The CIA has a secret program where they take a person and put them into a lifelike bodysuit of synthetic skin. The whole suit looks very real, but the fact is that the government is using this method to rip families apart, torture, and spy on people without a warrant. I know this because the CIA tried to recruit me and has been trying for the past few years. First they paint a jellylike substance onto the body then they add layers of synthetic material over the body and heat seal it onto them. Then, they paint it and add hair and texture to the synthetic skin and the whole thing looks very life like. Just think of this election year's political buzzword "change" and also look at Barack Obama's appearance on Saturday Night Live at
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/politics/video/play.shtml?mea=229116
My family and I are victims of this program and I haven't seen them in several years. Instead, government agents have been contracting with the CIA and using the bodysuit method I described earlier to steal my family's identities.
This is a very serious domestic issue that is not being explored at all by the media. If you go and ask the CIA or the Justice Department specifically about this program, I wonder what they would say.
Again, this is a U.S. government program being used to rip families apart and spy on and torture American citizens. This is extremely serious. Thank you for listening.

Wake up! Stop the dreaming America; dreaming has been our one real problem, while being mentally enslaved as people. 81% of the country believe we are going in the wrong direction but WE keep going anyway. WE deserve it!?

On July 11, you spoke to people about “The American Dream” and their ideals of what it is. The conflicting view of what The American Dream is to people certainly is interesting to me. Truly, we stand united as a people; as one solid and dignified country, however, we all share a different view of what The American Dream is. As you’ve stated, Mr. Moyers, it is what brings us together – a belief in something that we should hope for, or something that America should stand for.
You asked us to share what our personal American Dream would be – and it brought up some very interesting thoughts to my head. I think if you would have asked this question to me when I was ten years old, I probably would have told you every American’s dream is to be rich and famous. Now that I’ve grown older and wiser – and as this great country of ours fights a war – perhaps the views have changed significantly on WHAT the American Dream is.
Some of us watch our televisions, viewing the local news, and are devastated each night to learn of the deaths from war, natural disaster, murder, or suicide. It seems there is no good news anymore. Perhaps in today’s world we shouldn’t be focused on an ECONOMIC view of The American Dream, as we should be on a truly focused view on bringing peace and harmony to this world. As I spoke in my first paragraph – we are a nation, solid and dignified; therefore, we should be a people, who stand together and live without fear of our neighbors.
So, my American Dream is no longer the dream I had when I was ten years old, which was to be rich and famous, but to be safe and to live in peace.

My American Dream: Public Hangings.

Letter to the Editor in Response to, “Deepening the American Dream”

At a glance I was taken in by the headline, “Deepening the American Dream.” I thought to myself, “ha, that’s funny because the American Dream is merely a thing of the past.” I previously thought the concept of the American Dream was about getting married, starting a family, and having a house, preferably with a white picket fence. Happiness and financial matters are of no concern because their amounts are always plentiful. After watching the clip on Deepening the American Dream I realized that I could not be more wrong. The American Dream is beyond a household and delves into businesses and economies. It is the common denominator that needs to be held by all. The people interviewed in the clip mentioned the American Dream being anything from the ideal for the world, social and/or personal change, a myth, to what is shared by all that holds the human race together. The interviewee’s felt that to improve and reinstate the American Dream we need to be transgenerational and encompass the past with our present and future. We need to have the courage to criticize ourselves and embrace change in order to make our ideals our realities. They discussed American’s needing to evaluate what being an American means. We need to be brave enough to elect leaders that will reach out instead of lash out, and rebuild our country on what is ethically correct. American’s need to share a conscience and respect when others are different, while we tear down walls instead of erecting them. My favorite line was when someone mentioned that we need to fight and demand what we want from our leaders. In the past few years I have reluctantly joined the adult world where living is an irritating expense and politics are sickening. We live in a free country yet we are tightly bound by the shackles of our financial situations. The American Dream was affordable when it was feasible. I have never been more scared for a future while we are being told our debt is out of control and our resources are reaching a low. The shallowed pockets of Americans are being made up in the deepening of pockets of the leaders we should be demanding excellence from. I do not feel that as an American I should have to demand anything from the elected officials of this country, but I expect mine and my peers best interest to always be the priority. The American Dream was lost when the line between the rich and the poor reached an infinite length, and when ego trips and power struggles became more important than economic stability and American lifestyle.

How many Moyeristas agree with me that if Bill fails again to directly address pertinent issues (and continues interviewing cronies and shilling books) this Friday August 1st that he will have been a hostage to elite power 192 days.
At least he is not being physically tortured as far as we know. "Every man has his breaking point," says Senator McCain (who is truly broken, a docile pony for lobbyists). ....as Merry Barry, the Kenyan Stallion, carries Israeli lobbyists and nuclear plant purveyors over the capitalist steeplechase. What kind of nag would you be, Bill? A stable companion for some corporate gelding?
(Don't cover the whore's race, for the Bejing Olympics could be next. Holy Steroids, Batman!)
May this blog be our Olympics substitute. Don't watch!

For the American Dream to have a future the American voters will need to unite and systematically vote out almost all incumbents this fall and each national election thereafter until Congress and the Administration begin to listen to We, the People, once again. The 2 major parties need to become non-entities since they have lost any respect for our country and her Constitution. Our initial major demands of Congress must be for term limits(6-8 years max) for Congress as well as the Supreme Court, removal of the Attorney Generals office from the Presidents influence, minimum standards to even be able to run for office, monitoring of wealth accounts for all officials in the government to stop graft and lobbying, and much easier recall abilities for all officials by the voters. There are a great many other ethics and responsibility rules/laws we will need to put inplace but these I have mentioned will do for starters. We must be like good parents over our childish government and take them underhand if we are to remain these United States of America. You would think that being surrounded by the pictures and sculptures of the giants that founded and defended this once great nation the people residing in our government in DC would have attained the greatest respect for what it took to create and maintain this noble Democratic Republic but alas it has been wasted on them. As Benjamin Franklin once said, "We have a republic if we can keep it". Well folks, Can We?

Do not dream; make it happen!

Ana Elsner's poem My Country 'T Is For Thee treats with the sell-out of the American Dream. It was written in 2006 and was first performed by the poet in April of 2008 in front of a large audience at San Francisco City Hall.

Ana Elsner is a poet with a global perspective and a great passion for the human condition. She has dedicated her work to encouraging critical thinking, and to raising the popularity and status of poetry in the everyday consciousness of society.

MY COUNTRY 'T IS FOR THEE

Don't write me in the margins

or skin me for my pelt of woe,

when the bitter tears start welling up

in the tortured and looted eyes of the survivors.

Do not coerce me with your flag-waving patriotism
or bed me down on the altar of your greed and your supremacist self-determination,
when your bullets start hailing down again,
and your Persuaders and your Henchmen
go to work, doling out flimsy professions of self-righteousness
in order to exorcise your secret nagging feelings of collective guilt.

Do not set a place for me
or count me in,
when you hold your banquet of regurgitated vanity and sugarcoated lies.

Many moons have come
and many messengers have gone unheeded.

And there has been a great gnashing of teeth
and a frightful outpouring of lament among your ranks
only to be suppressed and summarily dismissed
at this, your insane Festival Of Loathsome Contingencies.

Even as you boast the tax-exempt plunder,
extorted by your unjustifiable and self-serving attacks on other sovereign nations
and by your brutal military aggression against the people of these nations,

Even as you siphon off your ill-gained spoils of war,
callously paid for with the spilled blood of your own sons and daughters
and with the ruthless degradation of human life;

Even as you whitewash the crimes you have committed in the name of Democracy,

you foolishly barter away the last shred of your credibility.

You made your house a nest of vipers

and with their paralyzing venom

besmirched the very principles and hallowed ideals

you profess to represent.

"My country, 't is for thee,

Traitor to Liberty,

For thee I weep;

Land where my brothers die,

Land of forsaken pride,

From every battle site

Let Mercy ring."

© Ana Elsner

Watch a 4 minute clip of documentary film footage.

Limited Licensing: I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the Creative Commons Attribution license, granting distribution of my copyrighted work without making changes, with mandatory attribution to Ana Elsner and for non-commercial purposes only. Ana Elsner

I dream of an America where every worker receives a living wage, where all children have access to high quality child care and after-school programs, and where all Americans have health insurance.

To rekindle the American Dream we must recognize reality. We must stop policy-making by myth. The new book Connecting the Dots: Government, Community and Family outlines how our myths affect the ability of our families to meet their basic needs: earning an income, feeding and housing their families, obtaining health care and rearing their children. The myth that the private sector is good and government is suspect, if not bad, enabled us to resist the calls for government regulation during the period when the private sector was creating the subprime mortgage crisis.

Myths based on idealized Norman Rockwell family portraits, the “Having-It-All” woman working in a glamorous high-paying job and the lazy, irresponsible “Welfare Mom,” allow us to ignore the fact that during the much-touted days of the 1940s and 1950s, productivity doubled and so did the median family income. American workers are still the most productive in the world, but the increase in productivity has not been shared with the workers since the 1970s. Eighty percent of workers hold manufacturing or non-supervisory service jobs. While CEOs received million-dollar bonuses, the average worker received an increase of 35 cents an hour. In terms of buying power, in 1968 the minimum wage was almost $10 an hour, almost twice as high as it was for the 10 year period between 1997 and 2007. It was finally raised to $5.85 an hour last July, but the full increase scheduled to go into effect next July will only bring the wage to $7.25 an hour.

Most mothers work because their families need the money. Since our myths ignore the reality of why they work or that our economy would collapse if they stayed home, we do not invest in sufficient quality child care. Child care workers will change jobs for as a little as five cents extra an hour. The turn-over rate in child care centers is 30 percent a year, leaving children bewildered about why someone they cared for suddenly disappeared.

When asked what they needed to prevent juvenile crime, most of the police in one study wanted after-school programs more than they wanted additional police officers. An investment in high quality preschool programs for at risk three and four year olds would pay for itself in six years in saved tax expenditures. By 2050, it would save $315 billion a year.

Connecting the Dots details successful approaches for both local communities and the nation. We know how to prevent many of our problems, but we fail to take action partly because we base our policies on myths. For more data check http://www.connectingdots.us

The idea of exploring how myths affect our community life was partly inspired by listening the Bill Moyers programs on the Power of Myth many years ago.

I have tried to place a message on this Blog for two days.

Why has it not been posted? I received a message that it would be.

Could it possibly be censorship? I didn't expect to be censored as long as I was doing my best to raise honest questions.

For more data check www.connectingdots.us

I dream of an America where every worker receives a living wage, where all children have access to high quality child care and after-school programs, and where all Americans have health insurance.

To rekindle the American Dream we must recognize reality. We must stop policy-making by myth. The new book Connecting the Dots: Government, Community and Family outlines how our myths affect the ability of our families to meet their basic needs: earning an income, feeding and housing their families, obtaining health care and rearing their children. The myth that the private sector is good and government is suspect, if not bad, enabled us to resist the calls for government regulation during the period when the private sector was creating the subprime mortgage crisis.

Myths based on idealized Norman Rockwell family portraits, the “Having-It-All” woman working in a glamorous high-paying job and the lazy, irresponsible “Welfare Mom,” allow us to ignore the fact that during the much-touted days of the 1940s and 1950s, productivity doubled and so did the median family income. American workers are still the most productive in the world, but the increase in productivity has not been shared with the workers since the 1970s. Eighty percent of workers hold manufacturing or non-supervisory service jobs. While CEOs received million-dollar bonuses, the average worker received an increase of 35 cents an hour. In terms of buying power, in 1968 the minimum wage was almost $10 an hour, almost twice as high as it was for the 10 year period between 1997 and 2007. It was finally raised to $5.85 an hour last July, but the full increase scheduled to go into effect next July will only bring the wage to $7.25 an hour.

Most mothers work because their families need the money. Since our myths ignore the reality of why they work or that our economy would collapse if they stayed home, we do not invest in sufficient quality child care. Child care workers will change jobs for as a little as five cents extra an hour. The turn-over rate in child care centers is 30 percent a year, leaving children bewildered about why someone they cared for suddenly disappeared.

When asked what they needed to prevent juvenile crime, most of the police in one study wanted after-school programs more than they wanted additional police officers. An investment in high quality preschool programs for at risk three and four year olds would pay for itself in six years in saved tax expenditures. By 2050, it would save $315 billion a year.

Connecting the Dots details successful approaches for both local communities and the nation. We know how to prevent many of our problems, but we fail to take action partly because we base our policies on myths.

The idea of exploring how myths affect our community life was partly inspired by listening the Bill Moyers programs on the Power of Myth many years ago.

Bill
Will you still be a hostage for Friday's show? It will have been 185 days and counting...
Would Obama put you under the jail if you let just one drop of 9/11 Truth leak out? Will he make it (alive) to election day? Will people stand for a third sham election? (Will McCain share power with Mugabe?) Will you march with us to present redress on Inauguration Day? What will your sign or tee shirt say? Can we make everything OK without airing the dirty laundry in public? Put me something on the Archive to answer these...

OLYMPICS: fuggitabowdit!
This 2008 spectacle in China typifies and is an amplification of everything that threatens and sours human existence on this planet. It is a "paper tiger" pasted over repression, threats to privacy, wage slavery, glutted cheap goods from scarce resources, wealthy privilege, corporate hegemony, athletic exploitation and prostitution, perversion of medical science and the indoctrinary distraction diverting human attention and effort from vital issues. The Olimpiad is a moveable corporate storm, callus and destructive, the very epitome of our pending doom. Any wise Orwellian can see language inversion in a slogan which inverts reality,"Human Dream"="Human Nightmare."
Please Moyeristas, if you have even a smidgen of heart or mind remaining, I beg you to boycott and criticize the 2008 Bejing Summer Olympics!

What I saw for most of my life as the American Dream, has become the American Nightmare. Everything I learned in High Schooll civics has changed. From the way elections contribute the will of the people, to the system of checks and balances that keep our branches of government on an even keel, things have changed to the point where it is not possible to reconcile what I learned in school against the way things are today. The people of my state signed petitions and added intiatives to the state ballot. The people voted, and the sitting government didn't like the results, so they ignored them. Over the last eight years, time after time, the president didn't like our system of checks and balances, so he ignored them. The VP has decided that his office is not part of the executive branch. He doesn't have to say who he has working for him. The attorney General has refused to enforce the law at the request of the congress. Torture has become ok. The right to a speedy trial is no longer a right. And the work I spent my life learning to do, has been outsourced so that a few people can make more money. The American Dream was once something that was there for everyone. The ability of each person to rise up based on their enthusiasm and committment, has changed into a two class system where the middle class is being pushed down into the lower class, and the rich get richer. Each time I read the news, something disappoints me about the way public officials are discharging their offices. The environmental protection agency does not protect, the FDA does not administer, the Constitution lays shredded on the Whitehouse lawn. I fear our children will never know this country as we thought we did in our youths.

To far too many people, the American Dream means that you can consume whatever you like and whenever you feel like it without consequences for yourself or anybody else, especially if that "anybody else" is poor, non-white, and/or not Judeo-Christian.

'The Conditions on the ground' should be those conditions on OUR ground. America is beginning to look more like Saddams Iraq, then 'The land of the Free'.

"Human Dream" What a truly wonderful idea! Thank you!

The theme of the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympics is:

"One World One Dream" Check

http://en.beijing2008.cn/

The "American" Dream is irrelevant. Our new era of skyrocketing food and oil prices, the worthless dollar, climate change and daily species extinctions means that we need a "Human Dream," where we recognize that we all as a species will survive or fail based on our ability to fundamentally change the way we live, and what our dreams are.

7/19/08 Charley James says “Is that moral?”…the answer,
“Who the hell cares? It’s legal and it’s profitable.”
That seems to be the underlying theme of ‘most everything done today and William Greider’s observations about the problems confronting America are as unsettling as they are accurate. Indeed, his interview was thought-provoking, intriguing and – most important, perhaps – nailed key issues on the head about how so-called “unfettered” capitalism is bad for the nation and, frankly, bad for capitalism.
As the segment noted, 88% of the nation believes we are on the wrong track. Why? It’s not just because of the war. It’s because of the growing disparity between the rich and the poor; it’s because of the inability of people to afford healthcare; it’s because of the visible split between the powerful and powerless; it’s because of the yawning gap between the have’s and the have not’s.
I’m just old enough to remember enormous prosperity of the 1950s and 1960s which happened despite high marginal tax rates on the wealthy and large businesses, sometimes overly-heavy handed regulation, and banks that were content to take in deposits at 2% and lend it out again at 3%. Yes, there were lobbyists and special interests rummaging around on Capitol Hill, but both ethics rules and personal morality kept members of Congress from being bought off by a couple of seats to an event or a six-figure campaign contribution.
Alright, so those times are long gone. But unless the United States can figure out a way to restore the balance between the rich and poor, those in control and those without influence, and bring a greater degree of interdependence, then the Great American Experiment will fail.
Carla D’Esposito says “I care a real lot” and “I never knew we were EXPERIMENTING, I thought we were being thoughtful and living life, maturing in truth, realizing that this was all pretty real and that if we were corrupt and immature in our actions that there were harmful ramifications to fellow Human Beings ….the experiment is not going to fail, it already has failed, it just has not whip-lashed back upon us fully yet but when it does we better have a bunch of George Baileys( of the Capra movie 'Its A Wonderful Life') out there to manage things when everyone is hysterical….We are no longer chiseling a civilization out of the wilderness any longer, any society has got to be well designed and this foundation has got to be with a Human Being having the Right to housing, not landlords and mortgages….to further this understanding everyone entering the status of ‘Sovereign Adult’ has got to sign a simple statement that they agree to be good .#1. we first need to agree that we all want to be good, #2. we all need to agree that good is good and that bad is bad, #3. we all need to agree that if bad presents itself as good that we recognize this evil and not allow this bad evil to continue, #4. that we keep a running list of 'Good Things' and simultaneously keep a running list of 'bad things' for judicial purposes. We really just need one two-part Law to live by: "Everyone work and be good." Governments are instituted amongst men to secure Rights, through a legislative process, this can be Direct Democracy, and with the military if needs be, protects Rights with the judiciary courts that should be available to the people at a 1:10 ratio, letting the people choose amongst themselves, an honest person who will not be bribed

Where is the American Dream? Swallowed up in Globalization and the infiltration of Banking Industry with Muslim Sharia Law Compliance--please read the following:

We receive many emails asking us for a list of banks participating in Sharia finance. We urge you to visit this website. It lists financial institutions here and around the world and the latest information on Sharia finance.

http://shariahfinancewatch.wordpress.com/shariah-compliant-banks/

Shariah Compliant Banks

Alpha Natural ResourcesAsset Acceptance Capital Corporation

Aviva Plc

AXA

Barclays PLC

BNP Paribas Group

Citibank, N.A.

