American Dream
I remember when the American Dream was alive and well, and life now – not only mine, but that of the culture, the society – isn't what I expected. It didn't simply extrapolate from the life that existed during my childhood. The rules changed. And rather than accept them gracefully, I have objected: "But that isn't right!" Once upon a time we honored family and country, baseball, Mom, and apple pie. We respected our elders, called them Mister or Missus. Held doors open for people. Children went to school and started every day with the Lord's Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance, and nobody complained about infringement of their religious rights or separation of church and state. Adults worked somewhere for forty years, and then retired. People raised their children in a good neighborhood where the kids could play in a big yard, or play kick-the-can or Simon Says or softball with their friends at the playground down the street. They could walk around on their own without fear of being kidnapped. Moms and Dads lived together with their children, not just part-time but all the time. Most moms were home when the children got home from school. And there was the family dog, wagging its tail in welcome. There was Stability. And we took great comfort in that stability. And in that stability was the expectation that not only would our lives improve, but our children would do even better: they would have more and better labor-saving devices, better education, higher incomes, nicer homes, more free time. They would be able to have more and better, with less effort. Now that stability and those expectations are gone. People are lucky to be in a job for more than a couple of years without getting laid-off. And when they do eventually find another job, the salaries are getting lower, not higher. Without job stability, you can't have life stability or economic stability. Without realistic expectations of future stability, you can't take risks or plan for the future. A prudent individual doesn't buy on credit when he doesn't know whether he'll have a job long enough to make the payments. How can you pay a 30-year mortgage if you don't have a 30-year job? Where once we took pride in our goods "Made in America," companies are now sending jobs overseas where they can pay people meager salaries to work under conditions we would find unacceptable, if not reprehensible, to make goods we can no longer afford to buy because we don't have stable jobs. Wake up, America! Saving corporate dollars short-term is undermining the health and stability of the individual, the family, the economy, and the society in the long-term. When I was in grade school, we talked about different kinds of government, and the advantages of democracy over communism. One of the abominations was held, at that time, to be the communist government forcing women to work alongside the men, treated as laborers, and that children consequently were reared in uncaring, emotionally sterile daycare facilities. This condition was deemed detrimental to the children’s emotional health and to their general well-being. It was sad that motherhood was not afforded the veneration we gave it here, and the family unit as we knew it did not exist. Now this same lifestyle is practiced here, today, as a matter of course. Yes, women should have the same career opportunities as men. But it should be a choice. It shouldn’t take two people’s incomes to support a household in America. A kid starting out in their late teens or early twenties should be able to get a job, and pay for food, shelter, clothing, and transportation; put a couple dollars aside for a rainy day. I know too many who cannot. Do something to let kids feel like kids again. Children were not toting guns to school to use on their fellow classmates when their mothers were waiting at home for them with an open door, open arms, open heart, cookies and milk, and a smile, as they asked, "how was school today?" Provide more financial support for our education system. Raise the bar: raise teachers’ wages, raise hiring requirements, get better teachers, create better schools. Our Children are America’s Future - not actors, not entertainers, not celebrities, not athletes, not sports teams. Our Children are the Future. Invest in them.
