The New American Dream

Time was, the “American Dream” consisted of certain goals that through hard work, some education, a bit of luck and a lot of determination, could be realized.  Now, it seems the American Dream consists more of “nots” than “do’s.”

The “NEW” American Dream is to:

• NOT have your house foreclosed or to NOT have the Sheriff on your doorstep, eviction notice in hand.
• NOT have your job outsourced to Podunktut, India.  And, to NOT have to train your replacement by video link as you sit with the want ads on your desk.  And, to NOT have that Indian replacement possess a third grade vocabulary of English with an accent even a mother couldn’t understand.
• NOT have your car repossessed at 4 AM, with the alarm  waking your neighbors to announce your new carless status.
• Make it from one payday to the next and NOT have to use credit cards (if you’re lucky enough to have one) or savings (if you’re lucky enough to have any) to meet the mortgage or rent, make the car payment, keep the utilities connected, pay the phone bill.
• Remain healthy enough to NOT need medication that costs $1700 a month, and is NOT covered by your Health Plan…assuming you’re lucky enough to HAVE a health plan.
• NOT be disabled and in need of assistance from the government.  If you are disabled, the Dream is to NOT have your disability claim rejected out of hand, which happens fully two-thirds of the time for Social Security and Disability applications.
• If you are disabled and drawing benefits, the Dream is for it NOT to stop because some worker at some desk in some office in some city far, far away ticked the wrong check box and your payments are stopped arbitrarily, without notice and NOT one word of explanation as to why.
• NOT have to park your SUV because you can’t buy gas, and to NOT have to ride your kid’s bicycle to work.
• To have your children vaccinated and NOT be struck with Autism Spectrum Disorder the next week.
• NOT need social services, because they’re NOT there anymore.  If you are fortunate enough to actually be receiving services, the Dream is for those services NOT to stop because the budget requires a cut, the agency decides you do NOT qualify anymore and they give you a phone number to call for help that is NOT answered…NOT ever.
• NOT be trapped in a dead end, go nowhere job for year after year.  Can’t NOT work, can’t quit, can’t get promoted, can’t get a raise.  Can’t talk to the boss, twenty years younger (or older) than you and you do NOT speak the same language, and you are NOT able to avoid the conflicts that causes.
• Have your children make it home NOT having been molested, shot at, threatened, raped, beat up or robbed on their way home from grammar school.
• NOT be arrested due to profiling.  The Dream is to NOT be noticed and to NOT match any names on the “No-Fly” list.
• NOT have to fly in a commercial aircraft in the first place.  To NOT have to pay for the oxygen mask that will drop when the aircraft runs out of fuel because the company does NOT fill the tanks, in order to save money they do NOT have because they just filed bankruptcy