Credit Agricole, S.A.

Deutsche Bank AG

Dow Jones & Company Inc.

Equity Insurance Group Limited

Goldman Sachs Group

HBOS plc

HSBC Holdings plc

INVESCO Perpetual

Julius Baer Group

Maersk Logistics

Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.

Morgan Stanley

NYSE Euronext

Silicon Graphics, Inc.

Singapore Power

National Security and Financial Risks: Islamists are attempting to impose Shariah Compliant Finance (SCF) on Western institutions to use our own financial strengths against us. The most serious problem with SCF is that it legitimates and institutionalizes Shariah law (i.e., Islamic law), a theo-political- legal doctrine violently opposed to Western values. With $1 -$2 trillion petrodollars annually looking for an investment home, blind exuberance is driving financial institutions to adopt SCF, without even a minimal baseline for legal compliance. This willful blindness, and lack of both transparency and due diligence may cause SCF to be the next sub-prime crisis, but this time with deadly consequences.

Legal Risks: Western financial institutions which adopt SCF may have criminal and civil exposure to claims of aiding and abetting sedition and the material support of terrorism, securities fraud, consumer fraud, racketeering, and antitrust violations, as well as exposure to tort claims for sedition and terrorism, and for the violation of internationally recognized norms of the law of nations.

Terror Financing Mechanism: SCF as monitored by paid Shariah law advisors to U.S. banking institutions must “purify” certain return on investment (ROI) dollars that do not meet Shariah law standards. This money must be donated to Islamic charities - including some that promote Jihad and support suicide bombing. Investment disclosures state that these profits can be as high as 6% of profits of investments. With $800 billion already in SCF assets, the potential for billions of dollars to be siphoned off for terrorism is real. This would be a serious criminal violation of U.S. law.

Consider this example: Shariah Mutual Funds promote themselves as “ethical funds.” To be Shariah-compliant, they donate “tainted” revenues to Shariah-compliant “charities.” A post 9-11 U.S. investor in a Shariah-compliant “ethical investment” is not told that Shariah law also requires imposing Shariah as U.S. law, execution of gays and female apartheid. Is he a victim of consumer fraud? Is this same post 9-11 investor unwittingly funding terror? The government has shut down the three largest Shariah-compliant charities in the U.S. - the Holy Land Foundation, Benevolence International Foundation, and the Global Relief Foundation - after proving they funded terrorist organizations. The American taxpayer deserves answers to these questions. The Center for Security Policy (CSP) is meeting directly with members of Congress, U.S. regulatory agencies and Wall Street financial institutions in order to ensure the enforcement of existing U.S. laws on sedition, disclosure, material support of terrorism, and money-laundering. CSP is committed to revealing the civil liability and criminal exposure of Shariah law and Shariah-compliant finance.

WHAT IS SHARIAH LAW?
Understanding Shariah law is integral to understanding the dangers of Shariah-compliant finance. Shariah law is Islamic law dating back to the 7th century and is today the law of the land in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sudan and the law under which the Taliban operates. Recent polls reveal that only 10-15% of Muslims worldwide want to live under this all-encompassing system of Islamic jurisprudence that covers all aspects of a Muslim’s life including religious, social, political, and military obligations. However, with a current population of 1.5 billion Muslims, this translates to a huge pool of Jihadist recruits and supporters - a base of approximately 150 - 225 million Muslims. Shariah law authorities, some of whom are now being paid handsomely by Barclays, Dow Jones, Standard & Poors, HSBC, Citibank, Merrill Lynch, Deutschebank, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Credit Suisse and others have the power to dictate Shariah compliance as deemed by “scholarly consensus” on matters of finance, family, penal law, apostasy, and war. Examples of authoritarian Shariah law include: requirement of women to obtain permission from husbands for daily freedoms; beating of disobedient woman and girls; execution of homosexuals; engagement of polygamy and forced child marriages; the testimony of four male witnesses to prove rape; honor killings of those, principally women, who have dishonored the family; death to apostate Muslims who chose to leave Islam; inferior status of non-Muslims, and capital punishment for those “slander Islam.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

American Congress for Truth
P.O. Box 6884
Virginia Beach, VA 23456
member@americancongressfortruth.org
http://www.americancongressfortruth.org

Every day, American Congress for Truth (ACT) a 501c3 non-profit organization is on the front lines fighting for you in meeting with politicians, decision makers, speaking on college campuses and planning events to educate and inform the public about the threat of Islamofascism. To maintain and bolster our efforts, we need your continued solidarity, activism and financial support. We are only as strong as our supporters. We thank you for helping us carry on this important work.

The American Dream persists as a concept, and it resonates around the globe, because it is the Human Dream: to live free, to worship openly, to pursue your goals to the extent of your abilities, and to vote in peace according to your conscience. America has never fully realized The Dream, but we have always been on the path, making steady progress toward making it equally available to all citizens. What distinguishes the last 8 years is that Progress Toward the Dream has been willfully and cynically derailed. It's our duty as Americans to be "keepers of the progress." It's our duty to vote to put this country back on its upward trajectory. Our children are watching.

The American Dream: the country as a whole needs a cultural change which must take place on many levels.

We have to move to recognize the collective as primary and the individual as secondary. The frontier closed in the early 1900's yet we continue to act as if the wild west is still alive and well.

Social capital (health care, education, family issues), physical infrastructure (bridges, roads, railroads, airports), cultural (national parks, arts, national news organization [think BBC]), financial (social security, raising standard of living, securities regulations, tax reform, ending supply side economics, reducing multi state complexity). All need attention. There are many more that I haven't listed.

We have a long way to go but we have to start soon or we will become a 2nd class country. In some respects (health care) we already are.

Since the Media and the Corporations are working the same Agenda, we must get money out of campaigns. Voters Only Campaign Financing is the answer. It will allow only those who can vote for a candidate to donate, by prohibiting elected officials from taking money from non-electors. It cancels out the People's Vote.

The Agenda is to keep electors un-informed.

Secrecy and clever sound-bytes annul the "People's Rights". Without "Full Disclosure News" of what is happening, we will never have a government "..of the People, by the People, & for the People..."

For example, using "horizon" instead of "time-table"; you can never reach the horizon.
It is a deliberate diversion and should be exposed as such.

Go to http://www.calneva.com/voxpop/voters001.htm.
To see the "Intended Consequences" of making it a felony for representatives to RECEIVE money from non-constituents.

Bob$$$

I am a school bus driver and a biz owner. I drive a bus because of the uncertainty that is present in the airplane business. My idea of the American dream is not to wake up every morning wondering how I am going to make ends meet. Not wondering if I can feed my family this month. Not wondering how I am going to pay for college for my two children. Not wondering how to tell my kids to stay in school when Phds are flipping burgers for a living. Not wondering why our leaders have sold us out to the corporate giants with their reckless trade policies and the useless Iraq war. And lastly not crying because I will never be able to retire.

I want to say I am thankful for Bill Moyers and Lue Dobbs for caring about the Middle Class and the Working people of America.

I was also thankful for learning from William Greider about the repeal of the USURY LAW in 1980 as it explained why so much harm and torture has been reeked on the poor of America.

Ellison Hunt

Slavery in America or The American Dream 07/19/08

The top 1% of the population of the United States requires Slavery to maintain their standard of living. They have for the past 40 years been destroying the Working Class and Middle Class and we the 90% have become a third world nation. How is the possible? The top 10% serves at the beck and call of the top 1%. Ellison Hunt

Also the bottom 90% have no advocate, not the news media, not the two houses of Congress, not Lawyers, and not Employers.

Modern Totalitarianism in America works in subtle ways. It has no flag but the company logotype, and no weapons but paychecks, promotions, and the promise of happiness. Earl Shorris

The corporation or the bureaucracy... becomes a place, the cultural authority, the moral home of a man. The rules of the corporation become the rules of society. The future replaces history, and the organization becomes the family.... As the corporation separates men from each other, making a class of competing atoms, it gains control over them. Earl Shorris

When one person is induced to act for the good of another, we may ask whether the result is fair or just. Are the goods received by the two parties commensurate? When one person controls another aversively, there is no commensurate good, and positive reinforcers may also be used in such a way that the gains are far from equal. Nothing in the behavioral processes guarantees fair treatment. Thomas Moore

A dominant controlling agency or system may hold a set of practices together. A democratic culture is a social environment marked by certain governmental practices, supported by compatible ethical, religious, economic, and educational practices. A Christian, Moslem, or Buddhist culture suggest a dominant religious control, and a capitalist or socialist culture a dominant set of economic practices, each possibly associated with compatible practices or other kinds. A culture defined by a government, a religion, or an economic system does not require geographical or racial isolation. Thomas Moore
Slavery Comments & Quotes

Having reread my thoughts and feelings put down in print from time to time about the prairie and past I find no reason to remain in the misery of city life and working for employers who eat up the soul and spit out the corpse still alive but dead. Ellison Hunt

Slavery, low wages, indentured labor, prisoner / prison labor, working long hours, working in unhealthy conditions, forced to work at a job one is not able or fit to do. Is the good of the whole really worth the destruction of the individual and can a society or culture last when the individual is destroyed?
Ellison Hunt

He was suffering the anguish men suffer when they persist in undertaking a task impossible for them... not from its inherent difficulties, but from its incompatibility with their own nature. Tolstoy

Labor camps, reeducation, Freudianism, early childhood conditioning, behavioralism – all were techniques for pounding the Square Peg of human nature into the Round Hole of Social Planning. Mans Demise Our Post Human Future Francis Fukuyama

We have become “second hand” human beings. The “information age” with its data bases filled with facts on: History, Religion, Academia, every book ever written, every movie ever made, every story ever told. The internet has made it possible to destroy the privacy of every citizen and so is it any wonder that we read less, write less, paint less, dance less, travel less and watch more, eat more, spend more, and choose a life of one entertainment, one material possession, one relationship after another. Earl Shorris

We have few authors of any consequence and fewer artists, and more museums with the art of the past and libraries filled with books filled with every unoriginal thought imaginable. Earl Shorris

Can you imagine what a different world it would be if people could create with out the hindrance of copyrights, registered trademarks, patens and all the other economic road blocks which now exist? Earl Shorris

When educators lose their compassion to principle, to ambition, and to competition, soul has once more been pulverized by a misplaced desire for success. When the individuality of the person is subjugated to general principles of the whole, the soul begins to fade. Principle, futurity, and totalitarianism take over. Thomas Moore

The Road to Serfdom
Political Correctness takes liberty from the individual and gives it to the group! Friedrich Hayek

Our age is not suffering from anxiety but from the accidents, crimes, wars, and other dangerous and painful things to which people are so often exposed. Young people drop out of school, refuse to get jobs, and associate only with others of their own age not because they feel alienated but because of defective social environments in homes, schools, factories, and elsewhere. Thomas Moore

We shall not get far by inspiring a “sense of craftsmanship or pride in one’s work,” or a “sense of the dignity of labor,” or…. Walter Lippmann’s Question is – How men can save themselves from the catastrophe which threatens them. Thomas Moore

“What is now under attack,” said Maslow, “is the ‘being’ of man.”
C.S. Lewis put it quite bluntly: “Man is being abolished.”
Thomas Moore

Democracy in America Volume II 1831
In order for any society to function “it is necessary that the minds of all citizens should be rallied and held together by certain dominant ideas”.
In the US “The majority undertakes to supply a multitude of ready-made opinions for the use of individuals who are thus relieved from having to form opinions of their own” Tocqueville

This is exactly why we the citizens have become slaves to the Rich, not owned but paid the minimum survival rate and told what to think.
Ellison Hunt

Escape and avoidance play a much more important role in the struggle for freedom: A person escapes from or avoids aversive treatment. Thomas Moore

Morally wrong or ethically wrong are not so much descriptions as indications of what has aversive consequences. Thomas Moore

We the citizen, the working people, have been set upon by averse treatment and have suffered the most inhuman consequences in the history of our Country. When will this change? I have for some time stated we the people will have to find a backbone and vote Congress both Senators and Representatives out of office, for their interest is in the Wealthy and Powerful. Last night on Bill Moyers Journal on PBS I heard William Greider say that he thought the people would have to think for themselves and be willing to vole out the incumbents in order to prove that they wanted fair treatment and fair representation from their Government (Paraphrased). In any case I felt he and I were in total agreement. Ellison Hunt

I would like to add the following ideas to help the common citizen realize they must depend on themselves and that certainly includes thinking for themselves, for America to survive each Citizen must once again become an individual, interested in the good of all Citizens. You won’t get this from the Wealthy or the Corporations or the Government.
The man who would lead others is evil and those who would follow are fools.
The man who would serve others is misguided and will soon fine his folly.
Since I have presumed to advise the Working Class of America I think the Wealthy deserve at lease a thought…. Ellison Hunt

This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth: First, to set an example of modest, unostentatious living, shunning display or extravagance; to provide moderately for the legitimate wants of those dependent upon him; and after doing so to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds, which he is called upon to administer, and strictly bound as a matter of duty to administer in the manner which, in his judgment, is best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for the community – the man of wealth thus becoming the mere agent and trustee for his poorer brethren…. The man who dies leaving behind him millions in available wealth, which was his to administer during life, will pass away “unwept, unhonored, and unsung.” Bahauddin

Yes, Bonzo was smarter than Reagan. Thank you very much Congress; over thirty years both parties have managed to turn our Federal Government into a bunch of hit men for the new cyndicate: Banks. The mafia has nothing on the suits who receive free media, tax dollars and strong arm protection from the communists who sit in our Capitol. Get with it people: the bail out of Fannie and Freddie just made our market Socialistic: the government now runs our economy. In thirty years we lost the strongest democracy on earth due to greed from all citizens and all parties in US seats of government. What a stealth attack by Wall Street!

REALITY: BECAUSE OF DICK & BUSH, (and the idiots who actually cast a vote for these greedy jerks), our country has been hijacked fleeced and raped... The minimum wage today (compensating for inflation) is less than it was in 1950!...average wealth is where it was at the beginning of the great depression...the top 1% of the richest have seen huge earnings increases, while 80% Americans now have to work hourly jobs...We now have the highest rate of poverty level increases than any other country...Even child mortality has increased while life expectancy has gone down during dick&jr's reign!...We have unprecedented debt to foreign countries and the highest deficit ever in history...more companies have left America during this administration than ever before...43 million + Americans don't have any health insurance now...The bush company has endangered America's very infrastructure, leaving us more vulnerable to terrorists threats, financial collapse, worldwide environmental damage and the list goes on & on...Now he's trying to spin oil drilling - opening up 5.6 million acres of Alaska's coast, insuring the extinction of several endangered animals, including Right Whales (which is the only place in the world they gather and reproduce)...There's been over 4000 kids (younger than you and your friends) TO DIE IN HIS BS WAR!...and over 1 MILLION innocent Iraqi citizens are dead .....

PLEASE WATCH GREG PALASTS' DOCUENTARY ASAP...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8187301869971500776

AND THEN JOIN THE COUNTDOWN:
http://www.backwardsbush.com/

The sham of propping up public confidence by the President, the U.S. Treasury, and the Federal Reserve will only work for so long, because the guarantees are hollow, words backed up by the "full faith and credit" of a bankrupt government. Politicians and pundits quibble and obfuscate about whether we are in a recession, but the public has no doubt that we are in a destructive period in American history--destruction of wealth, dissolution of institutions, the pain of communities torn apart. I think the Destructive Period is going to play out over the next twenty years, at least, much as the depression did in the 1930s and 1940s. Although a painful time, that period brought opportunity as well, to reshape the nation from "lessons learned." It would seem that we have forgotten the lessons of that period, and now it's time for the American people to step up and do the hard work of citizenship. Are we up to that challenge? Do we care enough about the common good to ignore self-interest for a time? I wonder.

Even as weeds grow in the streets and public infrastructure falls apart, I hope that we have the vision and fortitude to draft a new U.S. Constitution that proscribes the war powers of the President. Representative democracy has failed us, and can no longer be trusted to reflect the will of the people. Corporations and monied interests run the government, plain and simple, and that is not democracy. There was a time during the founding of America when the denigration of the public will was serious business indeed. When we learn not to go along to get along, when we learn what it means to pledge honor, wealth and life in the service of the common good, then we might make progress again.

"From time to time the Tree of Liberty must be refreshed with the blood of tyrants and patriots."

--Thomas Jefferson

My version of the American Dream is that I can once again live free of fear of the government. Since the USDA has started its campaign to microchip and track every animal in the country, imposing horrendous fines for those who fail to comply or who commit errors in their reporting, I have felt that the government is out to destroy my lifelong dream of a small horse breeding farm. Who, after all, is going to buy a horse when it subjects them to unbelievable spying and surveillance from the government with constant threat of fines and government intruders "inspecting" their premises?

Before rural people like me can live the American Dream, the government must get out of our lives, stop bullying and threatening and go back within the boundaries wisely set for it in the U.S. Constitution.

PHILLIPE SANDS ON TORTURE
On last night’s program (18 July 2008) Philippe Sands wished that America would stop torturing its prisoners by returning to the ideals of its constitution and the standards of international law. The problem is that many Americans now believe that our use of torture is justified.

Unfortunately, the only way torture will be stopped is for someone to capture Americans and do the same thing to them as we do to our prisoners; then see what happens.

My dream for the American Dream is simply this: that we adhere to the vision of our founders. Namely,

* Peace and commerce with all nations, alliance with none;
* An executive, legislative, and judicial branch that remains true to the Constitution.

Now, does that sound so hard? Memo to our elected and unelected representatives in Washington:

* You are our servants, not our leaders.
* You have strayed dramatically away from our founding principles and from the supreme law of the land.
* I would like our country back at your earliest convenience.

That is my dream of the American Dream.

Very sincerely,
David Thayer

THE AMERICAN DREAM

The basic tenet of the American dream is that you need money to realize the dream. If this is true, then the dream must consist substantially of purchasable goods and experiences. Having the money to buy whatever you want is the dream. The equation becomes simply money = dream. The sinister part of this relationship is that for most of us who are not independently wealthy working at exhaustive, stressful and repetitive jobs so complicates the process that for all practical purposes it destroys the equation. We continue to devote ourselves to making the money despite the toll that it takes on our ability to enjoy the things of this life.

Let’s take a few examples of the things that money can buy. First, a car. The fact that we are working so hard to make the money we need to afford a car to go back and forth to work in means that we will probably make the choice of car based primarily on its affordability, how little of our precious hard-earned dollars it will consume. Unless one is a miser always thinking in terms of outcomes and outlays, there doesn’t seem to be much of the joy and satisfaction one associates with the realization of a dream in this series of choices and events.

