Hoarders

[Beartracks]

8. Right. Since when did the "American Dream" involve a mansion and yacht?

That's an over-glorified fantasy version of the American Dream -- that we'll all be millionaires if we just "work hard enough." Rather, the reality is that the American Dream is as you describe it above: a solidly middle class life where our needs are met through the results of our hard work, our families are healthy, our government (of/for/by people) protects and serves us to ensure that these things are possible, and we have money and time left to focus on the things that really make life worth living -- that is, we don't just work and work and work, and we don't just break even, but we actually have resources left to invest in the pursuit of our personal happiness. If some people want to go beyond that level of success, that's great and many probably would, but the definition of the Dream itself is not, and should not be, penthouses, limos, mansions, yachts, and Cuban cigars. Just like Barbie is an unrealistic "ideal" of womanhood, that kind of version of the American Dream is an unrealistic "ideal" of success.

We're not millionaires just waiting to happen. We're Americans just waiting to get our Dream back.

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