate. This article shows that if you want to reach that level, or any other major political position, you have to have a certain amount of money. To get a good education and to finance campaign after campaign, a certain wherewithal is required. If this is the case, thousands of children receive false promises every day. These children, the only difference between them and the wealthy being money, are not really capable of reaching the American Dream.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most prevalent themes in the discussion of the American dream is that 1.) men (and women) are created equal, 2.) that men posses unalienable rights which include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and 3.) that opportunity and success are rewarded to those who posses greater ability or strive to achieve more. However, it seems that as we grow farther and farther from our roots and into the future, we can see a trend in how people want more and more. It seems that in our modern age, it is not enough to merely be equal to your neighbors, or to have the right to your freedom or your life. Now that we have these unbelievably valuable and sacred rights built into our government, we have lost sight of how amazing they really are, and instead we see only what we wish to gain. It's not "Give me my freedom or give me death", it's "Give me my freedom, my goddamn Happy Meal, my Cadillac, my big fancy house, and most of all my money". It's not that the American Dream is dead. It's just that every time a new version of the iPhone comes out, so does a new version of the American Dream. It definitely seems that capitalism has had a large affect on what Americans see as their rights and what they deserve. Maybe if people could sit back and realize the pettiness of the strife of modern day life, we would be able to realize just how good we have it.
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ReplyDeleteIt's pretty crazy that within a few years how dramatically the economy has changed and how it impacted a small town. Dalton's unemployment rate is higher than the U.S. unemployment rate. But technology is also a reason for the high unemployment rate, because the new technology and machines are replacing the workers. So as the U.S. is trying to move forward and be more efficient and in a way achieve the American dream, we're taking away individuals' dream.
Every part of this package is interesting, but there is one in particular that really caught my attention. The paragraph that explains the great dream that was written in the Declaration of Independence and how it is just that, a great dream. It gives you a summary of what a great place to be America should be. A place where every man is created equal and where no one would be deprive of the rights shared by every men. It creates a beautiful picture of what this country is but to me it is shattered by the last couple of sentences where it states of how it is a great dream. I then realized that this perfect nation is just that a dream. It is a dream that everybody wishes to live in but achieving a task like this would be like trying to stop rain with your own hands.
ReplyDeleteThe excerpt on the first page from the Library of Congress caused me to rethink what the American Dream truly is. If life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness really is the base for the American Dream, then it is not about having everything you want, but rather the simple act of trying to achieve that goal. In this respect many people are living the American Dream. Still, the American Dream is not obtainable by all Americans. James Truslow Adams said that the American Dream is to be recognized for what you are and have made for yourself, regardless of your position. However for many Americans this is not a reality. What Adams says only fits in a world of equal opportunities. Ice-T questions if the American Dream even exists for hustlers. How can getting money be a dream if in reality it is a living nightmare full of murder and drugs. I agree with what Obama said, "that we have to stand up and fight for each others dreams". But who will fight for the dreams of a drug dealer? James Truslow suggests that the dealers background shouldn't matter. With college so expensive, how would a hustler end the cycle of the life Ice-T described, and begin their American dream.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the quote from Barack Obama stood out the most: "Most Americans have simple dreams. A job that can support a family. Healthcare we can count on and afford. A retirement that is dignified and secure. Education and opportunity for our kids. But today the price of the American dream is going up. All across the country, American's are working harder for less." Now, I don't know if I'm just naive, which I definitely can be when it comes to economics, but sometimes it seems to me that the American Dream to many is lots of money. I think that too often people strive not to follow their own American Dream, whatever it may mean to them, but they strive to get money and lots of it. The American Dream is more and more based off of material goods and everything being bigger and better, like Jake said about the iPhone. I personally think that each person has their own American Dream, whether they are from America or whether they live in another country. Granted, money helps out with each individual’s dream when it comes to paying for education and such, but still, nowadays many people are becoming more and more concerned with which version of whatever new cool thing they have than pursuing any passion they may want to or be able to pursue with the means they have.