Now let’s say we have some room in our budget to add some luxury to the vehicle, some power, sportiness and comfort features for example, or to make the car more unique. These are additions that have the potential to increase our joy in having and using a car. At least temporarily, until the newness of the experience fades with familiarity and mechanical problems and we begin to long for refreshment again. Most purchasable goods have a short shelf life, and this is particularly the case in a land that is flooded with goods and encouraged on all fronts to pursue happiness through consumerism.

Now let’s consider a college education. This purchasable experience would seem to be in a completely different category from a car. But, is it? There was a time when only the wealthy could afford a college education, and that education would often reflect a yearning to explore a great variety of the world’s learning, purely for the joy of learning uncontaminated by any concerns of future employment. In those days a Liberal Arts degree was not an unending source for satire, as it has become today. Today, we get into a college education in much the same way that we approach the buying of a car, thinking much more about outcomes and outlays and “wasting” as little time as possible on the pure joy of learning and expanding our horizons.

There used to be a lot of talk about the dangers of the assembly line back in the Fifties and Sixties, how the factory approach to productivity was infecting every aspect of Modern life. Now, it seems to have actually permeated our culture to such an extent that we don’t even trouble ourselves to question it anymore; we buy our cars and our educations, using all the relevant consumer guides, and never even wonder about the role of joy and satisfaction in this equation. Thoreau, the individual educating himself on a daily basis in his solitary home in the woods, seems as foreign to us now as a medieval serf.

I think we need to remind ourselves that the experience centered on either preparing for a vague and threatening future or on avoiding painful possibilities is the opposite of pleasure, that money, for the vast majority of Americans, is a tool that fits the task of attacking or warding off obscure phantoms but hardens us against the experience of joy that is at the center of any healthy dream.

If America does not soon wake up from the American Dream, the nation will die in its sleep.

The alarm is sounding, America, and it’s time to stretch, look around, and stop sleep-walking through the ruins of a country pillaged by Greed.

Ever since the long night of Reagan presidency, when the holds to corporate plunder were unbarred, we have been savoring the sleepy notion that free people have the right to get as much as they can, however they can, without the need for laws to control what they will do to get what they want. In our Ripvanwinkel state, still dreaming that our piece of the American Pie was just there for the taking, the ants, roaches, and mice were devouring it bite-by-bite.

The American Pie has been eaten. Remaining on the plate are the moldy crumbs and a huge to price to pay – in the trillions, they say – to pick up the tab the bankers, politicians, and insurance companies have left for us. We either pay while we sleep or get up and give up the notion that Greed is Good.

In a state of American Wakefulness, we can force our government to enact laws against unbridled greed. We can refuse to pay the bill for the crumbs we’ve been left and demand that the thieves not only pay for their portions but bake new Pies. We can recognize the simple truth that, just like murder and rape, greed is an instinct that destroys life and nations. Without laws to control the behavior it breeds, there is no limit to the destructive power of Greed.

Who said we have the worst system except for all the rest? America is so much bigger than the rest of the world because it is not provincial but international setting an example to the rest of the world about freedom, individual worth, tolerance and acceptance. This makes our nation unique and great. Two easy examples. If you are from Nigeria and arrive in America, in a short time you can become and exclaim I am an American. How many years would he live in Japan, China, France before he could claim “I am Japanese I am Chinese, I am French”!! If I went into the Gaza strip and offered Hamas fighters a choice of ten thousand dollars or a Visa to the United States, How many do you really think would take the money? We are setting the stage for the united space ship earth where everyone’s interest is in everyone’s interest. That goal is the only survival manual for the world. America is the steward of that goal. No other people, no other nation has the will.

First thing is REAL CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM!! Seems like we have to take the money (profits) out of politics, then take the money(profits) out of health care.

Then write up some formal job descriptions for the President of the United States, Vice President, and all Members of Congress. Require all government employees to take an oath to tell the truth the whole truth throughout their entire service. We need honest LEADERS. Require a 100 day performance review, and make them accountable for their actions.

We should also change the way bills are introduced and voted on in congress. No attachments and favors.

We must hold the evil doers accountable for their actions and clean up our own house first.

Encourage Solar Power for all homes.

Tax incentives for home makers.

Bring back George Baily, and local savings accounts that pay at least 6% safe interest.

Think local, buy local, recycle local.

Its a start....

"Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance. "

From "Hocus Pocus" by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

The American Dream? Hmm... Some may say it is just semantics, but I question the entire concept of the very phrase itself.

The word, being the key to all things and, so inexorably fundamental to what makes us human, and thus, the entire foundation of what is layered upon it, shouldn't we get the terminology right FIRST?

For, are not dreams really just the stuff of escapist fantasies, utopian myths, egocentric idealisms and other otherwise impractical and unattainable "realities"? Is not the very concept of referring to the fundamental idea of what America and Americans aspire to, as but a dream, pretty much setting us up for failure?

In answer to my own self, I ask: Wouldn't it be better to re-pen the term in some more realistic and reasonably attainable fashion? Something that real planners and movers & shakers can manageably get their hands around? Something that really bespeaks a true American Mission Statement, rather than simply echoing idle hopes and desires?

To that end, I propose we try one or more of the following: The American Goal, The American Mission, The American Aim or even, The American Promise.**

** Then again, nix all that and just read Our Declaration of Independence or the Preamble to our Constitution. If you do so very carefully, you will find out how wise and prescient our framers were and then realize, it is all there already, and nowhere was the term dream ever even chanced upon.

A bigger house than needed, lots-o-cash and starring on "Survivor" is the only American Dream I ever hear anyone speak of. Only immigrants from Third World nations who sufferred under cruel tyranny and horrible poverty have a different American Dream. And after a few generations living here, they too just dream of fame and fortune. Many of my peers lust for wealth & power with the same passion and disregard for others as the Sodomites who hadn't yet learned to create wealth out of thin air. Those in this nation who are truly wealthy have family millions accumulated from unjust wars, unethical Wall Street/Banking deals and/or oil/natural resorces stolen from Third World Nations. The rich get richer as they turn paper into gold, the poor stay poor and if Americans don't open their eyes soon; those will be the only 2 classes left. Just like India in the day of Gandhi.

Homeowners in danger of being foreclosed have a very good legal remedy for avoiding that foreclosure. If you know anyone in this situation, please encourage them to seek legal counsel first and refer them to "The Subprime Trump Card: Standing up to the Banks", http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9454.

If all the homeowners potentially qualifying for relief from these foreclosure actions exercised the rights provided them under recent court cases, the banks to which Congress is attempting to give the public's money would be in very serious trouble. Unfortunately, so would the pension and retirement funds so many have come to depend upon for a retirement income.

The time has come to nationalize not just Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac but the entire US banking system. Unless this is done, there will NOT be enough money to save both the wealthy shareholders and investors of the banks and Wall Street brokerage houses whose greed was responsible for this crisis and the millions of Americans whose lives are being destroyed by that greed. See “Let the Lawsuits Begin: Banks Brace for a Storm of Litigation”, http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9577

I have a son who is 13 and has moderate to severe autism. I am also a teacher of those who have autism in a NC middle school. I see the American Dream as one that people who have autism can lead us to. First of all, the truth behind the autism "epidemic" has to come out.....this is part of my "American Dream", where honesty is looked upon with great reverence and persons with integrity are again admired. Everywhere one turns in this great nation of ours we see crisis.....at this point in time....what are the positives. We live in a world of "spritual" degeneration and who will teach us how to turn it all around?
If one looks deeply into the "epidemic" of autism, one will find the ills of our nation. First of all, we have created those who have autism through our thirst and desire for comfort. We have done this through polluting our environment. We have done this by letting our children be vacinnated with levels of mercury unheard of through greed, convenience and what other hidden agenda those behind vaccinations only know. We have created millions of people who have great difficulty with meaningful communication as well as the lack of social know-how in order to have, for most, meaningful friendship. It seems to me, what they appear to lack is exactly what we appear to lack...a lack of meaningful life. Yes we have cell phones...etc and everyone seems to be communicating...but are we really. It seems more like addiction to idyll chatter and keeping the mind busy.

The American Dream I see is for those who have made the greatest impact on the autism epidemic to set forth and clean up their mess. For corporate America to do as the Walgreens Corporation has done and fully employ many of those with autism and other developmental disabilities for not charity but for the valuable work they can do. By employing these people, they bring meaning to their lives, but their true value is how much they have to teach those without disabilities. They teach heart. To paraphrase Jean Vanier, true community happens when the strong support the weak and the weak support the strong. The strong support the weak through guidance both physical and mentally and the weak support the strong through the “heart”. This is my American Dream, where we look at the lessons of those with autism and other developmental disabilities, come together with them and develop our compassion and love in order to protect ourselves from the ills of today’s world (lack of integrity). Their will be so many of these people with autism in the very near future, what a wonderful world it would be if we built communities to share with them, where they are seen as the strong….the strong of “heart” who have great lessons to teach. Watching Mr. Moyers piece tonight about predatory lending showed me once again how the strong are not supporting the weak, they are preying upon them. We have problems now, wait until our social services system is hit with millions upon millions of those with autism.

It saddens me to say that the American Dream is dead. Our government has proven that it is willing to lie to its own people in order to carry out an illegal war. It suspends and even revokes our rights in order to further its own agenda. Congress is controlled by Big Money and our law makers are more interested in lining their own pockets and keeping their cushy jobs than in helping and protecting the people who put them into office. The price of gas is rising out of control while the oil industry rakes in record profits, and the government responds by converting the bulk of our grain resources into the production of ethanol, which does absolutely no good for the average consumer while at the same time driving the cost of food higher as well. Banks and mortgage companies have been allowed to run out of control for years, financially raping the public while those who were supposed to be protecting us looked the other way. Medical costs are likewise running rampant and insurance companies are allowed to deny even valid claims, leaving people sick and dying. This is the first generation whose children will most likely not live as long as they have, nor will they earn as good a living as their parents did. Every time Big Business gets itself into trouble the government hurries to bail them out but it does nothing to bail out the hard working people who have helped build this country and who are hurting terribly. We send our soldiers into enemy lands and make them serve repeated terms, then we do everything we can to avoid giving them the medical treatment they need. And the worst part is that this is only the beginning of a very long list of what is wrong with our country today. I could go on like this for hours. So what is the solution to all these problems? Damned if I know. That's what our elected officials are supposed to be doing, but apparently they're too busy worrying about padding their retirement funds and preparing for reelection.

My American Dream:

1) Is for Americans to be able identify, tolerate and Own our past collective responsibility to harming others at the same rate we laud, exonerate and exalt our consuming passion of claiming global dominance and national pride.

2) We actively repair injustices that we have created with an attitude of determined humbleness to ensure that they do not happen again.

3) Americans realize the importance of "labor" and working together. This is best represented for me in a 1934 J.P Morgan quote to a group of global financiers:

"Capital must protect itself in every way... Debts must be collected and loans and mortgages foreclosed as soon as possible. When through a process of law the common people have lost their homes, they will be more tractable and more easily governed by the strong arm of the law applied by the central power of leading financiers. People without homes will not quarrel with their leaders. This is well known among our principle men now engaged in forming an imperialism of capitalism to govern the world. By dividing the people we can get them to expend their energies in fighting over questions of no importance to us except as teachers of the common herd."

If we own our past, proceed humbly, and recognize how division is used against us for profit; I would personally be proud of this dream.

Dear Bill,
Thank you for your efforts to bring the horrendous problem of American use of torture to the forefront of our consciousness. In the course of doing research in Tokyo, an elderly Korean gentleman who is a permanent resident in Japan long denied human rights, asked me why my government was now torturing people. He told me that he once thought that the US was a more ethical state than Japan in the early postwar. Now he thinks the US is evil. At that moment I felt immense shame to be an American because of the policies of the Bush administration. We will have no American Dream remaining if we do not stop such policies.
Best,
Laura Miller

My American Dream:

1) Is for Americans to be able identify, tolerate and Own our past collective responsibility to harming others at the same rate we laud, exonerate and exalt our consuming passion of claiming global dominance and national pride.

2) We actively repair injustices that we have created with an attitude of determined humbleness to ensure that they do not happen again.

3) Americans realize the importance of "labor" and working together. This is best represented for me in a 1934 J.P Morgan quote to a group of global financiers:

"Capital must protect itself in every way... Debts must be collected and loans and mortgages foreclosed as soon as possible. When through a process of law the common people have lost their homes, they will be more tractable and more easily governed by the strong arm of the law applied by the central power of leading financiers. People without homes will not quarrel with their leaders. This is well known among our principle men now engaged in forming an imperialism of capitalism to govern the world. By dividing the people we can get them to expend their energies in fighting over questions of no importance to us except as teachers of the common herd."

If we own our past, proceed humbly, and recognize how division is used against for profit; I would personally be proud of this dream.

Who said we have the worst system except for all the rest? America is so much bigger than the rest of the world because it is not provincial but international setting an example to the rest of the world about freedom, individual worth, tolerance and acceptance. This makes our nation unique and great. Two easy examples. If you are from Nigeria and arrive in America, in a short time you can become and exclaim I am an American. How many years would he live in Japan, China, France before he could claim “I am Japanese I am Chinese, I am French”!! If I went into the Gaza strip and offered Hamas fighters a choice of ten thousand dollars or a Visa to the United States, How many do you really think would take the money? We are setting the stage for the united space ship earth where everyone’s interest is in everyone’s interest. That goal is the only survival manual for the world. America is the steward of that goal. No other people, no other nation has the will.

If we preface the "Dream" with the word "American", we are lost before we begin. Our planet,our world is trying to show us there is no American Dream or African Dream or Russian Dream or Arab Dream. If we allow the pride of borders to cause us to pull in our own determined and different directions we will finally destroy the species by pulling it apart, limb from limb, head from head, heart from heart, cell from cell, dream from dream.

If dreams are like links in a chain, then one dream broken and the chain is then useless.

There can be no American Dream unto itself...just trace the historical graveyards of empires and their selfish, arrogant "Dreams."

A video of people all over Austin, Texas expressing their hopes and dreams for America.

The American Dream needs to include room for people whose "dream" is anchored in responsibility to people in general, and to the Earth. Some of us are happy to live more like monks, without our own houses, without family, with bicycles, and in open rental communities that are typically full of young people trying to get their footing, paying off student loans, maybe preparing to buy a home, seeking a partner, or some of us serving as anchors in the neighborhood.
And being in very old buildings, designed with horses in mind, we are not burdened by the "Affordable Housing" laws which for 40 years have meant that this sort of community is no longer built, since the advantages to a developer are better if tenants are tethered to "affordable" income restrictions and percentage restrictions that would make sense if one were investing that rent in a home with that percent of income (30%), an arrangement which would also make more sense, social sense, if the housing were equally "ratable" for tax purposes (like this old style rental housing where local taxes came out of the rent money, collected pro rata, the same rata as single family homes). Instead, the Affordable Housing laws is little by little creating a class whose stance is "how much can I get OUT of the system" ("since we're not granted status as local taxpayers"). People (like me) who pay abouto twice as much monthly for health insurance as for rent are advised to milk the medical system for all we can, regardless of the fact such milking only increases the cost to everybody. Fear makes the norm fleecing the system.
It shocks me to hear political interviewers totally speechless when I voice a need for the shift in the American dream I have outlined. It also shocks me when I hear people who know full well they are beneficiaries rather than contributors who nonetheless find some way to claim they as Americans "deserve" a house, a car, and even a spouse.
Given the rate of divorce, given the rate of single parenthood -- given all that, and given the cost to Earth of increasing population (is it 6 billion we're approaching?), I think good space should be made for those whose "dream" evolves in a way less likely to ruin the planet. There are plenty of such dreams, but people mightily don't want to listen. Such a dream is not good for the real estate business, for one, as long as they push everyone into houses -- or condos at a minimum, nor good for car manufacturers who push us into the biggest cars that our roads can handle.
It would also be good to have parents less invested in their hopes for their children and more able to claim their own contribution to their world, which again means the simplicity of "having children and passing on the American dream" is extremely inadequate. It is a total avoidance of the real questions about what am I here for, right now.

Bill Moyers has now been a hostage (to his anxiety about addressing 9/11 truth) for 178 days, and that's a long time.Tomorrow he begins to examine the other wing of the buzzard (baldfaced eagle), the financial fraud of global monopoly capitalism. I think many of us are sufficiently astute to see that this latest rush to totalitarianism began with the planning of a false flag attack on New York and the Pentagon. (Have we forgotten Rev. David Ray Griffin's book?) The repression we witness and the present financial blanket- hogging by the wealthy class would never been likely without the "big firecracker." (Our flag has disappeared as the dust settles: Maybe we only imagined democracy for 232 years.) No one has even returned to investigate the Anthrax incident, except to exonerate a maligned former government scientist. (Truly high enemies of democracy and the people sent those envelopes of government manufactured toxin that killed postal workers and Congressional staffers. Do you think Sen. Leahy and the others ever forget as they bite their tongues when impeachment is mentioned?) I think if we could link things up to the Bush cabal as torture memos, partisan procedure and oil manipulation have been, we could begin to comprehend the larger conspiracy.
Likely it would be dangerous for public figures like Moyers. Maybe he should team up with Donohue, Mike Moore and others to uncover the truth. (Call it constructive conspiracy.) I'm wracked with depression and melancholy over my country because I can't see how we can restore democracy, solve the energy/climate crisis or progress toward social equity, as we should, before this glaring issue is cleared up and the larger crimes against humanity punished. (Who'd have thought we'd help the Chinese government pursue dissidents?)I would feel like a banal evil aparachnik if I did not restate this issue on the blog from time to time. If you share my sadness and my questions please offer your moral support at beretco.op@gmail.com
I am not a John Birch type conspiracy theorist or a science fiction nut, just an inquiring shareholder in our failing nation who is willing to work and take chances to make things better for all. If you share my sadness and my questions please offer your moral support at beretco.op@gmail.com
My associates and I plan to march on Washington Inauguration day 2009, no matter who is declared president.

I just read the book: Shock Doctrine. No other book has come close to explaining what has been going on. Every American should read this book!! Read it ,read it, read it.

