The American Dream is Alive and Well
Posted by Troy Eckhardt on January 22, 2015 at 9:50 am
A friend of mine asked the following question on Facebook:
Ok, since everyone is posting political stuff thanks to the state of the Union speech last night….I’d like your opinion on this….Does the American Dream still exist?? You know, if you work hard enough you can be successful. Is hard work enough anymore?
Over 100 comments later, here is the answer I gave:
Yes. First of all we are ALL living the American Dream. If we stop comparing our wealth to that of other US Americans, and start looking almost anywhere else as our barometer, even the “poorest” of us commenting here will see that we are all wildly rich.
Living within one’s means is fairly underrated, too, as is common sense. Then there’s the whole thankfulness issue. Looking at grass that you think is greener does not lead to thanksgiving.
Beyond that, however, yes, hard work still pays off, as many here have already commented. And it isn’t harder than it used to be, it’s easier. You’ve got a miraculous encyclopedia of the knowledge of all ages that instantly communicates to the whole world IN YOUR HAND. Learn from it. Sell something with it. Join forces with others with it for something besides funny cats and pictures of dinner.
My first FB argument in 2008 was about how everyone deserved free healthcare, and that I had “silver spoon syndrome behind my white picket fence.” The guy told me that just because I could afford health insurance didn’t mean everyone could. As I pointed out to him, I CHOSE health insurance over the stuff he deemed more important. I paid $20,000 each year for insurance (now it’s $25,000), while he, who brought into his home about 150% of what I did, ironically, was “poorer” in his eyes. Never mind that I’d never owned a new car, never paid car payments, never bought new furniture or appliances, never racked up credit card debt, ate out six times per year at most, watched an old 20″ CRT TV, never shopped at the mall, never went to movies, never paid for NASCAR tickets, etc, while he lived on new leather, watched a huge flat screen, had two new cars, ate out five times each week, clothed his family with shirts and jackets advertising mall stores’ brand names, yada, yada, yada.
You just can’t have both sometimes. Now why in the hell should I pay for his insurance if he’s not going to foot the bill for the luxuries I forgo to afford healthcare?
I don’t believe that the pursuit of the American Dream requires a college education, either, and that’s from a guy who went to seven universities and has three degrees. In fact, I’m encouraging one son not to pay for higher education, not because he couldn’t make it mentally, but because what he loves can’t be studied in a university.
Finally, I believe all assistance should be private, and I believe about 99% of our federal government agencies should be shut down TODAY.
