Septemeber 2000

I Believe in the American Dream

I spend almost too much time reading about the upcoming Presidential election. Gore swears he can give money back to everyone. Bush swears he can hand out blank checks. Same old rhetoric, right? Not really.

The country is doin’ fine. OUR country is doin’ fine. We are doin’ so fine that the next President will give US citizenry a pay raise!

Can you beat that, France?

The point of these positive, popular and presidential promises is to point out not how well we are doing, but how much better we are bound to be. Whether we be in good times or bad, American’s (from the U.S. of A{merica}) believe that good times are always around the corner. At least those American’s who are asking for our vote. We American's who vote are tempted by the candidates individual take on the American Dream.

That Dream is about a consistent vision, and the man who’s vision it is.

Each man dishes dirt like it was the mid-90's, and each cannot help but take money from his rich friends.

So what?

Where his money comes from does not matter. Who he snorted coke with or who he smoked up with matters even less. The election cycle is in the endgame. The rich, Wall Street types are voting for G.W., the historically marginalized are voting for Al. These folks are always going to vote that way in a two party system. Those people have no choice but to see the world in back and white. But thanks to America and our capitalism, the majority which the candidates are fighting for is mired in the fog of moral relativism and middle class guilt.

The American Middle class is a beautiful thing. They buy, sell, build, procreate, cheat, lie and donate within the parameters of the American Dream. Yes, the American Dream. This dream is, as stated earlier, about hope and infinite promise.

The American Dream is not about fear, it is about waking up in the morning knowing that your world is not going to end. The Government will be there. No foreign armies shooting your cows. No anarchists telling you what to do. With this dream, the American middle class goes to work and school and the barber shop knowing that their world will always get better.

This is true.

E-Trade, credit card debt, gas-guzzling trucks, and the kids summer camp are all reflections on the limitless potential of American. ER, Law and Order, and The West Wing all have happy, liberal endings. Touched by a freekin’ Angel! For God’s sake! And what is pop culture a reflection of?

Mr. Gore and Mr. Bush do not mess around. If Bush spent his time telling people that Gore was a bad man and the world would end he would be ignored. Gore could do no such thing, either. It is the duty of the candidate to reach out for the hands of the American middle class and tell them about good times to come. Each man should look his fellow Americans in the eye and smile. When these men are on point, this is what their message should be.

In the past, the promises of the candidates were different, but the American Dream has not evolved to its present form. This county is on the verge of a great, new age of prosperity and either candidate will get us there. It is our duty, as members of the middle class, to decide how we are going to get there.