With a rampage corruption, war, devaluation of the currency, deregulation on the financial market, run on the banks, bailing out institution is a reminder that the
“chickens have come home to roost”!
A -“TROYKA”system of government - “political corruption, moral decay and an imperial presidency”! We have“TROYKAS” on local and state level, such as “School Board, Department of Education and DCED, as well as others. Its “purpose” was to provided check and balances. One files a petition, 2nd inspect it for compliance with the law with a “blind eye”, and the 3th approves the finances irrelevant of any violations of the law!
The “TROYKAS” work in harmony for the benefits of themselves! The news report was, there is “run on the bank”! It reminded me that “In early portion of Civil-War one-third of paper money in circulation was counterfeit”! During the news report, the new CEO of the bank states, “ the $100,000 funds are insured”! For funds over $100,000, the depositors will receive 0.50c for each dollar! It is a fact “the Financial system is not sound!
A system created in 1930 of “PURPOSEFUL, DELIBERATE and RATIONAL”, is corrupt! “The Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and a Banking System” created “to serve the public, it turns out it serve themselves”. “The Civil War, the 1930's and 2008 run on the bank” must not be ignored, for it has been a deliberate agenda to “Reclaim the Conservative Value” by “deregulation of the Financial System”!Conservative claim, a capitalism system... “provides, service, benefit and a product... that you get rewarded for it”, turns the “reward” is stolen, - “run on the bank”! “The Republicans claim have championed..., the cost of living has fallen dramatically... for Americans”. Has the cost of living fallen? From $1.00 a gallon gas, it is now selling over $4.00 a gallon. We have been reminded of Constitutional system... that protects “the rights of the people” - a right to loose saving funds by corruption in a saving institution! It is a Constitutional system of political corruption that denies the fundamental right of the people to “EXPRESS THEIR WILL” on ALL ISSUES!

The American Dream is based upon our society and government and that is based upon the constitution. Without honoring the word it is impossible to hold true to the constitution. With such terms as "securitizing", "deleveraging", "redeployment" and the culture of no follow up questions in interviews, what is the American Dream becoming?

The American dream is keeping our nose out of other countries business and start to look within, you see our elected have drifted away from the dream.

We have to get rid of these political parties for they are being used by lawyers and big business as a vehicle to hijack what should be the peoples "government".

Time to refore our political system and start electing people who truly care and believe in building a true democracy ...what we have now is a MYTH.

Let's put American back into the American dream.
When did the "bottom line" become part of the Constitution?
Why is no one concerned with America, her people and her physical treasures?
I cannot believe that old people are starving because of trimming the Meals on Wheels programs or that children go hungry during the summer because of the cessation of school lunch programs?
It is sad and frustrating at the same time.
Why don't we have members of Congress actually representing the people?
Maybe we need to return to the democracy that the Founding Fathers meant.
Whatever can be done needs to be done because the American dream is an illusion.

David Arzouman

Excellent Post!

Often I lift my head up at work and ask myself, what are we doing this for?

I work at a shop built on top of an old landfill. Across the expressway is a fairly new shopping center built on top of an old landfill. Ironic isn't it?
A shopping mall filled with new consumer goods that sits on top of a giant hole filled with consumed goods.

I often look at the trucks travelling up and down the freeway. They are filled with goods that people will use and throw away, or sell at a garage sale. One has to wonder how much overtime was worked just to attain all of those "goods". Then I would say to one of my coworkers "Look, there is a truckload of future yard sales!".

Many of you have thoughtfully posted some excellent points concerning the American Dream. I would much rather build a prosperous American Reality for all of us, and not the kind that involves personal, environmental, social, economic, or spiritual degradation and destruction.

Our system as it exists now is seriously in trouble. It has been gamed for a very few wealthy entities at the expense of everyone else. So where do we go from here? Will we do something about it? Will we just keep doing the same thing until it doesn't work anymore?

We must ask ourselves some fundamental questions about our "Dream". Do they include the following American Paradoxes?

1. American Homeless.
2. American Impoverished.
3. Working Poor.
4. Uninsured Americans.
5. Corporate Welfare but no Social Welfare.
6. Neglected Veterans.

7. Charities: Why does the "richest" nation on Earth need charities?

8. Living in a Union without being allowed to join one.

9. Crumbling Infrastructure while we rebuild others.

The list could go on and on. But I submit to everyone reading this that we will be faced with tough choices in the coming days, weeks, and months; and no one election is going to "change" everything. Our problems are beyond politics at this point. We must truly believe in freedom at the individual level as something much more than the liberty to choose consumer goods and services. Don't you agree?

Vince

Earl Hodaddy: you must have some blistering debt in your malebox to harp on entitlements while the FED prints play money to hand out to Freddie, Fannie,commerrcials like imploded Wachovia and Wall Street goons like Morgan. If they can print script for Big Daddy capitalists and defrauders why can't they pump a little drop for grandma and grandpa and all the brokebacked Joes and Jills who slaved to enrich them?
Sure our country is broke, but it is the failure to regulate the market or manage the military-industrial complex that is to blame, not the poor schmoes at the bottom who had SS and FDIC deducted from their checks every week for 20,30 or 40 years. Lets pay the people first and let butt sniffing dogs (speculator -investors) go begging for biscuits. If we can't keep that promise, our system is truly sewage, just like the free market!
Maybe this is the biggest Depression coming up, with Hyperstagflation to shame Weimar Germany, but screw the dollar and the capitalist market when our people are hungry, cold, desperate and unemployed. And screw the global monopoly Capitalists who are to blame! Never again!

The American tragedy has replaced the American dream. The American tragedy is the result of our choice to ignore the warnings of America's founders regarding the need to keep both government and corporate power on a short, tight leash. Now they have us on a short, tight leash.
America's founders very clearly said that if this country should see a day when government utterly disregards the will of the people, we have both a right and a responsibility to remove those in office by whatever means necessary. At the most, we politely march in the designated protest areas while the media ignore dissent. Braver people in a braver time would have stormed the White House by now, and I guess we would, too, but we were told that this wasn't allowed.

I think we are being swindled beyond all beliefs here in America. Most people still believe that the way to solve our governments issues is to just vote. Well the first problem of that is the government is not ours. I think they run as Democrats and Republicans to us but once the swear in as an elected official in front of us they then go to DC and swear into the party of green. I don't mean earth saving green either. People think that in the last election when the republicans were ousted and the democrats took office that change was in the air. That is another part of the swindling. Those republicans who were voted out didn't really lose. They have an escape parachute called Lobby world. They just merely walk down the street to the corporation of their liking and become a lobby for them. Then they get a healthy raise and then walk back into the congress or senate and keep the swindling going and going. Its a wonderful system they have going there. Too bad we out here are just sheep who take whatever bs they give to us. That is how the American dream is gone and dead. You can still buy a house and pay on it for as long as your mortgage is but do you really ever own the house? Don't pay the taxes on it for a year and see what you really own and really pay 30 years for. Its so sad that we have a group of young people who just started here where I work. They thought they were doing so well because they all got a starting salary of $50,000 a year. They were equally excited after the first paycheck when they realized that to make $50,000 a year means to really make $28,000 a year after all the taxes have been paid. Its all a big swindling and there is so much for them to lose to ever give it up.

Prepare for a nightmare! The Government Debt of four (4) government retirement trust funds (government employees, military, railroad and social security) overshadow all other government finances. As of the close of 2007, in hard numbers the net value (assets – liabilities) equaled some −$20 trillion . . . and currently growing about −$1 trillion a year. Reference the government budget to see that assets of these trust funds are included, but not liabilities. For comparison the Gross National Product (GNP) for fiscal 2007 is a mere $13 trillion. Other government fiscal problems are inconsequential—the Public Debt (excludes intra-government) $5.3t (7/08) and $0.7t Foreign Trade Deficit (07). A booklet is available which provides calculations and hard numbers covering 1975 thru 2007.
R. Earl Hadady

At every turn America’s faith in consumerism is being tested. The challenge in accepting this comes from our own material successes with consumerism, fostering a false belief that the profit motive is well-suited to deal with problems beyond its scope, in such areas as justice, health, education, or environment. Nor do competition and profit provide for enlightening art and culture. This realization is not necessarily bad. We have the option to re-examine our thinking and grow. At the core of American thinking are two interrelated concepts: freedom, and the “American Dream.” To most Americans, “freedom” pretty much means freedom to pursue the American Dream. If we can see where we have entertained counterfeits of these ideas, and put them on a truer foundation, then perhaps we can find more than mere hope, but also meaning and purpose.

Ask any American what they are fighting for during war and the answer is as predictable as the kick following a doctor’s mallet on the knee: “freedom.” It’s a reliable presidential mantra, and the license for much cultural detritus that presumes the title of “art.” We are told that “people want freedom” as we invade Iraq, and as we pursue the American Dream. But “freedom,” like “terrorism,” is an abstraction. You cannot really defend freedom any more than you can fight terrorism. To identify what we are actually defending, we must look at choices, at how we exercise our freedoms—in other words, what dreams do we nurture and pursue?

The American Dream is fueled by unrelenting messages that we need more: more technology, pleasure, food, more pleasure from food; more horsepower, glamour, sex, more pleasure from sex; more luxury, entertainment, convenience, time, credit; more speed, computing power, information; more clothes, fame, hauling capacity, security; more of thousands of different/new/upgraded/repackaged products that we managed to do without before (and therefore more storage, or landfill); more drugs to solve our problems (or more problems if the pharmaceutical giants happen to have the drug for it); more fun, flavor, land development, cable channels…there’s no end to this list, so we must also have more life, longevity, presumably to prolong the consuming. One could easily conclude that consumerism is the theme of the land, a type of continual digestion masquerading as progress. And we can’t stop—we’re to process everything just to keep the economy turning, even immediately after the 9/11 tragedy according to the President.

So while we do the consuming, the economy—like an autonomous entity, perhaps a type of god—also feeds off of our sacrifices. We suffer this strange inversion, assuming the ends justify the means. But never having identified the ultimate ends of our consumerism, we ask double-duty of our means, that they also serve the function of life goals and purposes, a pattern with no end in sight. Is not the American Dream pretty much about achieving our means of survival—food, shelter, transportation? And when these are met, when we have established the survival of the physical-man or human animal, do we then proceed with our development of the inner or spiritual man, or rather do we try to squeeze even more from our means, more upscale restaurants, bigger house, more luxuries/conveniences, ever more titillating pleasures, etc? Is everything to be subsumed under the needs of the human animal, even things intended for the liberation of the inner man? For example, how many see education’s primary function as one of economic competitiveness? A lover of wisdom will be required to explain himself at every turn. The pleasure-seeker and the materialist have our unspoken approval.

How much is our freedom about the support, development, and liberation of our virtuous aspects, and how much of it is about the baser, sensory stuff to which we are enslaved? Does living in a free country matter if we are lead around by our appetites? A more enlightened perspective suggests we identify the sources of our goals and desires, and whose interests they serve; if they arise from ignorance, habit, the ceaseless drone of marketing or other forms of cultural brainwashing, then regardless of the vast array of consumer options to “freely” satisfy those desires, we cannot call that freedom. Look, for example, at all forms of advertisement from the perspective of what is continually being petitioned and reinforced in you, and what corporations would like you to be dependent upon, and be. Who is this composite ideal consumer? What portrait emerges to fulfill those values, an American “Renaissance Man,” or someone a bit more medicated, luxuriated, inebriated, distracted, and complacent? Whose dream is that? If we are really to be a land of free men and women, we must first win our freedom from the incessant drone of such limiting and debasing programming. Until then, we’re on a shaky pulpit preaching freedom to the world.

If we could momentarily dispense with the agendas defined by nation, race, political party, corporation, gender, or any other group in need of defending, perhaps we could see that in chasing down the American Dream, we’ve lost sight of the Dreamer, who has become mostly a physical surface, something on which to apply various creams and lotions. The marketplace advertises no equivalent balm for the conscious, evolving being within that skin, a character conditioner to complement the various skin and hair conditioners. When things go so out of balance, something equally extreme will always come from the opposite direction to restore balance. Maybe it’s just a coincidence that a “Let’s Make a Deal” culture would have to contend with Communism, and an “American Idol” culture would have to deal with anonymous pseudo-religious terrorists willing to “martyr” themselves. Or maybe there’s more to the principle of “equal and opposite reaction” than we suspect. I still believe ours is the rightful system since it is at least theoretically based on a requisite condition for human spiritual evolution, freedom of choice. But there is a catch: we must make the right choices. We can continue to let our mundane aspects monopolize choices, and continue to find demons to war against so we need not look hard at our own unsustainable ways. But we could go a long way toward defeating our enemies by preemptively striking-down the demons in ourselves. We may then find that these other threats never show up to begin with. “A great nation,” Lao-tzu tells us, “is like a great man: He thinks of his enemy as the shadow that he himself casts.”

Meanwhile, the American Dream is quickly becoming the World Dream, judging by how eagerly so much of the world is racing after our example. This review of the American Dream is not “anti-Americanism”—clearly we are simply talking about the state of humanity. Given the innovative capacity of the American people, I would only wish that we could apply that spirit in more balanced and enlightened ways. So as we enter into a new era, characterized by the rapid surge of China in pursuit of a familiar dream, let us leave that dream for that nascent nation. If America really wants to “stay ahead,” it must make the next move on behalf of the rightful evolution of humanity. Instead of trying to peddle ever faster in first gear, let’s actually shift gears. Let us grow from our former, adolescent ideas of freedom into a deeper, truer vision of freedom—rather than only consider what is satisfying and pleasurable for a free man, let us ask what is suitable and necessary to free man, and let us dream a new American Dream around that question.

I agree with you, Mr. Pease, but, hell, we haven't seen a drop of Iraqi oil. Can anyone correct me on this? What is wrong with this picture?!

I suspect that for most people (and most people are not rich) the dream is a life that is easier and more satisfying than the reality they are living.

I think the writers of our Constitution had a dream and they proscribed a way to achieve the dream. The foundation is a method of governance whereby We the People choose representatives who will carry out the will of the people. There will be checks and balances to insure that the rich and powerful are not able to operate in a manner that is adverse to the will of the people. There will be Freedom of the Press that will keep the citizens informed when the Government tries to act in ways that is adverse to the well being of the people. Our Constitution gave hope to the common man that the people would hold ultimate power and that the combined wisdom of informed citizens would dictate policy through their elected representatives.

The polls show what the people of the USA think about their Government; they give them a grade of 'F'. Americans feel betrayed by the politicians who they elected to be their champions.

The American Dream has died because the American Government is no longer a Government Of the People, By the People, and For the People. The American Government is Of Big Business, By Big Business, and For Big Business. Main-stream media (now owned by Big Business) has become a propaganda tool of the Rich and Powerful.

The only hope I can envision is another Great Depression that will awaken our politicians to stand up for the American People against the special interests of the Rich and Powerful. I think that will happen as the World has reached peak oil production at the same time science has alerted us to the fact that oil, gas, and coal are causing global warming. If our Government acts to prevent global warming by switching our energy needs from fossil fuels to solar and wind power instead of waging war for oil and drilling everywhere that would create many jobs right here in the USA. That would be a win for the American people and restore hope and dreams of a better life.

My American dream is an old one: the idea of a society that offers equal opportunity to all to grow, change and succeed. That was the dream for generations of young people and millions of immigrants who left rigid societies to come to a new world where there were no guarantees of success only of the opportunity to achieve it. Underlying that idea of opportunity was the willingness of a society to accept change, whether social, economic or technological. The results of this were an ever widening sharing of wealth, rights and power. That widening seems to have stopped and to have been replaced with a society that increasingly seeks to protect itself from change. Today we seem to have a government on all levels that works not to widen opportunities through change but to ally itself with those segments of the population that most fear change. We have a media that spends far more time in discussing blame than in discussing how to change and move forward. In a rapidly changing world this would seem to be a recipe for disaster. In the past, capitalism and democracy went hand in hand because in this country they both worked to promote change. Capitalism, based on ideas and money, not social standing, allowed the best to rise to the top. Democracy promoted the development of human capital. Now we seem to be in a time when institutions have become far more concerned with the protection of individual turf areas than in changing to meet the future. Both presidential campaigns have made the idea of change a centerpiece. Unfortunately, with both allied to to powerful groups who resist change, at this point, it remains merely lip service. My American Dream is that we can change enough to keep the Dream alive.

What a truly insightful and intelligent post, Mr. Shillock. I, too, see a bad moon rising. Once upon a time there was an attainable, identifiable standard of living we baby boomers once enjoyed. This reality, of-course, has been shredded by individual and corporate greed, excesses, government corruption, and widespread apathy. Our socio-economic obesity has bred with globalization and given birth to a 21st Century mutation. We cannot maintain this standard of living for very much longer. The rubber band will snap, and it's going to hurt when it does. Sadly, most Americans could care less, and the rest of us realize there is little we can do. The American Dream today is just the ability to feed your kids without ending up in a homeless shelter at the YMCA. sheltersurvive.

Whatever one’s view of the American Dream it is fundamentally socio-economic. All the highfalutin talk about liberty, rights and justice is little more than public relations honored in the breach; elevated and noble rhetoric to cover our grubby, relentless striving for economic betterment and social status. As long as the socio-economic escalator continues its ascent we will fare okay. If it stops then all the diversity that we verbally pride ourselves in tolerating will issue in conflict. As the USSR held its diversities in check through force America has held its diversities in check through economic betterment or at least the rational expectation of some improvement if one works hard, etc., aka The American Dream. But the escalator has been slowing for most of the 20th century as increasing amounts of America’s wealth are taken from most Americans and transferred to the upper two-percent or so. With the accelerating advent of globalization in all its forms (political, economic, technological…) the Dream has receded for most Americans and gone into reverse for many—especially since 1980. The collapse of the USSR and the emergence of China and India as viable market-states put one billion or more laborers into the global workforce. They are driving down incomes in America and so-called developed countries generally. This will continue until surplus labor is absorbed. The arrogant if not “racist” notion that we Americans can continue increasing our standard of living by inventing and producing more intellectually demanding “high-end” products is a self-flattering delusion. We are not smarter than people in other countries—perhaps dumber if we think so. Advances in telecommunication, saliently the Internet, have enabled the ever more rapid diffusion of knowledge; the notion that Americans have a singular capability to appropriate it is ridiculous. In retrospect the American Dream and American reality as experienced between the end of WWII and about 1973 was based on that fact that America was the only super economy after WWII and had a monopoly position for that golden period. Now the rest of the world is catching up. Ironically perhaps that was supposedly what Americans wanted and fought for. What could be called the triumph of global capitalism has been an American Dream that is coming true. It’s ironic because during the cold war we were economically dominant, now we have competitors, and along with our own capitalists and corporations they are threatening to beat us at our own game, threatening the American Dream.

Making Dreams come true is a major investment in money, time and energy.
It is essential that social systems are human dream orientated and designed to work efficiently. It is necessary to have the right solutions to social problems and the means to do what is right and good.
Using all our resources to support our society is essential.
It is necessary to conquer greed and corruption, apply justice, wisdom, courage and temperance to our actions and work together to meet our goals.
We have to be both conscientious and benevolent.
There are universal truisms, sources of wisdom and concepts of what is good.
The Bible is designed to provide the necessary guidance to the best possible human destiny. Dreams need to be consistent with people's best interests.
Fortunately, God is benevolent and offers ways to accomplish our wothwhile dreams.

