I’ve been thinking about the concept of The American Dream for a long time — where it fits into our lives and where it should fit.

Lately things are driving me to write down some bones about it. The election of our new President. The currency of MLK’s Dream. The New American Melting Pot –  a palpably biological phenomenon. The Madoff and Blagojevich greed. The meltdown of our economy. The rise of Green. And amidst the turmoil, all the questions about how we should live — saving more, carrying less credit burden, buying less, buying local, being responsible.

So what exactly is The American Dream? How has it morphed over the years? And should we remake it?

Until the Great Recession, The American Dream seemed synonymous with Bling, McMansions, and  do-it-if-you-can-get-away-with-it. Disposable everything. Convenience, indulgence and soft comfort elevated to the highest values.

Has it always been that way? Wasn’t there a pastoral/bucolic day-gone-by where Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness meant simple physical, political and religious security joined with opportunity? I always assumed so.  Then I heard a reference to Democracy in America, attributing to its author, Alexis de Tocqueville, the observation that even back in the early Nineteenth Century, Americans were striving to accumulate things only to lose interest upon their attainment, eye always on the next acquisition. Maybe my vision of American values has been as mythological as George Washington’s I-cannot-tell-a-lie cherry tree.

These questions swirl around ElegantRoots.com since we sell quality gifts from around the world — eco-friendly and socially responsible, yes. Soulful, artisan-made, yes. Buy-less-but-buy-better things, yes. But still things. Green bling? What place for things in a New American Dream?

I’m taking input from heavy-weights the likes of John Zogby from The Way We’ll Be, Messr. de Tocqueville, Andrew J. Bacevich from The Limits of Power, Fareed Zacaria from The Post-American World, Thomas Friedman from Hot, Flat and Crowded, and who knows who else. Write to me — maybe I’ll be quoting you.

Til Next Time,

Rob Favole

Elegant Roots