American Dream |
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Can we revive the American dream?Back in the 1940s and early 1950s, people from other countries began talking about coming to America, to live the so-called American dream. Unlike Europeans, Americans had washing machines and televisions right in their own homes. The economy was booming and poor young soldiers coming home from World War II were able, through the VA bill, to buy their own homes. Canned and frozen produce made the Victory Garden an outmoded way to feed your family. Almost everyone had a car to travel the burgeoning network of highways and freeways. It was well known that, in America, all you had to do was work hard and you, too, could share in the American dream. Today, the American dream has all but disappeared. In just the last decade, the public has seen the effects of crumbling infrastructure, such as evidenced in the Katrina tragedy, with bridges being ripped out by floods and freeway overpasses collapsing. Now, those cars we all were so proud to own are eating more of our salaries than we are! Creative, but deceptive mortgage marketing practices have led to record numbers of foreclosures all over the country. Clearly, the resources of our government have been poorly managed. As late as 2000, this country had a huge surplus which was sufficient to remedy all of our infrastructure problems, fund programs for the needy, provide a high standard of education for our kids and further strengthen our technological advantage in the world market. What happened? For one thing, the 9/11 tragedy occurred. Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 911' brought some startling facts to the public venue concerning that event, but that's another story. Nonetheless, the U.S. embarked on a war for the purported purpose of capturing the terrorist Bin Laden, in Afghanistan. Before too long, failing to capture him, the U.S. moved on to Iraq. The rest is history. Almost a trillion dollars spent, along with the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians and more than 4,000 of our own troops. These expenditures, in both money and lives, have contributed heavily to the current state of the economy, along with a loss of esteem for America throughout the world. Another important factor in the current destruction of the American dream begins with the large corporations, which enjoy large tax cuts as they take American business and technology overseas, where labor is cheaper than in America. The free trade deals have not improved the situation. It seems that perhaps the only way to recapture the days of the American dream is through grassroots efforts by the people. We, the people, are the ones being taxed to pay for the government's misadventures and poor decisions. We need to get our voice back in the mix. The politicians need to step back and start listening to the needs of Americans. Lining their pockets and those of powerful friends has essentially robbed us of that lovely time of the American dream.
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