Psalms 127
Unless the Lord builds the house; its builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain....
Psalms 128
Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who walk in His ways.
You will eat the fruit of your labor.
Blessings and prosperity will be yours....

The Good Book is there to guide the way to righteousness (being right). Without it we flounder and create our own destruction.

Michael Guzzo goes to the root of the dream. It is said that part of this initial statement of the dream relied on Locke’s reference to "life, liberty and Property." The wisdom of substituting happiness may be revealed by James Adams who coined the phrase the American Dream in his 1931 book The Epic of America.

The American Dream is "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position."

The problem with "property" is revealed in The Great Gatsby and Death of A Salesman.

It is a dream in which our group identity does not matter, only the content of our character. It is a world of wisdom (knowing the right thing to do), and a world of virtue – doing the right thing.

The American Dream could best be described as the ability to fulfill our destiny as our nation's name indicates. This means we are called to truly become united as the United States of America by recognizing what being truly united means. That awareness is within each us as our equally shared connection to the whole as endowed by our Creator. This is not just a dream for America it is what we are each being called to understand in order to both survive and thrive.

Our native as well as European forefathers and mothers understood that freedoms can be granted and even legislated in laws and treaties but not enacted upon in real honesty until they are understood as our shared "unalienable rights". These as stated included "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" as rights that come from not transferring their ownership to someone else as slave to another.

The freedom to use our mind in tandem with another's is why Thomas Paine understood the common sense wisdom of a vast landscape no longer answering to the tyrannical rule and laws of an island. The spirit of any law dictates that we need to recognize the laws we make up within our own minds that keep us from living in harmony with each other. These rules are often ones that also tell us that it is hard for us all to "get along with each other"...equally. The intrinsic understanding of this insists that we know what "getting along with each other means" so that one person doesn't seem to loose and another gain. It ideally as an American Dream does not mean having a separate island like self-serving agenda but rather a unifying intent that fosters the ability to work together as one.

The irony is that we are all one already. Our illusional mythic belief in island bodies, minds and separate thoughts perpetuates a nightmarish dream of fear based isolationist separatism and not the visionary hopeful American Dream of a unified nation. This American Dream now also includes a unified world of nations with our United States serving as both the chartering and host site for globally united nations.

Our true Declaration of Independence was and still is from the overbearing tyrant within each of us that sees conflict as more desirable then harmony and fear a more important reason to act then love. When our forefathers declared our rights in guarantee of our freedoms they also believed we each equally had the potential to responsibly handle those freedoms without a king, emperor or ruler dictating to us or lording over us. That American Dream continues to stir us out of our separate sleep to recognize our ability to inclusively envision inside our mind a better life and peaceful world for all. It is in recognizing this as our shared purpose that the dream becomes fulfilled as a fully awakened reality for all.

The American Dream could best be described as the ability to fulfill our destiny as our nation's name indicates. This means we are called to truly become united as the United States of America by recognizing what being truly united means. That awareness is within each us as our equally shared connection to the whole as endowed by our Creator. This is not just a dream for America it is what we are each being called to understand in order to both survive and thrive.

Our native as well as European forefathers and mothers understood that freedoms can be granted and even legislated in laws and treaties but not enacted upon in real honesty until they are understood as our shared "unalienable rights". These as stated included "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" as rights that come from not transferring their ownership to someone else as slave to another.

The freedom to use our mind in tandem with another's is why Thomas Paine understood the common sense wisdom of a vast landscape no longer answering to the tyrannical rule and laws of an island. The spirit of any law dictates that we need to recognize the laws we make up within our own minds that keep us from living in harmony with each other. These rules are often ones that also tell us that it is hard for us all to "get along with each other"...equally. The intrinsic understanding of this insists that we know what "getting along with each other means" so that one person doesn't seem to loose and another gain. It ideally as an American Dream does not mean having a separate island like self-serving agenda but rather a unifying intent that fosters the ability to work together as one.

The irony is that we are all one already. Our illusional mythic belief in island bodies, minds and separate thoughts perpetuates a nightmarish dream of fear based isolationist separatism and not the visionary hopeful American Dream of a unified nation. This American Dream now also includes a unified world of nations with our United States serving as both the chartering and host site for globally united nations.

Our true Declaration of Independence was and still is from the overbearing tyrant within each of us that sees conflict as more desirable then harmony and fear a more important reason to act then love. When our forefathers declared our rights in guarantee of our freedoms they also believed we each equally had the potential to responsibly handle those freedoms without a king, emperor or ruler dictating to us or lording over us. That American Dream continues to stir us out of our separate sleep to recognize our ability to inclusively envision inside our mind a better life and peaceful world for all. It is in recognizing this as our shared purpose that the dream becomes fulfilled as a fully awakened reality for all.

The only way the american dream is going to survive is if people in this country start taking back the constitution and our human and civil rights. this will have to be in the streets and by voting. The green party needs to be the alternative of breaking the grip of the dimocrats and the repugnants have on our the government of this country. the dims and repugs have sold out the american dream. the american dream cannot also be built on the backs of poor people around the world and here in the usa.
cynthia mckinney is the presidential nominee of the green party and everyone should support her now that the dims and repub have eroded many of our rights.
matthew
galveston tx

When American voters elected enough Democrats to Congress in order to rein in the Republican dictatorship, there was a sigh of relief. Yet, those same Democrats have become traitors to the American Dream. They are equally guilty of stealing the American Dream from everyday Americans. There is some hope, if a President Obama can get a Democratic Congress to go along with his plans to restore the American Dream.
But, that is the only hope.

My American Dream is dead and I am on the edge of giving up. Congress and the President literally INSULT the memory of the founders of our country and the citizens that lost their lives in the revolutionary war and every war after.

Our Constitution is sacred and yet last week, the very Democratic Congress we elected to bring change, passes a law that gives amnesty to the President and the telecommunications company for violating the illegal wire tapping. The justice department and the executive branch conspired with telecommunications companies to break the law and now Congress, including the Democratic elected, join the conspiracy against the American people to protect the law breakers and further allow illegal wire tapping. Our Justice Department has abandoned us, our Congress is legalizing illegal acts, and our Executive branch is literally breaking laws left and right, who is to protect us? Who is protecting and defending the Constitution? The Free Press is no where to be found and the American people are in very serious trouble and we are truly living “taxation without representation”.

What action would Thomas Jefferson propose to defend our constitution? Is it possible he would suggest another violent revolutionary war to defend the principles of the Constitution?

Until we have a government that protects and defends the Constitution of the United States of America the American dream is dead as are the hopes and dreams of not just all Americans but everyone around the world.

I have never been more saddened at our country and I am truly on the edge of giving up hope.

One way to look at the American Dream is through the prism of some of this nation's greatest authors.

The American Dream is Gatsby, is Huck, is Raoul Duke. It is a striving and a battle for those things which Humanity can never fully put their fingers on, cannot grasp, but know in the soul to be essential, self-evident, and better than any coin or any grand applause.

As Thomas Paine said, "The cause of American is in a great measure the cause of all mankind." It is our cause, and in a greater sense, out duty, to see America become the bloom of Humanity as it was (or even if it wasn't) aimed to be.

As a nation we have a choice--we can die alone, floating in our own individual pools, or we can clasp Jim's hand, put tires to highway 60, and blaze into the sun of what America and Humanity can and ought to be.

To me the American Dream is the recognition that to be American is not a monolithic ideal. It is the appreciation, respect and love of a milieu of cultures. It is not tolerance. You tolerate bad manners. You love others... despite their manners. It is the respect that the hopes and dreams of the Natural Nations of this land are as important as the Anglo's. Is is the appreciation of the hopes of the Ghanaian and Ugandan and Angolan and that they are as important as the Argentine, the Brazilian and Peruvian American. It is the love of the dreams of Nordic tribes, peoples of the Pacific and peoples of Caususes and that they are as important as the Chinese, Phillipine and Taiwanese of America. The American Dream is in my estimation the very definition of confidence in the protection of government and living the inspiration of one's faith.

The American Dream will always be alive as long as The Constitution's principles are followed by those in power. However the attitude of many of the wealthy, most of the elected officials, (I don't know of any poor ones) and most Corporations seems to be to move their agenda ahead with little or no regard for what the Constitution suggests, or the laws of the land imply. It is becoming a "just work around them" and/or "get away with what you can" type of attitude. The Bush administration's meddling in the Public Attorney's office and the deliberate exposure of a CIA operative shows how far these officials are willing to stray. Even more worrisome is how far the rest of the government will allow them to stray.

Perhaps once again the majority of Americans have a system of "taxation without representation" since it appears that many of their elected officials haven't got a clue, or a care, about the real needs of the people. Sometimes I wonder if they are even aware, ( with the exception of Senator R. Byrd's for his pleas to his fellow Senators to vote against the war ) of just what their sacred duty is to the people or to America. The elite's collective concern for the American people seems to be approaching "throw them a few crumbs" or more arrogantly, "let them eat cake"!

To change this and keep the American Dream alive, the people must take great care, that they are electing those who will honorably serve the nation. They should also take the first opportunity to dethrone those who forget for whom they serve.

Politicians sell themselves to the voters the same way corporpate America sells us tooth paste and automobiles. The American dream is no different. It is an idea that is sold to the masses to pacify and manipulate in order that the public support needed in a quasi democracy will back the privilege class's desires. In short, America has become the embodiment of greed and the pursuit thereof by all. This is the definition of the American Dream in my opinion.

Our country stands for freedom and values that will keep us free and strong.

When we, as individuals, seek to act a victim, or to look for only the frivilous to make our living, (such as reality shows on t.v., manipulating others for self gain)instead of wanting to help others through medicine, teaching, enriching, protecting, serving, we will forgo the very thing that allows us to live in this magnificent country.

As a 38 year, now retired teacher of the public school systems, I am proud to say I have had innumerable children that I have had the priviledge to instruct. Those who I have found most successful were not necessarily the most intelligent, nor the wealthiest, but those who learned, and practiced the character traits that our founding fathers had and incorporated into our constitution.

The American Dream is the opportunity to live an honorable life. Each of our elected leaders should strive for this as well.

The future of the American Dream is in overcoming the obstacles to be. How can we achieve this? By understanding our barriers and putting forward the true sense of our selves.

The American dream has changed over the years as the population has changed. I am a baby boomer and I can remember in college saying I did not want the American dream of a home, white picket fence and 2.3 children. I was focused on civil rights, women's rights and changing the landscape of intellectual ideas. I wanted a career, a chance to define myself, provide for myself and contribute to my community.
As I have aged, I have achieved some of my American dream and struggled along the way with other aspects of my dream. The challenge of turning hope and wishes into reality takes a toll but at least I had opportunity to try.
Currently we are living in an American nightmare and the young people around me are discouraged. Obama has awakened some hope but unless they see the American people change the course of our path I fear that the very act of creating dreams of what this country can be will disappear, along with opportunity and creativity.
My American dream is for our society to move beyond the small-mindedness and greed that has characterized the last eight years. American needs to take a place at the world table and maybe we need to have the American dream, at least in part, reflect concern for this planet and for the generations to come.

what a trite question. it sure is good for your windbags pretending to be thoughtful, but most of your guests are obviously plying their agendas. America is a country based on common history and common heritage, and people who refuse to assimilate to that are not and will never be Americans. How about you stop wasting our time and public braodcasting tax dollars.

Perhaps there never really was an American Dream, but an American Hope.

The American Dream, in my opinion, has always been and, I believe, continues to be an idea of hope. It is the hope that one's economic progression can can spread and, indeed, improve from generation to generation. It is the idea that the achievement of a comfortable existence can cut across class and social lines. The old rigid class monarchical structure that was much of the world history is not, at least ideally, cemented in the American system. Our system allows for the possibility or at least the incremental hope that one can, irrespective of class and, in more recent history, race, achieve a better life. It is the hope that the ossification of a rigid class system will not prevent that achievement.

The ideals of that hope, though, walk hand-in-hand with the freedoms and Constitutional protections our form of government provides. The security that prevents the threat of government usurping those freedoms without just cause makes, in my opinion, our American Dream possible. It allows the individual the opportunity to devote his or her energy to that personal improvement and to that pursuit of happiness making the expenditure of the adrenaline imperative of basic physical survival unnecessary. Our Constitutional protections ALLOW us the luxury to develop our own happiness. I believe, the American Dream is not possible without one ensuring the other.

The American Dream's future is still alive and well. Like America, it isn't what it is, but for that which it stands. When the American voter starts voting for those that will uphold the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, then the dream lives. JFK said, "Ask not, what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country".

The American Dream is not about money but rather living in a country that aspires to such lofty ideals. When one's actual living conditions come close to those set forth in the Constitution, that, is living the American Dream.

If the voters vote with their wallets interests, rather than for those with America's interest at heart, they are no better than those in government that vote for special interests rather than America's interest. The dream is never closer to reality than when you are in the voting booth. That in itself, is a dream many people around the world, can only dream about.

You actually brought to the discussion two conservatives who sounded quite sensible by comparison to the representatives of the Bush administration. I certainly would welcome less government by the likes of Bush, Cheney, Rice, and less judicial "governing" by the supreme court (to the point of even defying american voters by decreeing the current president).

The american dream that brought me to this country, like so many others before me, is imprinted on the base of the Statue Of Liberty. The last eight years have been a betrayal of that dream, not only for previous and aspiring immigrants, but for citizens who trusted that their elected representatives would act in the best interest of all people, not exclusively those of the rich and powerful. Instead of facilitating the promise of the american dream, the administration is the very opposite of safeguarding the civil liberties so prized in the constitution: it is spying on its own citizens, building prisons at home, creating a wall at the border, and exporting military terror to other countries.

In order to achieve the American Dream, Americans must have the attitude of the immigrant. The American dream of most second, third, etc. generations of Americans is to do as little work as possible to gain the most benefits. Most immigrants know they must work and pray hard for a better life.

Old Americans must get off their bottoms and work for a better tomorrow. Most Americans talk about doing or wanting work, but work we must do; most work is honorable and imparts dignity.

What is the work that we must do? First, American’s must get beyond their fear of looking stupid due to ignorance. Read, talk to people, and read some more. Without knowledge of the problems, Americans can’t solve them. Second, Americans must work hard at what ever they do to gain a good reputation and see the inequities in the living wage. Third, Americans must talk and gain a relationship with their political representatives, especially if they’re corporate junkies.

If enough Americans start on the path above, the people will regain *their* respect of the government and begin to sway the politicians. Without the politicians seeing the caring and interest of the American people, they will flock to the lobbyists who really care about themselves.

I grew up believing the American Dream meant having the access to bettering onself and the possibility of achieving those things you wanted. The dream may not always be achieved, but I was led to believe that the opportunity for that dream was out there. Is that still true today? For some, yes, and for others, it's not so clear (the poor, poorly educated, and immigrant people have incredible barriers that don't exist for wealthy families).
The other part of the dream that no longer exists, I feel, is the belief that this country is the country our founders intended to establish. I no longer trust our leaders or many of the individuals who theoretically "represent" us in government. Other countries no longer admire us: we torture, openly pollute, ignore the right to citizens' privacy, and insist on implementing policies based on whether that policy will make money, not on whether it is best for the people. I wish that our "leaders" would not just cave in to what is politically expedient, but would have the guts to champion what is right.

We need no 'American Dream'. What we desperately need is humility.
We need to understand that we are only one small part of existence on this magnificent stage of earth. We need to acknowledge our interdependence with all other humans, with all other species, and with the vast natural gifts of this extraordinary planet.
We need to understand that we are all in this together and that our survival will depend upon our ability to place ourselves in proper perspective and then learn how to dwell within natural boundaries. Or not.
Humility would be good. Especially for Americans. Not dreams.
Mary in Iowa

IF YOU ASK ME , SAFTEY ,

IS TAZZERS FREE , TO TRIGGER HAPPY ,

EVERYBODY , IM FREEDOMFREE ,

PARENTAL GUIDENCE , MAY BE NEEDED SEE ,

IF YOUR HAVING , A PROBLEM FREE ,

A PLEASURE IT BE , TO FREE YOU FREE ,

LAUGHS , CRYS , WELL LETS SEE ,

IF YOU CAN SMILE , FOR AWHILE FOR FREE ,

WALKING IN PLACE , WOULD ENERGIZE YOUR MIND ,

TO RACE AGAINST TIME , LISTEN AND FIND ,

A DESIGN , IS YOUR FEET ,

ANOTHER HEART BEAT , AND THE SUNS HEAT ,

HEAT FUSTRATION , COMPLICATION ,

RESERVATION , OF A LESSER NATION ,

DONT WAIT BLINK , IF YOU CANT THINK ,

ABOUT WHAT TO DRINK , GO BACK TO THE SINK ,

THINK?? ,

IF SICK AND HAVING , COMLICATIONS ,

WITH MEDICATIONS , LEAVE THE PHONE ON ,

NO COMMUNICATION , IS MORE FUSTRATION ,

TO SURVIVE , IN THE HUMAN NATION ,

33 BE , THE VARIEATION ,

WHILE RETRANSFORMATION , OF THE WORLDS GENERATION ,

GIVING RANKS ,

GIVING THANKS ,

GIVING YOU BACK ,

GIVING YOU FACTS ,

GIVING THE TRUST ,

GIVING DONT FUSS ,

GIVING RUSH ,

GIVING TO YOUR FRIEND ,

GIVING BACK ,

GIVING PACK ,

GIVING AWAY ,

GIVING OK ,

GIVING YOU ARE RIGHT ,

GIVING MY WAY ,

GIVING A TREND ,

GIVING I SAY ,

GIVING SEND ,

GIVING TO WIN ,

GIVING BACK ,

GIVING AGAIN ,

GIVING THE END .

What is the future of the American Dream? Whether we like it or not we have to Define what that Dream is. I Believe that the American Dream is leaving to succesive generations something a little better than we have found it. We have in the past been sucessful or we have lost ground depending on how we as a Nation defined that dream. The Human spirit has guided our actions, for good or bad. Last night two conservatives told their view of that dream. Some I actually agreed with. Our challenge is to go beyond the Last 200 years and build upon it. For some that means to learn how to live in Harmony with the earth. Some to learn how to live in harmony with each other but, the Framers of our system of goverment have given us tools to achieve our collective Dream. We need to dialogue with one another that is the nature of this great experiment we call America. We are all looking at things through a wonderous multifacited Prism. Each seeing the world a bit differently we need many perspectives to make a great nation. Thank you for offering to us so many views of my Dream.

The American Dream has become the American Nightmare. What we were taught as children was obviously a carefully constructed fantasy meant to lull us into acceptance of a brutal empire and our complicity within it.

Can that dream be reclaimed? I don't think so. We will have to settle for a very different equation, one in which we are part of a complex global system, mediated by innumerable factors.

