American Dream

Everyone has a dream: a dream of how they want to move though life and where they will be at their end. Maybe it is a lifelong bucket list. When I was young and left the first rock ‘n roll concert I had attended, (the Doors and Janis Joplin) I wanted to be a rock star or at least a rock ‘n roll guitar player.

I also dreamed of having a great wife. When I was married to her and Linda and I had our children, my dream was for their success, for them to reach adulthood as someone better than me. I think that dream came true.

As my children grew, my dream split and I wanted more, the great American dream – a new house, station wagon and sports car in the garage, while being a member of the great middle class and then the smaller roster of the wealthy.

Now, I have come to the reality that I will never reach the heights of part two of my American dream, to be a millionaire and part of the 1 percent. I should have known all along that I really only wanted to be comfortable, with my family around me for the rest of my life.

The great American dream is now harder to attain and most will not attain it, especially in the current state of the social climate. How do you become one of those who have all they want and need and dreams of even a better life, whether simpler or more complicated. It just may be out of reach and many will have to adjust their dreams or be clinically disappointed.

I am of the son of the Greatest Generation and those who had a chance to reach their dream of entering a successful middle class. Maybe I should have been like my best friend who lives a simple life, who now lives his life with no attachments other than his children. A free bird so to speak.

Ah, the American dream, I think it is headed for extinction like the polar bear or the Iberian lynx.

The Millennials or the third generation following the Greatest Generation dream of paying off student loans or getting a job that pays a living wage. Some want to afford healthcare or buy new clothes for their children or get their teeth fixed. Lower expectations ,although for some the American dream still lives in the shadows of their mind.