…across the inbox floats the following stream of thought from an Instapundit Reader:
I think the notion of the American Dream needs to be recalibrated — especially the whole question of whether your kids will be better off than you.
The standard-of-living floor has risen so much over the past 60 years or so that it’s difficult to quantify an increase, or to set realistic expectations. It’s kind of like my grandmother who passed away at 93 — as I got older I told her I was jealous of the advancements she witnessed, from seeing her first car while riding in a horse-drawn cart to indoor plumbing to the moon landings, and that I didn’t think anyone outside of her generation will ever see such a radical change. My father immigrated from the middle east and his arrival to the US may as well have been to another planet.
Given that past and the fact that the “poor” in this country have microwave ovens, cable TV and cell phones, and technological advances seem focused on laptops and phones, what does an increased standard of living look like anymore and how does that translate to thoughtful and achievable “American dream”?
This will be a critical concept as we try to pull ourselves out of this financial mess.
Geez. And all this he says as he stares at the ‘half full’ glass and decides it’s not even there. Boohoo, everything is so good, I can barely handle it, what do we have to look forward to? More of that ‘so good’? Forget it, this sucks, I give up… Look, I can understand the amazement of the advances that certain generations have seen, and it could be true that even though I was around before the internet and can now call someone on the other side of the planet on a wireless video phone that would probably blow Captain Kirk’s mind wide open, it’s possible that I won’t get to witness the same leaps and bounds that the horse drawn carriage generation experienced when space travel became a reality. But we don’t know that for sure. And even if we did, why would you write an article that makes it feel like life’s not worth living because the poor don’t have it bad enough? Microwaves, televisions, cell phones, it’s all too much, I need a second to regroup, I can barely believe it’s real, it’s like fantasy, it’s like a dream… it’s like the American Dream, and it’s like it’s come true.
Hahaha, I love crazy people and their opinions. This guy is probably suffering from the Office Space syndrome:
- “So, wait a minute, you’re saying that every day is the worst day of your life?”
- “Yes”
- “Is today the worst day of your life?”
- “Yes”
- “… ugh, that’s messed up…”
Half Full? Half Empty? Or maybe there’s no glass at all, dundunduhhhhhhh… I think the American Dream is when you have to start worrying that times are too good and that life can’t get any better. That we might not be able to win ‘Most Improved’ anymore and might have to settle for the ‘MVP’ award. When we’ve reached that point, BAM, like right now, well then, there you have it, American Dream accomplished. Congratulations, time for back patting, back-pats all around.
I know it can be a scary thought, but sometimes you have to take a chance, step out of your comfort zone, and take a look at what might be a glass that is half full…
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