Though I have succeeded in America beyond my wildest dreams in terms of accomplishments and recognition of a sort, I still do not have the basic financial and physical well being I assumed were going to be mine after college -- 38 years later and with a lifetime of professional work behind me, I cannot contemplate retirement. Now, I have to think: how will I survive my elder years in anything but poverty and misery?

If so many people had not pursued an American Dream defined by the acquisition of wealth, we might not have found ourselves in this American Nightmare of economic, social, intellectual, ethical, environmental and governmental collapse.

We need our dreams. The tragedy is they have been stolen away.

I am not a pessimist; quite the contrary. I'm still imagining an American Utopia thinkers introduced me to as a young adult. I just don't think we can get there from here.

Why does bill Moyers perpetuate the myth that "George Bush won" the elections of 2000 and 2004? This is just undisciplined, sloppy journalism. Disappointing.

What's the future of the American dream?

I've always understood the "American dream" as being a "universal dream." And therein, lies the problem with the "American dream."

First, for me, the universal dream is living in a society where rules and laws are created on behalf of the public good/interest. It is where government works on behalf of the public good/interest and NOTHING ELSE!

Secondly, the universal dream is a dream which materializes when one has been given opportunities to explore and discover exactly what it is one wants to do with one's life!

Several important factors for contributing to the reality of a Universal dream, include living in a society where education is free and access to affordable, quality healthcare is guaranteed by the government; there is no "war on drugs" or "war on terrorism" and no military industrial complex, among other things. In addition, any American dream revolves around the concept of "work to live" and not "live to work." That means an extremely strong and robust labor class to challenge and counter corporate rule.

Next, any universal dream encompasses the desire to some day plant roots and create a home for for him/herself. If creating a home (whether you own or rent) becomes cost-prohibitive, then the dream remains but a dream.

Finally, the problem with the American dream is that's it's mutated into a dream driven by a consumer driven culture, which believes that buying "things" is the solution to any problem. The republicans have mastered this insidious philosophy and injected it into mainstream America even though it won't help the typical American get any closer to their dreams.

I'm always struck by whomever it was that coined the expression, "American dream," given that so many Americans or immigrants who came to this country experienced a nightmare rather than a dream. And when you look at how this nation arose, in particular it's slavery roots and its decimation of native Americans, one is appalled at the notion that "American dream" is somehow so special and unique it applies only to America.

We need to get away from nationalistic fervor and sentiment. The "American dream" is not a dream shared by all Americans and why Bill Moyers doesn't even bother to explore and challenge the meaning of the American Dream, is disappointing. But maybe this project will do that.

If the American dream is defined as a "home with a white picket fence, 2.5 children, a woman scrubbing the kitchen floors and satisfying her man, one dog and one cat, Americans living and working in "little boxes, made of ticky-tacky and they all just look the same" then I want no part of the American dream.

Bill Moyers, why don't you do a program on just what exactly IS the American dream and how has it evolved over time. And who coined the expression, "American dream?" I guess I can google it but I'd like to see more of an exploration of exactly WHAT the American dream is. Obviously, the American dream differs for each and every American.

6201 Sun Vista Drive
Austin, TX 78749
(512)899-8718
leonhardtthomas@att.net
12 July 2008

Dear Mr. Moyers,

Your conversation with Mickey Edwards and Ross Douthat left me with a sense of unease. I thought of wolves in sheep’s clothing as I listened to their intellectual posturing that failed to state the real reason that conservatives court the votes of the working Americans – they are the majority of eligible voters. Are the conservatives really concerned about the welfare of those working class Americans? Their actions of the past say a loud, resounding no. In mentioning those conservative constitutional values, your guests failed to mentioned their overarching value best summed up by Herbert Hoover’s reasoning for not helping those working class Americans as the Great Depression began to devastate those workers and their families:

"Every time the government is forced to act, we lose something in self-reliance, character, and initiative."

As I heard Mr. Douthat minimize the effect of wage stagnation with the observation that things are cheaper now. I wonder when he last shopped for bread, milk, cereal, eggs, and other grocery staples? The cost of a gallon of gas has finally caught up with the cost of a gallon of milk and the effect of the two on the budget of a working class family cannot be fathomed by the privileged few who are paid by the think tanks of America. Home electronics and clothing are cheaper today than twenty years ago because they are made in Third World countries where wages and benefits are even lower than in this country. The cost of housing and energy are also higher and have a more deleterious effect on working class Americans than those making $100,000 or more a year.

"Every time the government is forced to act, we lose something in self-reliance, character, and initiative."

Your guests, while giving lip service to our constitutional freedoms, invoke a leadership that was against social security, medicare, and integration. We need our constitutional freedoms (it has been recent Republican presidents who have scoffed at them – Watergate, Iran-Contra, Iraq, FISA) and who have done their best to avoid enforcing and supporting laws about conservation and the welfare of the working people and their families.

In recent years, I’ve not been happy with the leadership and actions of either party or branch of government with their cozy financial relationships with moneyed-special interests, but based on actions and not words, I would rather take my chances with the Democrats.

Sincerely,

Thomas W. Leonhardt

There is no American Dream. There is only the dream of an American Dream.

If something is not done about population growth, immigration, the disparity between rich and poor, and environmental warming... you won't need to worry about the so called American Dream.

The people coming here ought to go home and fix the problems that drove them here. Not come here and cause the same problems they ran away from.

When everyone comes all we have is a mob and no quality of life at all.

Think about it or not as population and global warming will destroy man in any case.

That is my story and I am sticking to it.

Mickey Cantor recognizes that conservatives have lost their way but doesn't really understand why.
The reason is they live in the past when America was small towns and farms.
In your conversation, all three of you skipped over what's tearing us apart.
It goes back to that Republican Icon, Reagan. His contribution, "government is the problem" and taxes are evil is a great sales pitch designed to fracture a society and keep the rich getting richer.
Too many people still live in a distorted dream where taxes are low but government pays for all the good stuff we want. They never seem to ask themselves where the money is supposed to come from.
How many of these "go it aloners" actually can go it alone. Of what use is a gun in the home if there's no food or fuel. How can America's technology rely on home schooled, religiously oriented people, while science is surging ahead in China and India?
Unless this country gets a radical shakeup similar to one delivered by FDR, we will become the richest third world flop on the block.

I was thoroughly engrossed by the program last night. Especially when Bill joined in the discussion, not as an anchor, but as a discussion member. Great television.

I am a former Goldwater Republican, so it was a real pleasure to have Mickey Edwards bring to the discussion the definition of the Goldwater conservative.

Thus, I saw my American Dream given full expression once again: Not less government, but a more responsive, responsible government that respects human rights and the people's welfare over the entities of governance and commercial rights and welfare.

That, simple singular oversight grants every person the freedom to follow their bliss.

I think much of the "American Dream" is based on our using more than our fair share of the earth's resources. I wish the American Dream would someday evolve so that we strive to live within the limits of nature to sustain us, while consuming no more than the other citizens of the earth, leaving behind a world that can survive into the future for the children of Americans and non-Americans alike.

Is the American Dream still attainable?I've posed this question over and over in my mind too many times.Look around this country and listen to the people going through very tough circumstances in their lives.It is sad and disturbing.The gap has widened among the haves and have-nots.Where is the country heading to?At the rate,that we are leading,is too scary to think about.I hope and pray that our country, can turn it around and change, before it is too late.

I totally agree with the first comment from Dan Bednarz, that for Americans to create a "Just World," we must include "ecological realities like where does
Stuff comes from on this finite planet? Is the fuel we use to heat or cool our homes going to be dirty?" Is so-called "clean coal" going to spew mercury and toxic grit into our Air supply? Is Oil worth the cost of Human Sacrifice in the Millions? How many oil spills can our Oceans take? Or will we follow McCain's insane vision of 45 nuclear power plants? Thus making billions for a few, and requiring perpetual war to prevent terrorists from stealing Our Deadly Waste! And what about the U.S. Weapon of Mass Destruction, Depleted Uranium which kills our Soldiers and Innocent Civilians while poisoning the Planet!
In the midst of this nightmare there are a few million who hold a Vision of clean, safe Energy from the sun, wind, oceans, hemp, geothermal, etc. We must demand of those in our government to support the joint efforts of Rep. Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich to pass The Industrial Hemp Act of 2008, allowing Us to Grow Hemp for food, fuel, fiber, paper, plastics and oxygen! Both men also stand for our God given right to Medical Marijuana: Genesis, Chap. 1, Verse 29. We must also demand that Congress protect us from Monsanto type agendas of starvation by use of poisonous pesticides, petrochemical fertilizers, and sterile, bioengineered seeds. See Frontline's documentary "Suicide Seeds" and demand it be shown in Congress!
On my car there is a bumper sticker which says "No Justice - No Peace" with a quote from Rev M. L. King,Jr, "True Peace is not merely the absence of tension, it is the Presence of Justice."
In my Vision for a "Just World," We, The People will have Organic food, free from artificial flavors and colors that come from coal tar and petrochemicals. Our food will be free of MSG, aspartame, growth hormones, and thousands of synthetic additives "generally recognized as safe..." We will grow Organic Gardens All Over the World! We will eat "all natural," whole grains and animals raised compassionately - obesity and diabetes will dis- appear. We will respect the World's Rivers and Oceans, and stop dumping waste into them, killing the coral reefs and other living ecosystems. These "ecological realities" were addressed 30 odd yrs ago in E.F. Schumacher's book: "Small is Beautiful - Economics As If People Mattered." My Vision would make it mandatory reading for Big Business and Govt. Not only must we choose wisely "where stuff comes from," but we must also be responsible for where all our stuff goes on Space Ship Earth!
If we all shared Mahatma Gandhi's Vision of "Enough for everyone's need, not everyone's greed," we might succeed!

The American Dream will only be renewed if our leaders can be honest with us again. A society that has lost trust in its government will not survive. I believe we have a chance to renew faith in our Government, but it must come in the next 2 years by our Federal (and State) governments being straight forward and honest in all dealings once again - Republicans and Democrats.

(Perhaps the following somewhat tongue in cheek suggestion might be a way to redirect mainstream media in covering the American Dream.)

“JOURNALISTIC ETHICS 101”
Or, If God had sent Commandments to Editors and Reporters instead of Moses

An intelligent, energetic, relentless, ethical, and suspicious press is important, probably critical, to a democracy, especially the news magazines and papers which traditionally can devote more time to accurate fact finding. To see yearly losses in the numbers of those types of publications does not bode well.

On the other hand, if they want their readership to rise up in support of a viable free press, journalists need to realize that, as a group, they have “earned” over the past couple of decades a growing reputation for laziness and ethical lapses or appearance thereof due to their frequent coziness with the subjects of their investigations, their unwillingness to admit mistakes and their fear of embarrassment or loss of access or privileges. Such antics tends to make the general public as cynical about what journalists are writing as what the politicians, PR flacks and investigatees happen to be spouting.

To regain support by the public, journalists, both the reporters and their bosses, must first regain trust. Here are a few suggestions. They seem to be what the journalists must have been sleeping through in Journalism school.

1. THOU SHALT UNDERSTAND THAT NOT EVERYTHING DESERVES TWO POINTS OF VIEW. If someone declares the sun will rise in the west, it is not sufficient to simply quote someone else who dutifully says it will rise in the east. That does not make the resulting report “fair and balanced.” A true journalist has an affirmative duty to either point out the obvious that there is not the slightest history of that ever happening or, better yet, do some investigative reporting quoting from astronomy textbooks to note that the sun does not “rise” at all. It merely appears to do so because of a spinning earth. Either way, the reporters and editors ought to exercise common sense by mentioning it is patently impossible to for it to even appear to rise anywhere except by looking due east in the morning. In court, this is called taking “judicial notice.”

2. THOU SHALT PRINT FIRST THE QUESTIONS NOT ANSWERED. When politicians and PR flacks answer questions that were never asked or don’t answer at all, either keep asking the original questions until answered. Or, better yet, print as part of the story the questions that were not answered.

3. THOU SHALT NOT JUST PRINT PRESS RELEASES. All statements of politicians, self proclaimed authorities, self anointed messiahs, CEOs and PR flacks of any sort should be assumed to be either deliberately false or at least ignorantly wrong until proven to be true by verifiable evidence established beyond a reasonable doubt through outside reliable sources.

4. THOU SHALT HONOR REQUESTS FOR PRIVATE CONFIDENCES EXCEPT WHEN IT COMES FROM A PUBLIC OFFICIAL. The only statements made by insiders that should be protected by reporter privilege should be those made about the organization itself, not about outsiders who happen to be criticizing the organization. In other words, government sources should be free to label themselves, but never others. Otherwise, it fails the “sniff test.”

5. THY NEWS DEPARTMENT SHALT TELL THY MARKETING DEPARTMENT TO STUFF IT WHERE THE SUN NEVER SHINES. Ownership, including major stockholders of media entities as well as all major campaign contributions made by paper owners and their reporters within the past 12 months, at a minimum, ought to be regularly revealed at the start of each article or news broadcast. It's called disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. Beside, if reporters can’t find crimes committed by their owners, then they aren’t doing their job.

6. THOU SHALT NOT SEND THY ENTIRE PRESS CORPS TO COVER ONE SEX TRIAL. Like education, often the public needs to hear news not involving bleeding, bedrooms or loud booms, whether they want to hear it or not. Either that or at least confine such B,B&B “news” to the entertainment pages.

7. THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY COMPETITORS’ ACCESS TO POWER. All perks of any sort given to reporters should be considered automatic conflicts of interest and reported in any story by the recipient reporter. Pundit columns should always be clearly marked as solely the opinion of the pundit. Perhaps their expertise, if any, or lack of it on a subject should also be disclosed. In fact, the total number of reporters and staff working on the particular story should be reported at the bottom so that the public can decide how well a subject is covered. Better yet, the amount of time spent on a particular story should be reported.

8. THOU SHALT ALWAYS REVEAL WHEN THE OFFICIALS ARE ANGRY OR ARROGANT. It should be reported as news who is excluded from access to politicians and news sources. Who interviewees refuse to talk to speaks volumes all by itself, not to mention revealing the ethics and moral courage (or lack thereof) of the interviewees who duck reporters. As a group, all reporters should refuse to interview anyone who attempts to pick and chose who will be doing the interviews.

9. THOU SHALT NOT DECEIVE THE PUBLIC. Being first with a report is never ever as good as being right about the report. And, being right about a report is never as good as being complete. Moreover, Journalism will never be a genuine “Profession” unless reporters are both licensed to practice like doctors, lawyers and accounts and risk losing such a license when they disobey Journalism ethics. Those reporters convicted or fired can be free to write of course. It just should not be with the title of “Reporter” anymore.

10. THOU SHALT CONFINE EDITORIAL OPINIONS TO THE EDITORIAL PAGES WHERE THEY ARE DISCLOSED AS SUCH. Nuf said.

We could go on to discuss the lack of context, lack of followup to find out what happened later on a story, lack of “track record” disclosure as to how many things the reporter or pundit has stated in the past that proved to be completely wrong, lack of information for the reader on what has been deliberately edited out of the story, lack of disclosure of how much (or more accurately, how little) time was spent on the particular story counting research, lack of respect for the reader’s intelligence and usually lack of any revelation of at least the admitted bias the reporter/pundit might have. All those could be an indictment of how Journalism seems to be practiced these days. However, Moses was content to settle on just ten commandments. Either that or he got tired of carrying or lost the rest. Maybe someone should investigate.

The increasingly desperate situation of which Mr. Moyers speaks has been evident for many years now to anyone caring to look. Yet, little happens except a perpetual worsening.

Why isn't there the fully justifiable outrage there should be? Did we lose the battle decades before in the schools and colleges where reverence for democratic concepts should be created and inspired? It is not just that democracy has been hijacked. It is that few seem to care anymore or understand the importance of the frustrating struggle.

While Mr. Moyers points out a tiny handful of successes, I am reminded of the sad slogan long recognized in the environmental and historic preservation battles we have been fighting as well:

"Every victory is temporary. Every defeat is permanent."

Yet, fight on we must for the alternative is truly frightening.

A Universal Dream

I am of the universe and I have a dream that Oneday mankind will have the wisdom to know, teach, and practice nature's simple truth of equality, the truth of everything, the unifying universal truth that All is truly One. And on that One equitable day, humanity will erase inhumanity, wrongs will be made right, justice will become equal, differences will unite, nations will become a nation, and the lion’s tail will become the lion himself. That Oneday simply and beautifully, my dream of equality will become reality, and the lion truly and eternally set free.

=
MJA

Excellent program last night.
The word "power" was used often. It lead me to wonder, what would happen if the word "servitude" replaced the word "power" and "servant" replaced "leader" when we discuss government. Would a change in behavior take place in our representatives and ourselves?. Would this mere change in verbage help to enpower us, excite us, the people in America, who are the true government of America?
Our representatives are there to "serve", why do we allow them to come into "power". What feeling of omnipotence does the word "power" invoke in you?
If we don't do something to diminish the omnipotence of power hungry in Washington,
my husband and I think it's time for the formation for a lobbiest group in Washington to represent the needs of the American people.

What is the American Dream? It is the equal opportunity to pursue happiness and the freedom to decide for one’s self what Happiness looks like. And, inherent in that freedom is the collective respect that all others have the same rights as they.

I believe in the POWER OF THE PEOPLE. We must focus on our common goals and not our differences. When THE PEOPLE stop buying into the divisive, fear mongering rhetoric that serves only the elite, which diminishes our power, and rediscover our COLLECTIVE POWER, with which we changed the world in 1776. We will get back on the path to realizing the ideals on which this country was founded. That ALL humankind has equal value given by their creator, and have the God given right to self-determination. We must return to a Government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Only WE THE PEOPLE can mke that happen.

