upstatecajun (386 posts) Sat Apr-09-11 10:46 AM
Original message
The American Dream as We Know it Is Obsolete
In an era of insecurity, we all want security.
We want a decent home to call our own, healthcare to heal us when we are sick or old, education to improve our minds and job prospects, healthy food and clean water to nourish us, income to provide for all our needs and even some affordable luxuries, a career to give us social status and a sense of self-worth, and a pension for our golden years.
http://www.tloforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=91
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x851404Well, DUmmy upstatecajun, if you aren't a mole, the way you describe it is pretty much the way it is for many of us. No one has perfect security, never did and never will, but all that other stuff is every bit as attainable today as it has ever been, despite the efforts of the jug-eared muslim and the socialists in Congress. Unless you are a DUmmy, which I guess you are. In that case, do the world a favor. Go away and die.
OHdem10 (1000+ posts) Sat Apr-09-11 10:50 AM
Response to Original message
1. Thanks to Conservative Economic Fundamentalism and
a Democratic Party not willing to fight it.
Instead they parrot the "Free Market Principles"
and throw their own under the bus.
Welcome to Right Wing America.
LiberalEsto (1000+ posts) Sat Apr-09-11 11:04 AM
Response to Original message
2. Yes it is and I'm obsolete too.
Former newspaper reporter and marketing writer, out of work two and a half years, 59 years old, female, no money for retraining, arthritic ankles and knees, unemployable in this job market.
Thank Goddess my husband has a job, but after working long hours all week, he is putting in a 13.5 hour work day today and a 12 hour work day tomorrow. Monday he has to be at his desk at 7 a.m when his regular work week starts again. And he does not get one penny of pay for the extra hours. I worry that he may keel over from the excessive work and stress.
I'll bet Dummy Liberalspanishword mentions those arthritic ankles in every job interview.
RickFromMN (91 posts) Sat Apr-09-11 11:42 AM
Response to Original message
3. What would the American Dream be like if FDR's Second Bill of Rights had been enacted?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Bill_of_Rights
They had unicorns back in the 1930s, too.
Mnemosyne (1000+ posts) Sat Apr-09-11 12:47 PM
Response to Reply #3
8. That would have been wonderful, Rick.
It would have been a country based on lifting each other up; rather than tearing each other apart.
Employment, with a living wage,
Freedom from unfair competition and monopolies,
Housing,
Medical care,
Education
Social security
Yes, Rick, it would have been so wonderful! Everything would have been free. No one would have to work. Free houses. Free medical care for all. The rich would be executed. There would be a big mountain made of rock candy. And the skies would not be cloudy all day.
realFedUp (1000+ posts) Sat Apr-09-11 11:46 AM
Response to Original message
4. but we aren't and neither are protests
Recall, vote, protest, write, call, e-mail, show up, support
the orgs that are doing the good work.
Show up with your money, if you still have some.
Support the pols who actually do what they say they will
Vote out those who are just taking up valuable seats
Speak out when people are wrong
Educate, inform, correct the lies, loudly and simply
Whoa, DUmmy realFedUp, you forgot internet petitions.
SoCalDem (1000+ posts) Sat Apr-09-11 11:53 AM
Response to Original message
5. It was all a post-world war mirage..that lasted a couple of generations & a smidge
the time before and after will be pretty much the way the world ran before, with the super rich in charge & everyone else scrambling to keep food in the belly & a roof over the head..
It would have been a shorter-lived blip, but for the introduction of the EZ-Credit for the masses. Plastic covered for the chipping away of the infrastructure that was the base. People tend to be optimistic, and while acquiring things on credit, and feeling more affluent, they fell into the trap as their optimism got crushed by job loss, high interest payments and generally things not working out as planned..
The only ones who got the full measure, were the parents of boomers, many of whom got the new deal when it was fresh & they were young & energetic, the ones who went through the "big war", came out the other side with all the government goodies, and then when they started to age, the Great Society was there as their old age safety net/ Many/most of them are gone now, but they had a good ride...and we younger ones (the boomers) paid for it all..for our whole lives..
Mulhane (41 posts) Sat Apr-09-11 12:31 PM
Response to Reply #5
7. And the ones who are left
...mostly want to deny even a semblance of these bennies for all the kids they produced.
I refuse to consider anything said by someone who uses the term "bennies".
SoCalDem (1000+ posts) Sat Apr-09-11 01:15 PM
Response to Reply #7
9. It was all done with borrowed money.. If younger ones want it, they will borrow too
Once we lost our manufacturing base & the good jobs that went with it, we have been "eating the seed corn".
All the bazillions of dollars pumped into the economy by the taxes of the Boomers were not used wisely.. Congress after congress gobbled it up and slathered it all over themselves & their buddies..
As long as we were all working,. paying & using plastic, those plates kept spinning, but money can only be spent once & then it;s gone, and now we are entering the retirement phase and all that extra money we prepaid for ourselves while we were "bonusing" up Granny & Gramps' retirements, well..it's all been spent..
The 30 year span from 1950-1980 was about the best it was financially, and it will not return anytime soon, for a lot of reasons.. it was a blip..
an oddity
Life will go back to the way it was before, and we will all have to adapt..
Countries here and there will experience their own "blip", but eventually theirs will falter too..
That goes to show you how stupid DUmmies really are! The real prosperity didn't kick in until the great Ronald Reagan took the presidency in the 1980 election. Most of us are still enjoying era of security and prosperity he brought to the entire civilized world. Of course, DUmmies like SoCalDem languish under in any circumstances, having no useful skill and no work ethic.
taught_me_patience (1000+ posts) Sat Apr-09-11 01:54 PM
Response to Original message
10. I just don't buy it
The middle class is alive and well for millions of SoCal people and people across the nation. America is STILL the place that immigrants want to come to make a living. The american dream is a bit harder than it used to be, but is far from dead.
Troll alert! Troll alert! True democrats know America sucks. This guy has to be a Rethug.
Tierra_y_Libertad (1000+ posts) Sat Apr-09-11 02:04 PM
Response to Original message
11. You mean there isn't really a Happy Land?
Where dad carries a briefcase and mom does the cooking and the kids are named Duff and Muffin? Where only white people live..except for the nice negro maid and funny Mexican gardener?
Sorry, DUmmy Tierrabunchofspanish, but the life you describe is almost exactly the one many of us lead. Now, we have never had a black maid, and the Mexican is a lawn guy, not a gardener per se, but yep, you've got it. The kids aren't named DUff or Muffin, but as young adults they are already leading that lifestyle as well. So, DUmmy Tierrabunchofspanish, eat your heart out.
