The American Dream
As George Carlin said “You have to be asleep to believe it.”
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The American Dream belongs to the following groups:
African-American Experience, Anticonsumerism, ART ACTION UNION - CREATIVE ACTIVISM, Core [C.O.R.E], Current Issues, LEFT WING VALUES AND POSITIVE GLOBAL AWARENESS and Multiracial BeautyThis Country called America is NOT about freedom for everyone and it is certainly NOT an inclusive society. They will tell you it is, and that our forefathers fought for freedom, but that may not be entirely true. All history is open to interpretation, and this is mine.
Our forefathers did not like King George and did not want to keep paying taxes. They wanted to keep all the colonial profits they earned for themselves. They were put out by their perception of an aristocratic attitude on the part of the British government. All that stuff about freedom and liberty – some of them probably believed it, but I think most were spouting rhetoric much like the politicians of today. Take away the glorious language of the preamble, and the Declaration of Independence is a list of complaints about King George doing kingly things. Don’t let all that democracy stuff fool you though. John Adams attacked Thomas Paine’s work Common Sense for it’s absurd democratical notions. Let’s not take this liberty thing too far. Yet, we must be ever vigilant and watchful of a government that will take your property and liberty if afforded the opportunity. The anarco-capitalists were more influential over the thinking of Americans than even Americans realize. Power, fear and money.
From the beginning of this Country, power and prestige has been measured by how much stuff a person can accumulate. The more stuff they have the better off they are. At first, only those White men who owned land were permitted to vote in elections. Later, men who did not own property were allowed to vote in elections, but they had to pay a poll tax. Then only those who could read and write at a certain minimal level were permitted to vote. Power, fear and money.
It wasn’t until 1920 that women were permitted to vote. Their husbands often accompanied them into the voting booth and voted for them. As recent as the late 1960s, I watched my uncle accompany his wife into the voting booth and later boast about casting her vote for her.
The labor movement brought an end to most abuses of workers but not before much fighting and bloodshed. The industrialists and robber barons fought tooth and nail against labor reforms. Union organizers and union workers have been murdered. It was not until the Great Depression that child labor laws were enacted not because anyone cared about the welfare of children in America, but because unemployed adult men were competing with children for the same jobs. Power, fear and money.
We placed Japanese Americans in concentration camps during WWII out of fear that they would not be loyal to America – they were citizens! The world was in the darkest days of an economic depression. We needed that war with Japan, Germany and Italy and our factories made ships, tanks, bullets, guns, boots, all the tools of war. Ronald Regan signed legislation in 1988 which was an official apology for America’s disgraceful treatment of Japanese Americans that was based on “race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership.” A little investigation will prove out that the Japanese were put to work, indoctrinated in the American Dream, and required to enlist in the military. Power, fear and money.
This country was founded by slave owners who wanted freedom for themselves. Slave owners wrote about freedom and liberty. How’s that for irony? Then the Civil Rights Movement which started in the 1950s and continues to this day brought greater equality for people of color, but not before many deaths by lynching and liberal use of the word nigger by our elected representatives and those running for office. In the 1967 the Supreme Court said it was OK for Blacks and Whites to marry each other. Thank you very much. The segregationists fought hard against integration. Power, fear and money.
Then the right to choose whether to have an abortion was granted to women, which everyone in the world knows the right wing will eventually take away from women. Women still, right now, today, earn less than 80 cents for ever dollar a man earns in this Country. Why does this disparity in income still exist? Power, fear and money.
There is still no equality for gay, lesbian and bisexual Americans. Our people do not want gays to benefit from tax credits and other benefits that married people enjoy. Power, fear and money.
The people of this country have been raised on a generous portion of fear of foreigners and the arrogant belief that this country is God’s favorite country. God loves only America. God loves only Americans. God wants Americans to be wealthy. God made America wealthy because He loves America. God will protect Americans from all those foreigners who want to take what we have – foreigners will take our stuff if we are not diligent. God gave America to the White man who took it by force from the Native Americans. This is the Great White Melting Pot of assimilation and equality of whiteness.