ReplyDeleteI found it really interesting when the article said "Some say, that the American Dream has become the pursuit of material prosperity." There's a pretty standard image that comes to mind when people think of the American Dream; the nice house, all the necessities and more, never a doubt that there will be food on the table, etc. But it seems that often with that pursuit of material prosperity comes sacrifice. In some cases, in order to provide the best of the best for your family it means having to give up on the time to enjoy all that they're working for. Or in other cases you're working to provide the bare necessities. It makes me wonder if there is an "American Dream." In either case, whether your family can provide for you or not, the emotional issues that could possibly come along with both having parents who work all day long to send you to private school or having parents that work all day long to simply put food on the table. Neither situation seems desirable.
ReplyDeleteIn the hand out, the poverty rate for minors stood out to me. The American dream starts at a young age. One of the first things any kid is asked is about what they want to be when they grow up. They imagine being doctors, astronauts, and teachers. This hope of the future is what keeps the American dream alive. America is thought to be a place of second chances and opportunities for all people. That is why so many immigrants want to come here from all over the world. They come to give their children a better future. But we have the highest poverty rate for minors in the industrialized world. It is hard for the American dream to withstand if children lose faith. At an early age kids can realize how fragile and unreliable the American dream is. How can it survive if this rate keeps going up?
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ReplyDeleteThe thing that really popped out to me in the packet was actually the first paragraph. The first paragraph really made me look past the material goods, "[The] dream of motor cars and high wages", and further into the hidden dream behind the material one. James Truslow Adams goes on to say that the real dream is for everyone to be on an equal social standing and that each person should be able to "attain the fullest stature of which they are innately capable [of]" but I think that, that is still not broad enough. I think the American dream is to be happy. Maybe not so happy as ecstasy per se but more of a contentedness. The kind of happy that you personally choose, not one that is defined by someone else. The other thing that stood out to me was the poem/rap by Ice-T because he makes it very clear that the only way he can achieve his own version of the American Dream is by destroying the dreams of the people around him "Every dollar I get, another brother drops." That line was the line that really stood out strongest to me.
ReplyDeleteI found what Barrack Obama said particularly interesting. He said, “When things are going bad on Main Street, that catches up with Wall Street.” He mentions that we need to “…fight for each other’s dreams.” I found this sort of funny actually, because it doesn’t seem to be true. The income gap has been growing for quite some time. It’s grown so much that, even though Main Street is struggling, Wall Street continues to thrive. At least, the executives who run it do. These banks deemed “Too Big to Fail”, can basically do whatever they want without fear of consequences. They continue to add to their wealth at the expense of Main Street. The super rich at the very top are the people who essentially control the entire economy. So when the economy tanks, they take their bailout and hand out bonuses instead of paying for their own mistakes. They don’t pay. The people on Main Street pay. If anything, the economy crash was great for the executives. As long as the super rich stay in power, they will continue to look out for their best interests over the best interests of the nation as a whole. The idea that we are bound together is just not true. It should be true, but it isn’t. This, in effect, makes the American Dream impossible. One of the main ideas of the American Dream is that it is accessible to anyone. As long as the people at the very top continue to live at the expense of those at the bottom, those at the bottom will never have a chance.
ReplyDeleteWhat struck me was that a active pfc in the army, if supporting a family of four, is put below the poverty line, with their base salary about three times less than the median income of another four person family in the States. While they are in a foreign country racked with the fear of a bomb or an ambush from insurgents, their family at home has also to live with that fear while trying to keep their checks balanced. No matter what political stance someone takes about the war on terror, the soldiers who risk their lives to serve their country are heroes. They defend our ability to even talk about what the American Dream means, yet they themselves cannot easily achieve that goal. They are quite literally "fight(ing) for each other's dreams" as Barrack Obama said, but their compensation shows that the government is not fighting for their dreams. The politicians who send them to war make so many times more than they do, and are safe in their home country, not actively on guard 24/ 7, ready to defend their country. The system for compensation is too flawed to create an American Dream for those who truly work hard, with only certain career paths promising this dream while heroism and hard work does not.