Some learned writers hold the Constitution as a fetish. Look at current practice: It is a jury-rigged mess tuned for material injustice. In 1788 the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation were discarded by an elite eager to get paid.(bonds, notes, new lands, trade advantage, slavery) The Declaration, where the American Dream originates as "the pursuit of happiness", has not been in force since ratification (an elite-engineered counter-revolution).
Natural abundance meant the Beneficiaries could recruit enough crumb-catchers for the last 219 years to keep their wealth machine running. Now an overpopulated, damaged and depleted world means the Beneficiaries must mine humanity like coal to keep their perks.
A psychologist acquaintance attempted a radio show on WBAI last year, "The Pursuit of Happiness". It could not gain anything but criticism in the New York market. The well meaning practitioner blamed unhappiness on mental problems. She opened the vent to a raging ocean of fear and resentment underlying the calm surface of imposed economic discipline. This happened in a country where a high percentage (40% or more including doctors and other helping professionals) are taking prescribed mood altering drugs. We are environmentally depressed, not organically depressed. Medication for materially caused depression is insanity.
Anyway, our nightmare will soon end by coming true. Already there is a consumer bank failure in California, and an informant tells me Wachovia (4th or 5th larget bank) is billions into insolvency. How can the public be taxed to recover the losses of the Beneficiaries? We are over 11 billion now in national debt and the expected demise of lenders and banks will at least double the figure. Like France in 1789 the very weight of elite borrowing and gambling will collapse the economic system. Then we will discover that our sacred fetish (Constitution)was only a sub-prime business contract after all. Will their be any human rights or civil rights when the Beneficiaries mobilize violence to collect taxes?
I think not! The American Dream was only a marketing ploy from its conception.
Our fate is either the death camp turned inside out for Beneficiary advantage(oh! Those strong fascist families, mimicked by the Sopranos on HBO, where Tony must take his meds before performing the duties of a "good earner")or direct seizure of power by the masses. (A "punctuated jump in cultural evolution would be necessary for any positive outcome but maybe we can do it.) I submit to you that the COOs, CEOs, tycoons, experts and political servants paraded before us are little more than "capos" and camp commandants. Money is their only meaningful credential.
Thanks Bill Moyers (still a hostage to truths he dare not voice) for bringing on the "extraction ideologues" in order to show us they are only human. They have failing hearts and wrenching rectums of fear just like we taxpayers.(They fear us.)
Say no to unauthorized expenditures by demanding tax payment designation (according to the payers choice) at the Inauguration in January. If the Beneficiaries refuse then comes the chaotic bloodbath. So the American Dream runs like a horror movie in my subconscious nightly. beretco.op@gmail.com

I expect a shift to occur that will move our vision of the American Dream from believing in a dream to participating consciously in a more perfect union, returning to or discovering for the first time the "united states" in our selves and in our country, reclaiming our position as the light at the vanguard of the human race.

According to William Catton, author of the book Overshoot, the American Dream is a form of cargo cultism. As children we are educated and socialized in institutions inculcating the beliefs that political rhetoric, human ingenuity and free enterprise have made us an exceptional and materially wealthy people. We’re poorly, if at all, informed of our relationship to the earth’s ecological systems and its resources. In other words, we don’t really grasp where stuff comes from, especially energy, and that we live on a finite planet. Indeed, one of the speakers trots out the now ironic catechism that America is the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth.

America was founded by Europeans who expropriated what they took to be an “empty” continent of limitless resources and bounty. They drew down these resources while telling themselves that they were “creating” wealth.

Bill never discusses the ecological basis of life; look at the comments by his admittedly learned guest on the American Dream. Not a one evinces any ecological insight; it’s all rhetoric, some better than others, but rhetoric all the same. Such cargo cultism will not heat your home, feed your family, or prevent you from becoming ill, or create a just world because it ignores the ecological realities that ultimately set the parameters of human existence.

Phil Gramm's condescension about the American People's "whining" about the economy typifies the Conservative/Republican attitude of "I've got mine, go get your own".

It's all part of the forty year assault on the protections erected after a Republican worldwide depression.

The Supreme Court neutered the only hope us working folks had in the Democratic Party with their onerous 1976 Buckley V Valeo decision that legalized the corporate takeover of our political system.

Nothing will change until "We The People" change the rules back to make America work for all of us again.

FDR said, "extravagant advantage for the few, ultimately depresses the many."

Conservatives and The Republican Party have hated him for it ever since, and worked relentlessly to take us back to "The Guilded Age".

We're almost there.

I have always had two problems with the notion of an American Dream, and those problems wrap around the words themselves. Why a dream that is exceptionally "American"? What do we Americans aspire to that is not desired and deserved by all people everywhere? Doesn't this exceptionalism keep us isolated from the rest of the world in a time when we must learn to see ourselves as global citizens instead?
And why a "Dream"? Dreams are nothing but passive wishfulness. Dreaming about owning a home (the classic cliche of the American Dream) does not make it happen. Have we become a society of dreamers rather than doers, who think of lotteries and casinos as places to invest? We can dream all we want about a better life and a better world, but dreaming won't make it happen. Personal commitment and action will.

If the American dream isn´t reclaimed within the next 10-20 yrs...then America will be a 2nd class society. The signs are already there to see in: education, health care..etc, What made it so bad was the corporate unconsciousness and responsiblity towards society in favor for its stockholders. For example, this is evident in the privatization of the war in Iraq where stockholders of these companies are making big bucks.

My American Dream is: an America that I can believe in. I'm tired of the lies and corruption. I’m starting to feel like it’s too late.That’s saying something from an optimist.

Mickey Edwards clear definition of conservatism, and his unwillingness to include the whole Republican party base as conservatives, was refreshing. And it reminded me of where I think the American Dream went wrong.

During the Reagan and neo-con era we the people bought the idea that commerce, and indeed big profits for big companies, would somehow "trickle down" to us all. Perhaps, at that time, we equated prosperity with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Perhaps we just wanted to get rich.

We and our representatives changed laws so businesses could make unbridled profits with fewer and fewer legal constraints and liabilities. We made deregulation the rule. Perhaps we forgot why we had regulations. Today corporate CEOs make over 400 times what the worker on the line makes. Speculators drive markets high and then into the ground. Here at the bottom, life is just not as secure or predictable as it used to be. Looking around, I see more of my friends working longer hours, and they are less wealthy than their parents.

But Mr. Douthat tells us not to worry--all is well. The rich are richer and there are now more of them. As for the working poor, the trinkets and beads we buy at the stores where we work--stores that do not pay liveable wages--are more affordable than ever! This helps ease the pain when commodities of real value: homes, college education, healthy and safe food, health care and pharmaceuticals are not within our reach. Yes, more have become rich, but even more of us have moved into the ranks of the working poor. This is not the dream for America of either Thomas Jefferson or Henry Ford.

By the way, I live in Oregon. Only one in ten of the people who complete the long registration process for Oregon's death with dignity actually take the medication that is prescribed. One of my dearest friends did chose to follow through. She had a wicked cancer and was given only weeks to live at the time of her diagnosis. But instead of weeks she lived six months. She relaxed knowing that the pain would never be too great to bear; as her body began to fail she still enjoyed nightly canasta games with friends, social events, and she finished two books. While dieing she put her life in order, and ENJOYED EACH AND EVERY DAY without the fear of a terrible ending. When she knew that it was her time she called us all together. While her best friends sang hymns in the living room, she died gracefully in her own bed. I am proud of Oregonians for supporting the freedom of the individual. People do not choose death with dignity because they are depressed! The freedom to choose death with dignity can help relieve the anxiety and fear of an upcoming painful death.

My American dream is that:
we give a bigger voice to those such as Bill Moyers who provide thoughtful, intelligent, and respectful dialogue such as tonight's with the two conservatives; that we do a better job of providing interesting and good educational experiences for young students through all levels so they have the knowledge to participate in government and also have the belief that they can make a difference; that leaders in the government and in businesses stand up for what is right with their beliefs and with the law so that they provide models for good governance and citizenship, not models of selfish, money driven behavior to discourage hope and participation in the government; that we put enough resources, effort, thought, planning, determination, and enthusiasm into supporting education, employment, science, good laws, and responsible business so that our country and the rest of the world IS a better place.

My sincere thanks to Bill Moyers and the many others at PBS who provide this forum.

The American Dream:
I find it hard to believe that my life pales in comparison to Homer Simpson; he has me beat on the American Dream. He has a two car garage, three children, a stay at home wife, a big back yard and a hammock. The American dream is very simple... a slice of the pie. Sure, he bought it in 1989, but why can't I have it now?

Thank you for creating this important discussion. I think it is important to see America within the context of the changing world. I see America as a "ship" that is navigating the "ocean" of a global economy. There are huge problems and opportunities because of the internet, NAFTA, and other expressions of global economy: International terrorism is possible for small groups, our jobs are being exported to other countries, but also we are more connected to ideas, people, and resources from all over the world. We need, as a nation, to re-define ourselves and our priorities in terms of this new international access.
One specific problem is that we are plagued by Super Stores, Mega Banks and Mega Companies. By plagued, I mean that they are so large that they run over and deplete our communities. I think these mega-businesses have been created in order to be able to compete with internet purchases within this new international economy. Some of these companies are so powerful that they put our small businesses out of business, so that, for competition, the only thing that is large enough to attempt to counter-balance (regulate) them is our federal government. I don't want government to interfere with my private rights, but I do think we need a government big enough to regulate these mega-corporations that are effectively monopolies. I don't think there is currently an even playing field for capitalism as we have thought of it in the past. I think, as a country, we need to stop in-fighting and see ourselves within this larger context, and find ways to use our assets (our political system and physical resources)to keep our communities and rights healthy and on a human level.

I am afraid that the American dream is slipping away extremely quickly and surrepitiously by our own government representatives at almost every level (who have been influenced by 'Corporate America'. We are a nation of x-gen immigrants who believed that the US will provide a good life to those in the present and to future generations. Why is it that an 'American Citizen' whether alien or natural citizen doesn't deserve job security and health coverage without being bankrupted, foreclosed/evicted, reposessed, sickened, homeless, and shamed. I don't want this for myself, my kids, my neighbors, my community, 'my country'. Corporate American should not be allowed to hide behind tax cuts/incentives/rebates/lobbyists. They should pay their share of taxes.

I am appalled that most manufacturing jobs are almost gone; what is more embarassing is that the business bottom line (whether small or big business) is exporting/importing raw materials and finished goods back and forth to other countries, like China, India, SE Asia, C. America, etc. and stripping Americans of jobs- corporate businesses are shrugging off the payroll taxes (matched social security, federal taxes) and letting Americans loose without financial security (pay), 401k, pension, health insurance.
And everyone on Capitol Hill are crying over the cost of war -- must raise taxes, must give out stimulus checks for the amount is laughable because it may be 3 or 4 fill-ups of gas.
An American citizen/resident would be proud to be able to have a job which yielded a decent living wage, have a roof overhead, and be able to care and feed themselves. Stop exporting our jobs overseas; don't belly-ache about corporate business: local-state-federal government are doing the outsource/offshore, too. Look at the way our homeland security/passport books are handled.
The US economic picture is very broken through corrupt business practices and regulatory bodies 'not catching the problem', and the FED. reserve board allowing this situation to escalate over the last 10 years.
Stop attacking the home buyer because of the predatory lending institutions and their crafty practices that have artificially inflated home prices, and the mortgage securities buried in the mutual funds that have been chopped up 20 ways, and are systemically distributed throughout making the US stocks shaky and the US dollar weak. Are there are no longer qualified people to perform basic SEC, accounting, ethics oversights. This is outside Sarbanes/Oxley, this is a practice of greed to apply percentage of profit versus risk, at the expense of the American home buyer. BTW, I believe 'owning a home' is one American dream.
It is wrong to use religion and science as a distraction tactic.
As a grateful American public, we should be able to support and care for our brave soldiers and their families and not just abandon them-- that is morally wrong.
Bring back manufacturing and jobs back to the US. Let the American people help repair the physical infrastructure (
roads, bridges, levees, parks.
Let the American people help restore our natural resources and protect ourselves and future generations when global warming prevents us from drinking clean water, breathing clean air, and being able to feed our nation-- and of course, free our dependence from oil. We should be encouraged by the likes of Pickens, and initiate change -- he plans the biggest wind farm ever, and he is a maverick for promising the assemblage of the turbines for the American people.

Give us our jobs, dreams, and US pride back.

There is no future in The American Dream with a country divided by religion. It’s plain as day all across this country with every religious group suggesting to have the higher moral ground to that of religious groups a block away especially when they’re claiming spiritual communications with god.

I wonder how god will judge Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, Paul Crouch, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Jerry Farwell, Robert Schuller, Ted Haggard, John Hagee and that PoS g. w. bush for segregation within their own ministries.

I'm 56 years old. For at least the last 35 years the phrase "American Dream" has troubled me. The older I get the more I have come to believe that the "American Dream" is "that phrase which is appropriated by someone to advance whatever agenda they are selling today".

What's the Future of the American Dream?
Our country is headed in the wrong direction. If "We the People" do not realize what is at stake in this election, perform our due diligence and select the proper public servant to be our president. The future of the American dream has already been given away to the very people we cuss at every day. Our country must be governed "by the people, for the people" I am a middle-aged man that has endured more financial hardship than I care to discuss. My wages have shrunk by 75% in the past 6 years. Including a 15% cut in pay last week because of a "sluggish economy" and the lack of work in the automotive industry. Although I have lost my house, my 401K, and I'm losing my car, I have as much pride for my country as anyone. I am a veteran of the armed forces. I still sing the national anthem with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. I don't blame the government for my hardships. I blame myself. I also hold myself and the people of our nation responsible for the government officials we now have. We are the ones that voted for them and lost control of our government. We must get it back! We all know what "Mr. Bush" has done with has saber and pen. He is there because "We the People" blindly followed... What's the Future of the American Dream? I want it to be bright and hopeful, however I am saddened to say that the American dream is on life support and dying. It belongs to the already wealthy, large corporations and their lobbyists. If "We the People" want our American Dream we dammed well better ALL learn about what is a stake this November. We ALL better take this one personal. We all need to be involved. Everyone that is able needs get educated and must to vote. The Future of the American Dream is in our hands and we better all stand up and fight for it. I sure as hell I'm going to...

The "American Dream" simply stated is:

"My children will have it better than me."

Our challenge in the future is to learn that "better" doesn't mean "more".

Thank you for another great broadcast conversation Mr. Moyers.

The American Dream is just that -- a dream -- wake up America. This is NOT the greatest country in the world. See beyond your own brainwashing, then there will be the dissolution of the U.S.of A, replaced with a world for all of us, where no one is more privileged than any one else.

In watching tonight's program I am once again reminded that the treasure that is Bill Moyer's Journal is one of the last places in this vast media saturated society, where intelligent, civil discussion can be found.

I am a life long liberal and union organizer, and I can tell you after watching these two gentleman espouse their version of conservatism. and I could be assured that they could implement such a government, I would be more comfortable voting for them, rather than the position of the moment being spouted by Obama.

Dear Mr. Moyers,

When the history of Democracy is written for the 1960 to now and beyond Era is written, the Journal will be required video text material.

Tonight's show of July 11th 2008 leaves me with an emotion that Lou Gehrig must have felt. As being the Luckiest Man in the World because I live in the Greatest Democracy ever as demonstrated by your show.

My deepest thanks!

Honestly, I was wholeheartedly encouraged by the balanced discussion of the conservative movement in such an unbiased way. I have proudly named myself as a Liberal even as the term was demonized by the far right. One of my favorite Republican foils (friends) has often told me that I may be a Libertarian more than a Democrat (semantics). Both commentators earned my respect because they defined the values that they hold dear with solid arguments. I may not embrace those points of view, but I still must concede they have intellectual validity. The one thing that raised my ire was this. In the current economy , while the working man has suffered from stagnation in real wages that rivals the dark days of the 1920's even as wealth expanded in the upper class exponentially, the working class should consider into the equation that the costs of consumer goods (those things that the rich don't consider as essential) have decreased for the the average American. You ship our jobs over seas to countries that have even lower wages. The standards for worker safety, dignity and environmental responsibility are extremely lax. Now you expect us to rejoice in the comfort that even though our wages are stagnant, at least WE are not at the bottom of the food chain. So let's see, I can buy cheap goods that help to maintain a somewhat elevated standard of living based on the exploitation of a lesser valued human population, and all the while the Gatsby's bathe in Champagne. I truly hope that the American dream isn't for sale at the Dollar store closeout aisle.

I think the American Dream is active in a half dozen European democracies. They have learned from our successes and failures and have taken the lead from us in putting the American Dream into practice in their countries. I'm a universalist and I am proud of them -- I look overseas for quality of life solutions and hope for our earth.

As a Canadian, I think that its past time for Americans to stop dreaming and wake up. The Titanic has already hit the iceberg, and you keep repeating reveries of American exceptionalism.
Americans, like those who built the Titanic, believes that America is unsinkable.
I don't know if democracy will ever come to the US, but few people observing the American political process from the outside mistake it for a democracy.
The American government is a wholly owned subsidiary of Corporate America, with a political in which the 2 wings of the Capitalist Party, Republicans and Democrats, is legitimate.

The American Dream has receded so far into shadow, it is hard to believe that it may yet be attainable. I dream of an America that honors the differences of race, creed, and belief among its citizens, rather than these being the differences that cause the smaller minded to vilify and hate their fellow Americans. I dream of a nation in which disagreement takes the form of rational discourse, that remembers the spirit of "I do not agree with your words, but will defend to the death your right to speak them." I dream of an America in which no person goes to sleep hungry, in which honest, hard-working people are able to provide for themselves and their families rather than breaking their backs to subsidize the luxurious lifestyles of robber-baron CEOs who could not care less about the people who toil for them. I dream of a country governed by men and women whose primary concern is "How can I best serve the people I represent?" rather than "How can I best serve my own interests, and what lies need I tell to get re-elected?" I dream of an America that follows the principles of tolerance, respect for others, and the Golden Rule. I yearn for a country that, when its leaders lie, cheat, steal, and behave in ways that would land us "lesser folk" in jail or subject us to public censure, would be grounds for their automatic and permanent removal from office. But most of all, I dream of the sweet land in which I was born and raised, in which people loved and trusted one another despite any and all differences and stood together as Americans.

I have written once before when Bill Moyers was so biased as to lose all credibility. Now he has sunk to a new level, surpassing the worst of the tabloid paparazzi.

I have lost a hero to me and my father. Bill Moyers lacks any objective standard desired by any true journalist. He is yet another reason why we are truly lost as Americans. I can only hope for an abrupt end to this brand of trash journalism.

I feel this concept of "The American Dream" is an abstract, which often undercuts the true brilliance of the forefathers dream for our nation. The brilliance I speak of is rooted in simplicity rather than ideology. "The American Dream" is a marketing slogan that by our nation's heart can not be defined. If you take a look at our name, "The United States of America", you will notice only one proper noun. This noun is the name of a continent rather than a nation. This is indicative of the simple practicality which drives our country. We are simply a united nation of people, who elect government to serve our interests without interfering in our lives. I do not mean to make a commentary on limited government in that statement, as we the people have the choice for where that line is drawn. If we feel they should provide health care, it by no means defiles some lofty expectation of our values anymore than us choosing to leave them out of health care. So often we get hung up on seeking a higher calling for our republic, and in my opinion lose focus on the practical genius of self government. None of us need share any common vision for our nation to work. As long as the government responds to the needs of the electorate we are fulfilling the edict of our forefathers. When the government no longer serves this purpose we needn't look to some divine imagery, we simply need to return to the practical purposes which has guided our nation for over 200 years.

