The Pursuit of Perfection (Essay Sample)

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The Pursuit of Perfection
The crusader Lyman Beecher can be rightfully be regarded as a proponent of progressivism and a positivist. This is for the reason; he saw the dwindling hopes with national progress at a time that international and nationalist aspersions and sentimentalism were maimed by the very progress the nation had attained. Whereas there was progress in the nation and few individuals amassed huge wealth, there were questions if that was really necessary in the face of glaring poverty and destitution of the multitudes. Progressivism and utopia had reached their climax in a rather tilted social typology (Brick 48). Lyman as a crusader succeeded to inspire new hope and commitment in the American industry and society but failed to give leadership to the crucial reforms of the time. Lyman created a huge impetus for rationalization of the wealth of the robber barons without ideally making the nation cohesive, united and ideally progressive.
The American story is based on a myth of the American dream. That defeated people still had the moral force and verve to transform their lives and even transform the lives of others. It is a story that always takes the bizarre form that the man in rags can amass riches beyond measure and become a source of inspiration. Lyman was a great proponent of a government that makes it possible for the nation to always produce and allow the flourishing of such men in great numbers and diversity. The industrial progress created a different system with regard to parenting and child upbringing because the women were no longer home makers but progressive workers in industry who sought personal income and independence. The traditional Judeo-Christian format of the family of a dominant male bread winner had collapsed. This is the reason Lyman was accused of Calvinism.
Rhetoric of nationalism, the wave of the early feminist revolt and the social turbulence of the American society during the transition permitted a lot of flawed processes which the society may never really solve even in millenniums. The enthusiasm of national progress created the wave of abolitionism (Bowman 114). The belligerent factions fought for a leaner government and minimal government involvement in the economy. Yet still, there was no remedy for public disenfranchisement of the masses. Traditions can define patterns of life to the extent permitted by the economy and the order of political organization in society. In the event politics take a divergent outcrop from the social and the economic mainstream, the society is bound to undergo transformations. The transformations that are not guided by sound policies are bound to create strife and rebellion.
It is useful to remark that in every society, talk is cheap. The actual translation of many inspiring speeches into real soc...