Tweaking the American Dream

America Needs To Begin Dreaming Again – The American Dream and How To Restore it

In every recession or economic downturn, naturally, negativity prevails and our worries overcome our goals. The pressures of “right now” surpass the desires of our “dreams”. I, for one, am exhausted from the daily news reports about the current economic situation, the stock market, the stimulus, and worst of all – joblessness, as in this country we often define ourselves by our jobs. To believe that the American dream has become unreachable has become a logical, somewhat rational conclusion.

However, it is not true. We are a country that fought the bloodiest civil war in history, broke down the system of slavery and decades later elected the first black president, fought for the right to vote for all, and landed on the moon, among many other accomplishments. Life is circular, as are all of our situations; be it economically or even emotionally. I wanted to cite some possible ways of restoring the American Dream which seems so far deferred.

First and foremost, I want to credit the brilliant writer, Newsweek’s Fareed Zakaria, an American citizen from India, for bringing up this subject, and personalizing it. He writes, “The American dream for me, growing up in India in the 1970s, looked something like the opening credits of Dallas. The blockbuster TV series began with a kaleidoscope of big, brassy, sexy images — tracts of open land, shiny skyscrapers, fancy cars, cowboy businessmen and the very dreamy Victoria Principal. We watched bootlegged copies of the show, passed around on old Betamax cassettes. America (certainly the CBS soap-opera version of America) seemed dazzling and larger than life, especially set against the stagnant backdrop of India in the 1970s. Everyone I knew was fascinated by the U.S., whether they admitted it or not. Politicians who denounced the country by day would go home in the evenings and plot to send their kids to college in “the States.”

Of course, as the times progressed and we went to war, our heroes were assassinated, Watergate exposed a corrupt government, Zakaria understood that this American Dream is a little more complicated than meets the eye. But to his credit, not only did he never give up, he is one of the smartest, foremost writers and speakers in the media today. And so in his own way, he achieved that American Dream.

By now, you are familiar with the core issues as to why we are in the economic state of affairs we are in. What we ignore far too much is evolving globalization, and how, as Friedman cites, “The World if Flat”. In fact, the other day Tom Brokaw, an American patriot if I ever there was one, suggested that college graduates apply for jobs overseas!

While we are in fact a global world, America must grasp this, accept it, and figure out ways to excel in it; whether it is in education, trade, or foreign diplomacy, just to name a few key issues.

Let’s Dream Again

The first issue to tackle, and Zakaria makes this point as well, may be the toughest one. We need to downsize our lives. What is important to you? What happened to eating with the family at the dinner table? Now, it’s take-out or running to a restaurant for a quick, be it expensive, bite to eat.

We consume gas and buy luxury cars despite the damage this causes the environment, not to mention what it does to our global standing. It is time now, and I mean now, to make the cuts and edits in our lifestyles so that we can try to balance the deficit and the stimulus, to fix our personal and national budget, and get back on the rails to economic and spiritual recovery. Otherwise, the American Dream is nothing but that… a dream.

So, How? What Do We Do?

We invest in ourselves. Thomas Friedman and Fareed Zakaria have been arguing for years now that investing in start-ups (look at Facebook, Google, and Apple), is the way for us to grow. Let’s invest rather than consume. Let’s bet on ourselves. “Made in America” should not just be an economic goal, but it should be a stamp that represents true quality.

We need to invest in research and development in all fields. While this has to start by improving our education system, particularly in math and science, America – not China or India – should be discovering the drugs to eradicate diseases such as cancer.

This country should see itself as one big research lab where we not only come up with new medications, but new ways to live green, to get off of our addiction to foreign oil, and so many other ideas that American ingenuity has brought the world.

By investing in start-ups, we are investing in people. This is the key to getting back to “our America”.

The Government

If the Democrats and Republicans were my children, well, I would have to put them on a time-out. Enough campaigning and time to start legislating. Americans are losing faith in the very system we created – the democratic process that other countries admire. Let’s stop with the partisan politics and work to get things done.

Fareed Zakaria pointed out the following fact: “The term American Dream was coined during the Great Depression. The historian James Truslow Adams published The Epic of America in 1931, in an atmosphere of even greater despair than today’s. He wanted to call his book The American Dream, but his publishers objected. No one will pay $3.50 for a book about a “dream,” they said. Still, Adams used the phrase so often that it entered the lexicon. The American Dream, he said, was of “a better, richer and happier life for all our citizens of every rank, which is the greatest contribution we have made to the thought and welfare of the world. That dream or hope has been present from the start. Ever since we became an independent nation, each generation has seen an uprising of ordinary Americans to save the American Dream from the forces which appear to be overwhelming it.”

Well, I say we start dreaming again. We look at one another, we invest in one another, and we get the train running again. Complacency is the death of dreams, and too many people have become complacent. Help your friend find that job, or bail out a family member in danger of loosing their house.

Whatever you do, Fight Back! to keep the American Dream alive. [Fightback]












Words of Wisdom....."Realize we are all insignificant....And get your nose out of the air"