Horatio Alger wrote about the American Dream – the poor street kid (rags to riches) who made it to the top by his “pluck.” Pluck is a combination of perseverance and luck. Our children are taught in school, that in America (the luck of their birth) if you work hard (persevere) you can achieve anything you want to achieve (tell that to Emmett Till and the others who were lynched and murdered for no reason other than they were Black). What they don’t teach the children in school is Mr. Alger’s misconduct with teen age boys.
Those with power and money need a misinformed, ignorant, but supportive population of sheeple to work in their factories, clean their houses, fix their cars, take out their garbage, sit in their cubicles, and make money for them. Those with the power and the money throw a few dollars called wages at the sheeple who thank their owners and smile all the way to the Bank every payday, never questioning their pitiful $30,000 annual salary compared to the $10 million the CEO was paid last year.
The modern day Horatio Algers will point to specific examples of those Americans who came from nothing to millions as shining examples of what is possible in America. Well, if that were true there should be millions of millionaires in America because everyone I know works their fingers to the bone – and they are true blue believers in the American dream.
Today, those with power and money are mocking you and you don’t even realize it. When they proclaim that this has been a country built basically by white folks they spit in the face of every person of color who worked the fields, labored in the factories, dug the ditches, died in their wars, and raised their children to believe in the American Dream. We live in a land where the average White family has 10 times as much wealth as the average African-American family, and 21 times as much as the average Latino family. You tell me, who is living the American Dream?
The American Dream is just that – a dream. It is spoon fed to the masses who are intoxicated by it. Those with power and money will keep their power and money. How do they do that? They keep the masses stupid and drunk with dreams of power and money, fearful of foreigners and foreign influences. They will give you a taste of it by way of a paycheck and keep you scared of terrorists. They will show you what their lives look like on television with programs like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. They will make you want what they have and you will work until you die believing that you are going to make it – someday. All the while, they take your labor and keep the profits, while you work hard, grow older and trudge on daily down the road to your death.
Dream on my fellow Americans.
Fight bravely for that liberty that is wage slavery!
March on freely with your fellow sheep toward that death which you have been told is the free market!
Dream the American nightmare of false hope and work for the liberty of liars and thieves!
You are servants to the corporate masters who would not let you eat the crumbs from under their tables.
Carry your banners high! Fight against those who work to better your life.
Call us Socialists and Communists and Fascists! For such are those who care about your future as well as our own.
March to the beat of the greedy corporate drum that drowns out he cries of hungry children on your doorstep!
Lay your head on your designer pillow covers tonight and dream.
The American Dream.
DragonFlyer
I sometimes feel my mind will explode at the total blindness and stupidity of those who fight so hard to maintain their right to be exploited by those with more….. You have put it into clear words here Helen…
K x
H M Bascom replied
We should go into the fray with open eyes and informed minds. Not ignorant and believing in lies. Dream the dream, feel free – but we should not expect anyone in corporate America to give a damn.
John Douglas
My (US born) partner says that the general population of the US is the perfect example of brainwashing so succesful because most don’t even realise they are, and many that may think they are, are happy to be. He said he never understood the US until he visited the soviet union way back when. Good writing, by the way!
H M Bascom replied
It is a line of bull swallowed hook, line and sinker.
Gregory John O...
Fortuna Favet Fortibus !!! Fight the Good Fight… Nice piece Helen, much the history I was taught.
Didn’t Thomas Jefferson say something like … I hope we haven’t created a perenial monarchy that boarders on Empire…. it seems that that is what the USA has become ..
Australias History isn’t much better…. we have Federation, but the English Monarch is our defacto head of state, through the Governor general.
Universal Sufferage was not obtained here until 1968, when Indigenous Australians were “granted” citizenship and the right to vote.
Australia never talks about the slavery that occured here. We didn’t call it slavery, we called it “Black Birding”.
Australia, like the USA, was built on the extermination of Indigenous Peoples, or their slavery, the explotation of the poor, and the profits still go back to Empire….. I’m sure if you looked, most of the USAs’ profits still go back to the European Empire that started the USA. The flag of the USA is almost a direct copy of that of the Dutch East India Company…..
