Barry Bonds, the American Dream and Education

Like many Americans, I am not looking foward to Bonds breaking Hank Aaron's home run record. There is something else beyond the steroid use that bothers people about Barry Bonds. After all, Americans could overlook the steroid use in Mark McGuire as he chased after the single season record. Perhaps it is his arrogance. Yet arrogance is common in sports. Bonds refuses to talk to the media, but he is by no means the only player who wants some privacy. The slugger has had a tough time getting along with teammates, but is that so rare? Nearly every wide reciever in football doesn't get along with his quarterback. Moreover, Bonds is not a rapist or murderer or wife-beater, like many other athletes in professional sports.

The problem is that Barry Bonds doesn't enjoy the game of baseball.  Perhaps it is because baseball was crammed down his throat. There is a sense that it was never a choice; as if he was granted the title through some aristocracy and he doesn't feel grateful for it. An arrogant player we can handle. A headcase adds some exciting drama. Yet apathy is too much. We want a Cinderella story. We want a tragic hero or a Horatio Alger story, but not a man who reaches the pinnacle of success only to yawn in apathy. The winner should at least smile. We want Jimmy Stuart to tell us that Life is Beautiful.  Bonds is more like Woody Allen twist on an action movie. 

I think the reason we root against Barry Bonds is that he is the heroic antihero. He is the man who wins, but is not happy. Bonds is the story of Ecclesiastes. We don't mind Absolom and we delight in a Josiah, but a Solomon we can't handle. Yet, Bonds represents the dark side of the American Dream - the notion that we have all cheated our way to the top. We all, by the sheer luck of being born in America grew up in a privaledged environment and we all, when we finally reach success feel a certain sense of dissapointment.

What does this have to do with education?  I think there is a part of every teacher that wants students to do well in school so they can go to college and chase the American Dream.  We love the success stories of some famous person who owes it all to the hard work of some everyday teacher.  Yet, the reality is that the American Dream has a dark side.  The life of Barry Bonds forces us to examine whether the American Dream should be the bottom line of an education.  To what extent should students chase success?  What if it just leads to boredom?  And to what extent is success due to luck?  What if that kid works really hard only to be edged out by some Barry Bonds type who grew up in privaldeged circumstances and has a ton of natural talent.  See, the American Dream is a mythology that is such a part of the educational system that we sometimes can't separate them.  Barry Bonds forces us to face some of the tough questions about why we teach.