Why care? Because it’s built into our culture. And if we don’t examine it, we can’t reshape our culture in a way that’s sustainable and healthier for us as individuals, for our society, and for our planet.
Maxine Waters suggests The American Dream is home ownership — the proverbial snug home with white picket fence. Nobel-economist Edmund Phelps suggests it’s the opportunity to risk capital, work hard and create wealth. Donald Trump has suggested it’s accumulation for accumulation’s sake — money is how we keep score — whoever dies with the most toys wins.
Bill Maher says there’s no American Dream — it’s an American Fantasy and that our economy is in trouble for too many years of living the fantasy. Well, fantasy or dream, we better figure out what The American Dream is and what it should be. I’ll tell you why — there’s more than 300 million of us. That’s a lot of American Dreamin’. Can the planet, can our economy, support that much American Dreamin’?
We need not worry whether the planet or the economy can support 300 million American Dreams because that’s irrelevant. The American Dream, you see, has gone worldwide. Blame it on “afluenza”. Or blame it on American influence. Fareed Zacaria quotes a prominent Singaporean analyst to the effect that the world emulates the American Dream. It’s self-evident — there is not a Chinese Dream.
Much of the world has pursued the American Dream. And that’s a problem, since at certain levels that lifestyle isn’t sustainable. One can consider every 300 million Americans an “Americum.” Look around the world for people pursuing their own version of the American Dream. You’ll find one Americum, of course, in America. You’ll find another in Europe. Another in India. One in China and nearly another. As of the time of the writing of Thomas Friedman’s, Hot, Flat and Crowded, there were 8 Americums around the world. We can’t keep it up.
Mr. Friedman suggests that the “gift basket” America sends to the world should be more than the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and The Declaration of Independence — it should include a better American Dream.
Work on it. I’ll get back to you.
