Observations From the Spectrum

Many are waking up to the fact that the American Dream has morfed to the American Fail. We, the taxpayers, need help. ‘Show me my money!’

Cheezy movie but the line withstands the test of time

Tom Cruise’s most famous line in the film Jerry Maguire was ‘Show me the money!’  Four words that illustrate the American Dream and the American Fail.  Four words.

Most Americans grow up believing that someday they will be famous and/or rolling in money.  The rich may not.  They know they will.  The poor certainly do.  I have yet to meet a middle school student who didn’t believe they would be the next president, surgeon, lawyer, Michael Jordan or Oprah Winfrey.  All kids believe in their dreams.

But it is not okay to sell a false dream to a nation collectively, and that is what has happened.  Since Carter, and certainly there were signs before, the American Dream lost any and all tangibility and became nothing more than frivolous hope.

Before Carter and the coked out 80s led by Wall Street, the American Dream was tangible.  People dreamed, worked and achieved it.  The American Dream was simple: home ownership, car ownership, business ownership, minimal debt.  

Sure, capitalism existed, but a 14ft Boston Whaler was a luxury item.  Few people owned yachts.  And everyone knew how to change the oil in their cars, not like today where many barely know how to gas their cars.  And a beach or second home meant that you had really succeeded.  Mind you, it could have been a 100 sq ft cabin in the mountains or on the beach.  

Today, the American Dream is freedom.  That’s not tangible.  That’s ethereal.  It’s an ideal and subjective.  Yet many Americans stand by it for its relation to the American Dream of old.  

Covid hit hard in March 2020 and is still kicking us in the gut.  Our leaders, you know the ones that we elected, used our tax dollars to bailout corporations and billionaires.  They understood very clearly that we wouldn’t flinch.  We’d bitch and moan, but turn the other cheek.

I refuse to.  ‘Show me the money!’  I am not asking for a handout.  I am not asking for a free ride.  I am asking my government to honor their end of the contract.  I have paid taxes for 46 years.  So have you.  And yet, many give the government a free ride.

The Solution is to find the common threads that unite us, not focus on what seperates us. Our team is on the field

It will not get better until we unite.  Yes, that means those on the left and those on the right need to find common ground.  That common ground is very clear.  It is Medical Care for All, Universal Basic Income and Green New Deal.

Now, I don’t care who you are: black, white, latino, Asian, female, male, trans, open, racist or a bigot for all I care.  There are 7.8 billion people.  Some of us will get along; some of us won’t.  But ALL of us can benefit or know of many people, friend and foe who would benefit from Medical Care for All, Universal Basic Income and Green New Deal.

The American Dream of ‘Show me the money’ is dead.  All jobs that can be, will be automated as quickly as possible.  That means your choice is to unite and demand M4A, UBI and GND or understand that you are silencing yourself in the future.

The slogan of the American Fail is ‘Show me MY money!’  It’s our money that our government is using to destroy the American Dream.  Do not stand on the sidelines because you think your team is not playing.  I assure you they are.  WE are all American Citizens like it or not.

• All works at Observations from the Spectrum written by Dylan Netter
• Observationsfromthespectrum.org
• OFTS.blog 
• On? a third point of view – book of Essays
• Marinehippie.com podcast w/ Docstodden.com – dialogue exploring politics and musings of life 
• Horizoncoaching.org – English Tutor and Guide
• beehiveplus1.org