Thursday, August 27, 2009

Wake Up America...The Dream Is Over.

I grew up believing that in America you had Freedom and an Inalienable Right to Pursue Happiness. I also grew up believing that these two powers granted us were to be honored and respected...but also to be feared.

These powers are tremendous and led to a Nation of (mostly) highly motivated individuals who worked hard for everything they wanted and had a sense of pride for everything they achieved. People prospered because of their hard work, their ingenuity and there talents. We looked up to the most successful Americans because they were our shining examples of what we can achieve...if we try hard enough...

...it was called The American Dream.

Was it harder for some people to achieve succsess? Did some people start off with disadvantages and did some people have seemingly huge obstacles they had to overcome in order to achieve their dream? Yes, most certainly so but that always made their success all the more inspirational.

Was it fair that some of these obstacles existed in the 1st place? Yes actually, it was. Some specific obstacles were (and are) wrong in a moral sense but simply having a disadvantage of some sort is not an injustice. Actually, the only way to have justice and fairness is to ensure that everyone has obstacles to overcome.

In a Free Society it is simply impossible to remove all of the percieved injustices because the very freedoms we enjoy sometimes create them when they are used for personal gain at the expense of others or when one persons happiness is causing anothers grief.

The American Dream felt like a nightmare to some because they felt it wasn't fair and/or their obstacles seemed too great to overcome, so Liberal Politicians (like Ted Kennedy) stepped in to supposedly "even the playing field" and create fairness where it was percieved to be missing...and now the American Dream has become a Nightmare for us all...isn't fairness and equality wonderful?

Now our society looks at success as somehow evil. If you are successful, you must have hurt many on the way. How many others dreams were squashed so that you could achieve yours? I am poor because you are wealthy. I want what you have. I deserve what you have. It's not fair.

Corporations are evil because they make lots of money.
Small Businesses are evil because they don't pay as well as the larger ones.
Individuals are evil simply because they have things that others do not.

Class Envy and entitlement attitudes have transformed our nation into something I don't recognize as American, nor do I like it very much, nor is it healthy. I may not be the most successful person myself but at least I have always known that my successes and failures have been MINE! I own them and I still own my dreams which I will achieve (or not) because of my own initiative, my own hard work and by overcoming any and all obstacles that may exist or arise.

I don't need Ted Kennedy's (or Obama's) "dream" of government control to achieve my American Dream. I just need to take control of my own life and be responsible to those around me. If we need Governement to force us to be productive, responsible citizens then the American Dream is truly over...

...and the nightmare begins.



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