ReplyDeleteThis paragraph made me realize that there is no longer one American Dream. Nothing is ever enough, you have to get more than someone else or you lose. Its like a game, or a competition, like Ice T said, "I gotta get more money than you got, So what, is some muthafucka gets shot? That's how the game is played." It is not about enjoying what you have, or your family, its about making the most money, owning the most houses, having the most material items, like one paragraph said, "...the American Dream has become the pursuit of material prosperity-that people work more hours to get bugger cars, fancier homes, the fruits of prosperity for their families-but have less time to enjoy their prosperity." Even those people who are making the most money in the world, they are always trying to make more. Always trying to beat someone else, even in this packet we are comparing salaries and net worth side by side. No one will ever win, it is a never ending pursuit. No longer are we living by the rights the founding fathers set up for our country. Not every man has the ability to be in the pursuit of happiness, well at least not by the definition of happiness we have set up. Saying happiness is defined by how many material things we have, or how much money we have, as one person said, "the price of the American Dream is going up." It is not cheap to achieve happiness because those material items that we base our happiness on are getting more expensive.
ReplyDeleteI think that Jake makes a very good point: that the American Dream is still alive and well, but now people expect more. People came to this country for the freedom to do as they please. To be able to speak their minds and mold their own future. This is a very strong reality in the United States, but people tend to forget just how prominent that fact is in our society. For example, my mother went from being on food stamps as a kid and later becoming a successful doctor, achieving the "American Dream." But did she? Didn't she already achieve the "American Dream" by having her own house, being able to speak her mind and get an education?
ReplyDeleteMaybe now the American Dream is more about living comfortably as opposed to living freely. A new standard has been set.
Many times this "American Dream" frustrates me. People expect too much from this country. It's not perfect. In the Philippines (and other countries I'm sure), people talk of the US like the promise land. The land where everyone makes it rich and lives happily ever after. As an immigrant in the USA, life is hard. Not everyone can make it big. Places like Dalton, Ga exist. Economic hardships happen everywhere, why should the United States be the exception?
What makes America different from other countries? It's because for some people, their dreams are realized here. They have more opportunities and make our country stronger. Their high expectations were met.
I think the article in the NY times is really depressing. I mean that all these people within such a short amount of time lost a future. Yes, not a future that I would have considered to be good, or hopeful for me, but a future none-the-less. It is also saddening because they have spent their lives thinking that this job will be here for them for as long as they need it, and for their children possibly and not focussing on another form of education. So now because of the lay offs they have no wear else to turn. I think unfortunately this is happening in a lot of areas and until we figure out a way to solve out this economic crisis we are going to see, and have seen a lot of these same types of closings.
ReplyDeleteWhat struck me about the packet was not any small, individual fact or quote, but how the focus on "The American Dream" changed from a Democratic standpoint to one focused solely on material things periodically throughout the packet. The beginning of the packet talks about the Declaration of Independence and how the dream is based on all men being equal and free. It talks about how the American Dream is "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with the opportunity for each according to ability or achievement". It is stressed that The American Dream is a dream where a man has the ability to be himself. Overall, the focus is more about a person's freedom to do what they wish and be who they would like to be. Then the packet changes to focusing on material goods. The American Dream becomes a topic of the luxuries one can afford and how comfortably one can live. Everything from salaries to cars to colleges comes into play when the packet discusses The American Dream financially. What made this change in the idea of The American Dream stick out for me though was how the time period had so much to do with the different ideas. The more modern ideas of The American Dream are all based on the material things and how much money you have, and the older ideas are the ideas about freedom. Ice Cube's rap, most definitely a more modern idea of the American Dream, talks money and flashy material goods. James Truslow Adams' idea, 1931, mentions that it is not only a dream of materials, but a dream of social order.
