Recently there has much discussion about “The American Dream,” and how we can renew and revive it. In the current campaign for President, both candidates describe it as the right to a job, or, the right to own a house. Somewhere in the conversation there is usually a reference to the “shrinking” middle class or the notion that everyone should have a method or way of becoming part of the middle class. Of course, no one really knows what the middle class is. So we go in circles and this is dead end thinking. How can we decide what “The American Dream” is?
One idea might be to apply what I call the “Tsunami Test.” Sadly, because of the events of the past several years, most of us understand what a Tsunami is. This test says that if a giant Tsunami were to cover America in its entirety and destroy everything, would the American Dream also be destroyed. According to Candidates Obama and Romney, the dream would be a goner, because all the stuff that would be destroyed is the same stuff they equate with the dream.
Let’s look at the flip side. After a Tsunami shouldn’t we focus on what’s left? What would be left beyond a pile of devastation? We’d be left, right? Or, at least some of us, and while it would be a disaster of absolute destruction, our dreams would live on through us, wouldn’t they? You bet they would, and aren’t we now talking about the real American Dream.
The authentic American Dream is made of stuff like the right to vote, the freedom to succeed or fail, and the freedom or opportunity to be who you want to be and become what you can. In short, the American Dream makes America the land of opportunity, right? It still is!
There’s more. People from the rest of the world are lined up to get here. They aren’t coming for a house. Even if it appears that they come for a job, aren’t they really coming for the opportunity represented by the job?
. . . remember that America’s best days aren’t behind her. America’s best days are ahead of her. They always have been and always will be.
Dave
Copyright © 2012 by David William Wygant. All rights reserved.
One idea might be to apply what I call the “Tsunami Test.” Sadly, because of the events of the past several years, most of us understand what a Tsunami is. This test says that if a giant Tsunami were to cover America in its entirety and destroy everything, would the American Dream also be destroyed. According to Candidates Obama and Romney, the dream would be a goner, because all the stuff that would be destroyed is the same stuff they equate with the dream.
Let’s look at the flip side. After a Tsunami shouldn’t we focus on what’s left? What would be left beyond a pile of devastation? We’d be left, right? Or, at least some of us, and while it would be a disaster of absolute destruction, our dreams would live on through us, wouldn’t they? You bet they would, and aren’t we now talking about the real American Dream.
The authentic American Dream is made of stuff like the right to vote, the freedom to succeed or fail, and the freedom or opportunity to be who you want to be and become what you can. In short, the American Dream makes America the land of opportunity, right? It still is!
There’s more. People from the rest of the world are lined up to get here. They aren’t coming for a house. Even if it appears that they come for a job, aren’t they really coming for the opportunity represented by the job?
Bottom Line ---
America is still the place where a nobody can rise from nowhere to become somebody. Now that is the American Dream! It is alive and well!. . . remember that America’s best days aren’t behind her. America’s best days are ahead of her. They always have been and always will be.
Dave
Copyright © 2012 by David William Wygant. All rights reserved.
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