American Dream

My ancestors came here less than two hundred years ago. Ancestor is a misleading word. When I think ancestor I think of people in togas, hunter-gatherers, and people in caves. Ancestor might not be the best word for what I’m describing. Let me start over.

My family came here less than two hundred years ago. Where’s “here?” Different branches of my family landed at Ellis Island and then went straight to Philadelphia. Others reportedly owned slaves in the antebellum South, but I think my Grandmom might be making that up. Some family even went to Cleveland. So when I say “here,” I mean America, even though I’ve only been in a small corner of it excluding a few trips to Disney World.

My family came here less than two hundred years ago. But that’s pretty unremarkable. The first colony in what became America was only founded 400 years ago. That seems like a long time, but Baghdad was founded somewhere around 8,000 years ago. Most people didn’t get here 400 years ago, so I’m going to estimate and say we showed up around 200 years ago. Whether it’s 200 or 400, it’s a drop in the bucket of the history of civilization and even less in the history of humanity.

My family came here less than two hundred years ago. And now I’m supposed to be worried about America’s spot in the world. I’m supposed to be worried that superpower America might not be #1. Well, I think that I’m forgetting the reason I’m here is because my great-great-grandparents ran out of potatoes. Their American Dream was not to starve to death. My American Dream, so I’m told, is a house, two cars, a career, and a vacation home. I’m not completely sold on it. Sure, a house is nice, but why would I need two homes? Why not live in a vacation house? And what about the career? I spend 10 hours a day (including commute) to pay for these things. If I were more like my grandparents, I could get by a lot easier. “Not starving” is an easy goal to achieve nowadays and it’s much more noble than “a house on the beach.”

So I’m coming to the conclusion that there is a problem between me and the American Dream. I’m not sure whether it’s me or the dream, but neither of us are very happy about it. Do you know that I can have a pizza delivered to my house from the internet? I don’t even have to leave my couch and someone will bring me a pizza. I doubt if anyone in human history has had it as easy as me. I don’t know whether that is a good thing or a bad thing.

But let’s get back to the American Dream. Is that really what people are striving for? Material possessions? I’m looking for something more substantial. Sure, I like my big screen TV, my refrigerator, my comfy couch, my bed and all the comforts that come with it. But would I miss them? I don’t know. Could I get by on a dollar a day? No, I couldn’t. But could I get by on welfare……….now that seems like a worthy challenge.