H M Bascom replied
It is the White man’s burden, as they used to say here in America. :-(
Marion Cullen
Sounds to me like the whole “American Dream” thing is just one big fabulous snow job…would hazzard a guess that it’s the biggest hoax of all time….
H M Bascom replied
No doubt – and the drum beats on and the people keep marching toward their inevitable end – maximizing corporate profit. Tis the American way.
happyfeet5
This is strong and well written Helen. I was just thinking at almost the end that you had forgotten the child labor and there you mentioned it, then I thought, she forgot the American Indian who came here frist and their land was taken away from them and they still live in reservations who have a very high statistic of alcoholism and suicide. Where is their dream?
You got related history from the very start to the present. My husband works for a company that has branches all over the world and here in Puerto Rico, when he first started almost 30 years ago, there were only about 50 workers. Now there are about 1,000 or more. Before, every summer, there was family day, now they eliminated it because according to them there are too many workers and the cost is great. Yet, when the reports come in they brag about how much more the company is making. Now who takes the porfits? Like you said, the CEOs They are talking about eliminating a lot of other “privileges” but the company is getting richer. With this I don’t want to sound Anti American. I was born here and this is my country. But it doesn’t mean that it needs fixing. This one really has gotten to me Helen. Iris
H M Bascom replied
I know all to well about corporate cutbacks on benefits and perks for workers, yet CEOs are not giving up one thin dime or their corporate cars and jets and haircuts and clothing allowances and cellphones and computers all paid for by the company.
aaronschwartz
This is one of most mature and intelligent analyses of the American “dream” I have ever read. Bravo, Helen, for seeing clearly and telling the truth. Thank you, Helen, for having the courage to put it into clear, compelling words. I have lived in both the U.S. and Canada, and I enjoy the luxury of being able to take a fairly objective view of the U.S., without the burden and confusion of having to live my life under the propaganda that serves as history and politics there. You have nailed it on the proverbial head, Helen. The more people who have the courage to recognize what you have recognized so clearly and speak out about it, the closer the U.S. will come to realizing its enormous potential and find its real place in world history, not the hateful rhetoric that has proliferated and found willing ears for so long.
H M Bascom replied
Well, if the men in black kick in my door and haul me off to some nonexistent prison camp in the middle of the desert, remember me fondly. xoxo
montdragon
8-19-09 [0^0]
H M Bascom replied
Marked is this day.
Matt Penfold
HEAR HEAR, wow Helen, that was one absolutely fabulous and important speech you just made, it’s funny how I read to myself but it sounded like you were speaking it out loud and clear in that accent of yours. I could visualise an audience of thousands being moved to action. This really should be shouted from the rooftops. Now I see what you meant in your reply to my earlier comment. Very well done Helen, I think you should record this and get it onto Youtube so that the illiterate can hear it too.
H M Bascom replied
Thanks Matt. The speech was written in my mind long, long ago – I spent all this time gathering links and putting it into a form that lent itself to a reading rather than a listening. I will consider recording it.
terugvanver
It’s sad…
Didn’t we all hope for better days with a BLACK president?
But it appears evil has no color, my friend.
Greed has no color…
It’s sits deeper..
Untouchable..
A few, like yourself, do realize what’s going on, see the bigger picture.
And we suffer the most..
Didn’t they say “Blessed are the ignorant”?
Maybe they are.
I could write and write and see my frustration grow by each word.
Because it makes you realize how POWERLESS we are.
Lambs to the slaughter, we march for the next jab, listen to the next bullshit pandemic shit.
A solution?
Beats me.. I’m crunched, nothing much left…
H M Bascom replied
This country was founded by slave owners who wanted freedom for themselves. Slave owners writing about freedom and liberty . . . seems a bit too ironic to be mere coincidence.
Josh Bowe
Ditto Aaron Helen, brilliant piece, nail on the head. When Mussolini said that another way of terming Fascism would be to call it Corporatism…........well your words here bear the fruit. As for ‘American Dream’(or any other nationalistic dream)well dreaming is what you do when u r asleep!!!!! Keep up the good work, inspirational
H M Bascom replied
Thanks Josh. People sleep and dream, and the corporations continue raping us and the planet. How long can the system sustain itself?