I more and more enjoy the program, but not always the ignorance even of some bloggers. The program July 11 was so good and great. The conversation, questions, discussion, serious and true ideas was wonderful. I wish country could have more serious discussion in "this way". So many quotes I cannot even start.

Well Capt. Badass,
I am sorry you want to throw the old people under the bus!
"Then, after that, all the people in America who were in their teens to 40's would be like..."By the way...no more old people. We've had enough. We love you--we'll miss you when you die. But honestly, you can't keep up with what's going on. You don't know what the internet is, you still think attack ads are cool, and you're starting to make the Supreme Court house smell like peas and Bengay..
( a form of racism agism?)
All the old fogies I know spend a LOT of time on line and are really skilled at it!
I am watching the Learning Channel's Ashley SHow. It is appalling, this bikini designer & her young cohorts, out of money, preparing for Hollywood fashion week, SO UNPROFESSIONAL! Now I understand why the expensive gowns seen on the red carpet don't fit very well. They are designed by the seat of their pants, not skillfully! When I was that age I was VERY skilled. At 69 I am even more skilled!
I have ALWAYS lived with integrity, if I hadn't I might be more comfortable financially!
But from the perspective of wisdom; we were closer to Utopia 45 years ago thanwe are now. America has been regressing for 30 years!

I would love for America to stop being such a divisive place, and that we, the people, could look at each other as humans rather than dollars to be made or dollars to be lost. We are so lucky to have the freedoms and opportunities we do, but our society doesn't seem to be fostering the concept of respect for our fellow Americans, nor for the global community. It's my opinion that freedom and opportunity is wasted if it's not coupled with social responsibility and realism. We need more than money to fix the problems in this country. We need to care about one another and to encourage our citizens to be the best people they can be, in a way that comes natural to them.

As a union conservative (yes there are labor union members who think for themselves) I thought the show tonight was unusually well balanced. You made Reverend Wright look moderate and let Ross Doulthat look great.

All this gobbledy gook about who is conservative, neoconservative, liberal, liberal-conservative, blah blah blah is wasteful and juvenile. I'm reminded of the story of the little old lady who was asked if she considered herself a good christian. Her delicious reply - "Gosh, I don't know. I guess you'll have to ask my neighbors."

Do away with the labels, vote your conscience, and perhaps we may yet see the triumph of statesmanship over politics.

WHO IS THAT KID inthe yellow tie? Oh Ross Doulet. Your site isn't too forthcoming with the names of your guests....
I am highly offended by his statement that I should settle for low wages because "goods are cheaper" as a result of 30 years of Republican ideas! I don't do cheap!
Re: "family values", I can't afford nearly enough time with my FAMILY, 4 Grandchildren that I only see once or twice a year. No I can't afford to live near them, fully employed younger people can afford higher property taxes.
I don't give a diddly, about CHEAP STUFF from Walmart. I want to pay a man to raise my storage shed from 4' high to 8' high so that I can keep some chickens and store wood for my wood stove. I need to repair my 25 year old diesel rabbit, I need to replace my blk & decker electric lawnmower. The old one lasted for 20 years , this one burned out in 7!
It is a hard job for a 69 year old woman to cut the entire lawn with a weed whacker!
As an artist there is a lot of painting I am NOT DOING while I am weed whacking!
And as an Artist how is it that I was able to make a good living until 1989, with a small single owner entrprenurial art business, and now that the USA population has doubled and there are all those rich upper middle class people, I barely survived until my Widow's Pension kicked in when I turned 60.
The buyers have beentaught to want CHEAP CRAP by the TV advertising. Truth has been distorted and the cognitive dysfunction has clouded people's ability to look at a painting and see truth and want to buy!
Cartoons are in!
It's tragic!

Hired by greed mongers,the political and coporate policies of these United States have now shifted from "we the people" to "we the powerful" and have poised this great country for a great fall. Like other nations before us-Greeks,Romans, Egytians and the Brits-our people have let this nation down. I seriously believe we've lost the control to shape our lives and our own destiny. And so the American Dream will be a reality only in the past.
Eternal vegilence was always the price of good government.

THE AMERICAN DREAM.. 1492.
CAN YOU OR ANYONE REALLY ACCEPT THE TRUTH OR IS THIS A DREAM, COME TRUE FOR THE INDUSTRIAL USA. THE POWERS TO BE... WHOM BUILT THIS WAGE SLAVE ENVIRONMENT AS WELL AS THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE AND THE DOW JONES. THE POWERS TO BE.. HAS THE WORKING CLASS, OVER A BARROW, & AS WAS, THE TIOLET PAPER SHORTAGE AND OR THE DREAM.. OF A GAS SHORTAGE OF YESTERYEARS,A MINOR DREAM, COMPARED TO $150-$200 @ BARREL OF TODAY. EVERYTHING IS UNREGULATED FOR THE RICH AND REGULATED FOR TAXPAYERS ONLY, WHOM ARE..NOT WELL TO DO!!! AS DREAMS ARE... THIS REALITY IS.. THE GOVERNMENT IS HELPING THE UNREGULATED BANKS, UNREGULATED LENDERS, UNREGULATED REAL ESTATORS, AND ITS' LOBBYISTS.. TO OUR CONGRESS AND ITS SUCCESSORS AND NOW: THE FINAL THEATRE AND APPROVED ACT OF CONGRESS, IS THE WAR AGAINST TERROISTS, WHICH NOW BANKRUPTS THE GOOD CITIZENS OF, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, BUT AFFECTS, ONLY THE TAXPAYERS, BUT THE UNREGULATED ARE UNTOUCHABLE..AGAIN AND AGAIN. IS THE WRITING ON THE "WALLS" OR DOES ANYONE CARE, BUT (THEY KNOW) IF THEY SAY OR DO ANYTHING, THEY MAY BE CONSIDERED AN UNFAITHFUL AMERICAN. OF COURSE, THE AMERICAN INDIANS (WHO ARE THEY,AMERICANS?) CAN NOT SAY ANYTHING ANYMORE, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF US??? OR ARE WE ALL AFRAID OF OUR GOVERNMENT, OF AND FOR THE PEOPLE OF THESE UNITED STATES, AND ALL THAT FALSE-SENSE OF AMERICANISM? LET THIS GOVERNMENT START ANOTHER WAR, SO WE DO NOT HAVE TO THINK ABOUT US-WORKER-BEES-OF-AMERICA... THE YOUNG, THE OLD, THE DISABLED, THE UNWANTED, THE UNAMERICAN DREAMER.. WHOM IS NOT BELIEVING THEIR GOVERNMENT, COULD OR WOULD CREATE THE NEVER ENDING AMERICAN DREAM: "CAPITALISM, AT ITS BEST" THE TRUE AMERICAN DREAM, BIRTH DATE: 1492 OR IS IT JULY 4, 1776,THE FINAL ep·i·logue DEATH DATE:2008 TO INFINITE. NO END...IN SIGHT. THANK YOU MASTER BILL MOYER. THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE!!! AN AMERICAN WARRIOR, WHOM SAID THE TRUTH, FOR US.

Dear Bill,
I believe that the American dream has turned into a big American question mark. In my opinion, a large section of the American population bases their dream on the amount of things they can acquire. Consumerism has taken the place of what once was a simple need to be comfortable and without need. Hence the question mark. We buy and we buy; most of the time just moving ourselves further from level and lending more fuel to profiteers fire.

My younger nephew is struggling to pay for a state university education and will owe thousands in loan re-payments when he's done, if he even makes it to graduation. My Dream is that my nephew's children have access to a free college education as do my cousins in Germany. My older nephew could not go to college and struggles to make ends meet because of low pay, inadequate medical coverage, high rent, food and gas prices. Even though another family member has always taken extremely good care of their health, they are diabetic and have heart disease, and the cost of the last hospital visit was over $102,000. My Dream is that my nephews' children are not genetically burdened with disease and have access to free health care in a country that successfully controls health care costs, as does Germany where my cousins live. My elderly parents both survived World War II and in fact my father served and was wounded in France, where he risked his life to preserve the American Dream. Mom and Dad are both very disappointed in the way things have turned out for their grandkids. My Dream is that their great-grandchildren will once again live in a country which offers real opportunity and doesn't crush but rather nurtures their dreams.

The American Dream, I think there are approaching 300 million American Dreams, one for each of us, we're all going to be different. But for me, I believe the American Dream is best stated by the elderly as they look back on their lives. They talk of simplicity, family, faith, helping others, etc. We still have the freedom to pursue those things.

Mr Moyers..We have your book "A World of
Ideas" 1989, there are 2 notes to George and signed by
"Tuli" could you tell
me who Tuli is? hard to remember today since that was so long ago..appreciate it...Alberta Abbott
abbottganda@verizon.
net

The "American dream" has been outsourced to China and India, as we watch their standards of living rise at our expense. That's what globalization has been about, allowing corporations to do business wherever they like and trade wherever they like with no regard to civil rights, labor laws or environmental standards. We have succeeded in making corporations far more powerful than individuals or countries. And capitalism doesn't care about ethics, morals or compassion, so until the U.S. and other governments find the balls to rein them in like the trust-busting of 100 years ago, we will watch the "American dream" shrink along with our living standards. A modern definition of the "American dream" also needs to include sustainability, but poorer Americans will have a harder time adopting more climate-sustainable habits because they are more expensive, just as many poorer people have bad diets because fast food is cheaper than good food.

I have called myself part of a group of people who call themselves CATHOLIC WORKERS. I have been amongst these people for almost 20 years now,(since 1990).
One of the basic drives amongst these people is to make the world an easier place in which to be good and to do this with direct action and not just conversation or writings.

I have found in my journeys that more and more people I meet are more than satisfied with letting their speaking and writing define who they are, rather than letting their acts have the majority say in the matter of their lives. In fact they often work much harder to seperate themselves from their actions which, often, fail to support their words.

I see examples in this as we choose our leaders in this election year. I see so little information in news sources that speak directly of comparing actions to words amongst those who desire to be leaders in this society.

When I have discussed this issue with some they respond with a Biblical reference saying " not by acts alone". I do not disagree with the intent of this statement in its' context. I usually respond with the statement " not by flour alone do we make bread".

And so our lives are lived not by acts alone. Not by truth alone. Not by tolerance, not by patience, not by compassion, not by empathy, not by mercy or love alone.

You must decide how much of these to put into your life in order to create the sustenance for a world and the lifes' bread for your own sustenance.

For me an Indian from southasia,
It is the Frankness which american leaders used to show. NOT NOW.
also Genuine broadness of heart in GIVING

So much of what we do is in reaction to what is - an attempt to fix. In general, leaders and polity alike are largely unpracticed at articulating and / or pursuing visions or dreams.

I think that the American dream is to build institutions and communities that allow individuals to pursue what is deeply personal and meaningful to them without becoming alienated or marginalized. We've bumped up against this dream, but it is still largely elusive. Maybe sometime in the next 25 - or even 250 - years we'll get this right.

The American Dream, at 74 I feel that I've lived what I thought was the American Dream. I have been blessed by God in every way. To avoid the draft (in 1956 when there were no wars on) I joined the Navy. I had no intention of staying in but ended up a 22 year career as a Navy scientist after receiving a PhD. I left the Navy started a company with my wife, sold the company years later and we retired a relatively wealthy couple.

But, after many years of conservative living we built a beautiful mansion to enjoy our last years. Now we realize even though we ascribe to a low carbon lifestyle (we drive a Prius) we still have an awesome carbon footprint. I've realized that the "American dream" (we spent most of our life as responsible, frugal, consumers) led us to become, in our retirement, wasteful consumers. We now realize that we must "downsize" our consumption and return to a simpler lifestyle with as small a carbon footprint as possible.

I believe that we, like so many Americans pursued, and sacrificed for wealth. Not such a bad goal which enabled us to give very generously to charity and to help our children and provide for their future. But, at the end of our lives, we've succumbed to the consumptive live style only to realize that we were happier with a simpler more frugal lifestyle. I suppose the moral of this story is that happiness doesn't come from having more stuff than your neighbor but in using whatever riches you gain to help your fellow man and to live in a way that respects the earth and the Creator who put us here.

I really think that was the "American Dream" of most of our forefathers. I think our modern world seems to have placed greed on a throne and placed consumerism as an abiding theme of our lifestyle.

The dream still revolves around the original "of the people, by the people, and for the people." We the people have allowed others to turn our nation into "of the wealthy, by the wealthy, and for the wealthy." Wealthy can be replaced by special interest. The dream is that we awaken enough to become serious about our situation to pay attention to what is actually said, check to eliminate the half truths, and lies, and vote with conviction to regain the country. The wealthy and special interest groups would return the country to the late 20's and 30's era if permitted. They would benefit, we do not wish to return to a destroyed country or an uneducated country.

It has become self-evident that The "American Dream has become the "American Nightmare" for many of our citizens.
It takes grim determination to mold dreams into viable realities. Then, once they are realities; it takes grim determination to sustain them. Entropy is the way of nature and without sufficient energy to sustain a system; it fails. Finances are our source of energy. we are wasting our energy on foolish agendas and disasterous policies. We have the technology and resources to make dreams happen but instead; we waste our time Bickering over semantics and squabbling over resources.

"The trouble with life isn't that there is no answer, it's that there are so many answers."
Ruth Benedict

This sounds like some pretty sorry comments, just give up. We are helpless victims.What can we do at the hands of a big corrupt government? Well I don't agree! I think this sick screwed up government is our fault! This president has done things that any other country would not put up with.We need to tell Obama that the constitution DOES matter!80 % of us want change, HELLO, we want change!!! We as a people have not done our duty as americans. We need to take a lesson from jewish americans. They are envolved, they have a voice, they make things happen.We need to listen up, we need to get envolved and stand up and complain,make some noise, donate to causes we believe in and things will change !

Th American Dream can still be excerpted from the Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

As long as the opportunity to achieve those dreams remains a right for all Americans, the dream will persist.

John Lennon once sang "The Dream Is Over"...

I used to believe the myths and tall tales spun in my high school history and social study classes... But they can't be reconciled with the executive, legslative, and judicial branches of government not acting as check and balance but instead moving in lockstep to corporate influence and agendas.

They can't be reconciled with a corporate media that does not question or provide in depth information but instead simply tracks he said she said in mindless "reporting" of major issues like the destruction of habeus corpus, the right to privacy and other liberties, war and peace, recession, and more....a news media hell-bent on gossip and "entertainment" and instilling fear rather than contributing to an informed electorate.

I can't reconcile the tall tales and myth of the American Dream with the reality of my neighbors' lack of curiousity and awareness, with their fear of anyone different from themselves, with their endless pursuit of things.

The myth of an American Dream is now wrapped in a flag made of mindless acceptance of anything military, and the lack of will to engage each other to overcome fear, to question and to demand accountability and change.

However, recently , for a just a moment I allowed myself to imagine that Barack Obama truly would be an example of integrity, the willingness to question, the courage to overcome fear, the insistence on accountability under a rule of law that applied to everyone.

But then he voted this week for a bill granting immunity to corporations and those who acted outside the law to spy on us, to invade our privacy. Then I saw the smirk on the face of George Bush as he signed that law that rapes the 4th amendment to the Constitution of all its promise.

And now I say, there is no hope. The Dream is indeed over, John.

If nothing else, the dream remains under construction like Pennsylvania's Interstates. Conceptually, Machiavelli, JS Mill, Locke and even Plato never felt some form of Utopia would be a achieved. Though of the forms, the most flexible to achieve the greatest good (utilitarianism) would be accomplished under the umbrella of a Republic. Its ability to move in various directions remains the greatest feature to keeping the dream alive. It is this alone that sustains my hope given current conditions.

The American Dream is a well-constructed delusion that changes with the times.

I don't think being ushered onto reservations was the dream of Native Americans, and I don't think that being forced to work on plantations were the dreams of countless Africans who were brought here by force. Likewise, I don't think that being recruited to die in profitable wars is the collective dream of modern Americans. But that's what we've been sold. And we seem to be buying it.

I think it would be cool if the American Dream was to have integrity and not tolerate anything less. I also think it would be cool if we could just call George Bush out and be like...."No way, man. This (point around the room) is not how it's going to be. You need to pack your bags, and go do some jail time, cuz we're not doing this."
Then, the population would be like.."Oh, and you know what else? We're gonna count our own ballots from now on. You guys can't be trusted, and we're tired of your crap. So move on out." Then, after that, all the people in America who were in their teens to 40's would be like..."By the way...no more old people. We've had enough. We love you--we'll miss you when you die. But honestly, you can't keep up with what's going on. You don't know what the internet is, you still think attack ads are cool, and you're starting to make the Supreme Court house smell like peas and Bengay...So, why don't you go home and learn some Sudoku, because your political career is over." Then, we'd throw a huge going away party for all the old people, and we'd wish them the best of luck and happiness in their retirement.
The next day, we'd sober up and start making America awesome. We'd elect a group of individuals who represented all the colors of America and we'd release all the potheads from jail and tell them to make snacks for Voting Day--which would become a national paid holiday. Then, we'd just have, like, tailgate parties with no booze outside of all the voting booths in America. And there would be face painting, and free hotdogs paid for by the American dollars we are no longer using to pay for the war on drugs/terror. We'd laugh and talk about issues, and make a big deal out of not being a bigot-loser. And things would just start to fall into place. We'd offer Bill Moyers a job as the Press Secretary--and we'd ask him to keep doing the awesome job he's always done on reporting the truth--with integrity.
Then we'd appoint a real supreme court, consisting of a lot more people, and make lobbying a crime. Oh, and we'd cut the ropes that currently tie together corporations and the government. We'd be like..."Whatever, if you can't stop polluting the Earth, and using up all our limited resources, then you're not allowed to be a company any more. You know why? Because we're all in this together. Just because you're rich and greedy does not mean that you can kill our fish and pollute our skies."
Then, we'd invest all of our money into education, technology, and green jobs.
That would be a way cooler American dream.

The American Dream is a full restoration of the US Constitution so that all people are empowered to become better via the classic virtues and under the shelter and embrace of life, civil liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

It is contingent on moving far away from a nation at war of preemption, aggression and of ideology (war on drugs, war on terror, etc.) and on fettering corporations so that they do not have the same and full rights of individuals and so that they are forced to serve the public good. It's a return to valuing science,evidence, wit, wisdom, logic and reason and rejecting hate in speech and action. It's a return of tolerance, generosity, humility and kindness.

I fear that it's entirely a dream and not going to be within the grasp of the US again. I fear we are now a de facto constitutional dictatorship and a national surveillance state.

I don't see any comparison with the Founders' vision and reality and the extant iteration of US government and citizens' rights and opportunities.

I mourn for what was and what might have been, if the government had upheld its oath to protect, defend and support the consitution and had done the will of we, the people, instead of the will of the corporate interests and the wealthy.