ReplyDeleteWhat I found interesting about the article was not what had happened in Dalton, but how people reacted to it. Some businesses went under, while others embraced the business bust and used to it to reform their companies to comply with the modern demands.
What really stuck out for me was what Martin Luther King Jr. said in his sermon: "America has been something of a schizophrenic personality, tragically divided against herself. On the one hand we have proudly professed the great principals of democracy, but on the other hand we have sadly practiced the wry opposite of those principals." We see it all of the time in modern day America. This constant race to be the best, the most successful, the wealthiest, the person who has it all. However, what we don't notice is that by trying to become the best, we push others down around us, creating barriers between the rich and the poor. The ones to take pity on and the ones to boycott. When Obama says that we need to fight for each others dreams, I would honestly love to say that I would. But what holds me back is the knowledge that there are lines drawn in our society and as much as people like to pretend they aren't there, they are. And these lines define our limits, and the tell us just how far we can go in our lives. It is hard to believe in the American Dream and equality for all when we live in times where there is no common ground between the rich and the poor. I think it really is all just a dream.
ReplyDeleteThe segment of the article that struck me the most was the section discussing the various financial states of the country. Prior to reading this article, I had never thought of who was representing the state in the senate, or what their financial background might be. I had never thought of the percentage of the nation that was below poverty level, and what their annual income might be. It had never been presented to me in this fashion, and it astounds me. How can men and women who classify as the top earners in the nation pass legislation when almost half of the nation has a mean annual wage of $45,000? (http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#00-0000)
ReplyDeleteThey cannot possibly understand what it is like to live with this income, seeing as they are pulling in a much more significant amount. They cannot begin to see how health care bills and other forms of aid legislation can impact people with this income. These people have never had to worry about medical bills, or utility bills, all they have had to worry about is their taxes.
The American dream still exists, but has been altered in a way that it has become unrecognizable since its creation. The base is still standing, the base of liberties and rights that originally attracted such a diverse group of people to this nation, but that base has been covered in images of wealth and prosperity, images that attract thousands but can only be available to very few individuals. This dream, while it still exists, is unattainable by the vast majority.
Like in the Indian caste system our society has agreed to accept the hierarchy that exists now and accepts that people with higher positions of power can press their advantages. Because of this the American Dream is distorted now. The founding fathers wrote of the ideal and inalienable rights of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness when extremes of social strata did not yet exist in the United States. Then the industrial revolution created wealthy, powerful families and people like Rockefeller, Ford, and Carnegie with advantages that propelled them to ever greater success.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that stood out to me was "that the American Dream has become the pursuit of material prosperity-that people work more hours to get bigger cars, fancier homes, the fruits of prosperity for their families-but have less time to enjoy their prosperity." This struck me as very relevant and applicable to life now. People are always in a hurry going places and doing things, without realizing that sometimes rather than enjoying life they are struggling to keep up with it.
What really struck me about the article were the people's reactions; the hope that disasters will be a spark for the carpet industry to make a come back, rather than trying to adjust to new times and changes and improve.
ReplyDeleteThe American Dream has it's beautiful and crisp images of the large houses and cars, but I find it unbelievable that we don't recognize the poverty rate in this nation. People have been blinded with the flashy idea of the American Dream. What amazes me is the percentages of poverty rates in this country. With 58.5% of all Americans spending a year in poverty between ages of twenty-five and seventy-five I would expect people to fight poverty with a passion. Instead the alluring idea of the American dream fogs our mind and formulates the way to get the most money possible.