Ushna Sardar
H M Bascom replied
YAY! I am so honored Ushna. Thank you.
Earthmonster
The power of the written word…you never cease to amaze me. Congrats on the feature :)
H M Bascom replied
Thank you kindly. xoxo
ArcadiaTempest
Edifying is an understatement me thinks about your post here Helen…...geezzzz can I vote for you???
H M Bascom replied
Knowing the truth is just the beginning . . .
Isa Rodriguez
wow….................... say it sis.. I am so glad we are having fighting and screaming and intolerance at this mess . once more as everyday people speak out. we might be reminded that we do have a voice
a great read , my friend.. and this subject is so dear to my heart. as my hubby sits today in a hosptial bed..
H M Bascom replied
I’m so sorry your husband is in hospital. I hope he will recover soon.
We do have a voice Isa. We must use our super powers rationally and calmly in the face of all this screaming, and shouting, and threatening with guns! Never in my life have I seen so many people fight so hard to prevent others from having basic health care. Incredible.
VanSnuG
You took me out of my complacent shell and showed me the outside. For that simple act, I thank you. Now, LESSONS learned. Or are they?
H M Bascom replied
Sometimes we have to shake things up a bit
owlspook
sadly all true and documented although most who live in this fair land are ignorant . some by choice and others trained to be good sheeple … thank you for holding up the mirror and being unafraid to say what is seen …
H M Bascom replied
Thank you very much for reading.
Susan Bergstrom
I have a burning question…why aren’t you teaching in a college somewhere? ...or are you!?
I always admire your passion Helen…!
H M Bascom replied
I taught for a long time – criminal law, criminal procedure, and legal research and writing. :-)
Sally Omar
Absolutely Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!!! xoxoxoxo
H M Bascom replied
Awww thanks Sally! xoxo
funkyfacestudio
There are many truths in here Helen. I agree with Matt, you should put this on youtube !
H M Bascom replied
Yes, much truth, most of it hard to bear. I forgot to add that our forefathers wrote about “freedom and liberty” while owning slaves. Curious irony, don’t ya think?
funkyfacestudio
Yes I have recently watched a documentary about our forefathers and when Jefferson was working on the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence he knew what he was writing and struggled with the Idea as it wouldn’t go over well with the others….........even though he was a slave owner himself…................here is where the rough draft was changed a bit. If I remember correctly I think there were a number of slaves fleeing at the time it was signed. It’s amazing to me how it continued for so long even after that.
funkyfacestudio
I found the written article on that subject here I’m sure you have already seen these though. I’m with you Helen ironic to say the least.
H M Bascom replied
Thanks for that article. It is well written. I will include the link in the body of this little rant. :-)
Shoaib .
wow .. gunna need to digest this one … i ll be back :)
H M Bascom replied
I’ll be here!
Georgette
Congratulations on your feature. Very bold writing.
H M Bascom replied
Thank you very much!
artbyjehf
Excellent! Informed, Informative & well said.
H M Bascom replied
Thank you for reading!
theyellowfury
Yeah. And as you say yourself the dream is paired up with the nightmare# and the media happily plugging both. I hate tv, telling people what to think and what to be. And you don’t have to look far into it to find massive fucking lies.
On abortion I’ve always thought governments would like to enforce them. They do in a lot of places. And then there’s this about maintaining a total world population of 500 million. But thinking about it now to imprison people is better (worse?), tax money funded cheap labourers with no rights under total control. I could probably find ten sources in ten minutes about prison overcrowding, they all seem to be that way. And if there’s a need for more prisoners, they can make some more laws, send in the lobbyists with their bribes. The whole thing stinks like yesterday’s socks. (It was a wet day)
Its how happy you can manage to keep yourself and those around you, not the accumulation of things. Not a lot of people know that.
Powerful writing, a great rant.
H M Bascom replied
The key to happiness is understanding you don’t need anything to be happy. Thank you very much for reading!