ReplyDeleteWhat struck me in the article was the amount of work put in to achieve the American Dream. I was extremely frustrated when I realized many citizens in the government, such as forty U.S. Senators are millionaires. We have 46.2 million people in America living in poverty and almost half of the U.S. Senators have millions of dollars. It just makes no sense to me. I believe many more people need to read this article and realize to get their heads out of the clouds and help others. I think we are all a long ways away from The American Dream if there is still such a huge split in this country between the impoverished and the overly wealthy. " America has been something of a schizophrenic personality, tragically divided against herself." (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., "The American Dream," 1965)
I was absolutely blown away by the financial data that was provided about the senators. I have never really had a good grasp on how much money goes into making my life as it is or on how much is needed for the necessities. I am terrible at taking a number and physically quantifying it in my mind. Basically, I am bad at interpreting statistics and actually understanding them. That being said, the numbers provided on the senators completely blew me away. I am very intrigued by the many different forms that the American Dream seems to take and am even more intrigued by attempts to grasp at them all. All of the descriptions, when presented, seem attainable, and why would one not reach for the dream? But when you think about it more realistically, it is not for everyone. Part of the American Dream is that you can get what you need so long as you work hard though that is not always the case. Though people do not want to believe it, you can not get everything you need as long as you give it your best. You can still fail despite vallient and spirited attempts to flourish financially and spiritually. The description of the Dream as "living a simple, fulfilling life," is one of my favorites and seemingly one the easiest due to the fact that it does not require a large amount of wealth, but even the richest of souls may fade or shatter in the face of extreme poverty. One may not need a whole lot of wealth to enjoy this part of the Dream but it would certainly be more attainable if the person in question were to have enough money to stay healthy.
ReplyDeleteThe whole American Dream seems to be very real to me still and very achievable. But unfortunately as I kept reading along I noticed the decline in hope I had much like a lot of people who come here and get their dreams torn apart. I realized this dream may only come true for a certain amount of people and it makes me sad. For myself, it made me think about my background and mexican heritage. So many people I know suffer from lack of this dream they want to become true but really don't have all the supplies they need. For example Student Dreamers and Allies will tell you they know of the fear undocumented students go through all the time. Maybe they drive illegally to school or perhaps college and are afraid they may get unlucky one day on the freeway. Fortunately my parents have liscenses but many of my good friends parents don't. I understand the logic of this dream and I also sadly understand the irony of how there is still so much poverty. I was struck at how about 15% of the population is in what is considered "poverty". It's a weoird hope thing for me. Sometimes i don't know whether to keep my hope or lose it.
ReplyDeleteThe core quote from the article that hit me the hardest was George Carlin's quote, "Consumption. It;s the new national pastime. Fuck baseball... The only true lasting American value that's left: buying things. People spending money on things they don't need." To me this quote perfectly expresses my opinion on the American dream. Not only has it stopped being a matter of freedom or even a dream of success, it's become a capitalists wet dream. The American dream is becoming a competition to see who can have the most. We see this everywhere. The top one percent of people in America have a majority of the money and want to keep it that way. People want to get jobs to earn money, and they want to get better jobs in order to get more money. It seems that the new focus of the American majority is simply to buy as many things as possible. I am not saying that I am above this, I just point out that it is the reality that consumerism is overtaking America at a steady rate.
ReplyDeleteIn response to the article I would have to say I find it very interesting that as the industry crashed, people immediately turned the crash into a helpful factor for themselves. People embraced the opportunity and kickstarted their own ideas in an attempt to become successful.
There were a lot of things that caught my eye. First point that i totally agreed with was the paragraph explaining how the dream doesn't say "some men" but says "all men". I feel that the American Dream is only attainable by some men who are lucky enough to reach their desires. Many workers and ordinary people struggle everyday to reach a suitable and confortable life. They don't always necessarily want goods and materials but a decent job where they can make enough money to at least eat and pay rent. Many of these people are below that poverty line and we can say that most are from the minority races in the country. For example I know a lot of people who have come to this country in order of a better life, opposite of harsh porr conditions back in their home countries. But now they live in fear of laws and restrictions which are being passed in order to find them and remove them from the country. Yes they committed a crime by entering the country illegally, but is it a crime for a human being to want to live a better life?
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