Isn't it time to admit the American Dream is dead?

Question

With the Republican Party having mismanaged the economy to the state where it has almost universally collapsed, and their inability to tell the truth about the dwindling of the earth's resources and the need to face up to some hard truths about the future, isn't it time to change the expectations of the people to something more realistic than the lives they lead now?

The days of living selfish, environmentally destructive lives is over. The fraudulent way the Federal Reserve (which is NOT a Government body) generates money is unsustainalbe. The Government cannot afford to prop up failing organisations like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and if it does, the rest of the American encomy will disappear into a black hole. Game Over.

http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/

Answer 1

Thanks for having pride for the counrty u live in. I say if u dont like it here get out..Simple as that to all U..S bashers. I love this counrty and i stand behind it even through hard times..And u call urslef an american???

Answer 2

You think you've got it bad, try living in the U.K. Our government is determined to tax us into bankruptsy.

Answer 3

Democrats destroyed us with their hatred of energy and the dream at least learn logic so it is you can defend your position albeit with lies.

Answer 4

when i get enought money im so moving to the u.s!!! i think its an amazing place and im british :)

Answer 5

Not by a very long shot!!!! Anyone who wants the "American Dream" can still find it! it is called hard work and perseverance. This nation has been through far worse times although I do not think times are all that bad right now! Even with the large influx of Illegal Aliens, Unemployment is still 5% Nationally and under 4% in  many states and yes below 3 in 2 states!

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/s...

People are living better today than they have ever in the History of the USA and it is still getting better! I have a great deal af faith in the youth of America to get with the program and take it higher not lower by taking an easy route to Mediocracy via Socialism. That is a Lazy man's way to get a little better by pulling down those who have the real "Dream" and Real "Vision" That what has made America Great! Self Reliance is a great thing to achieve and brings the greatest satisfaction of all. Depending on Government via Socialism is simply Fatalistic survival. Yes you survive but in abject misery because you cannot lift yourself up by your own energy, Dreams and hard work.

Those that Dream of New ways and work hard to achieve them are the World Leaders and those that work the hardest deserve a bigger cut of the pie than those who sit back and wait for the Government to do it for them!

No Heralda The "American Dream" is not Dead will not be as long as people can live in a Country that allows self  determination! That is why so Many Immigrants, legal and illegal swarm to this Country to persue and find the "American Dream" You can be all that your want to be if you dream and work!

Why would you or anyone be willing to give this up to

Socialism and Government control?

Addition for your addition-----Let me clear a couple of things up here since you are blaming all this on "Good Ole George"! Yup we have a housing crisis more correctlystated, a Home Mortgage crisis as there are plenty of homes. Now just how did we get into this mess? Well Back in 1999 a guy by the name of Bill Clinton signed a bill that deregulated the Mortgage industry and removed all most all oversight. Now this was done with the purpose of making it easier for people to buy homes. What happened is people stater to "Buying up" that is buying a more expensive home than they could afford. This was done with those wonderful Adjustable rate mortgages at 1 or 2%. Now just who is going to loan you money at 1 or 2% and then never raise the rate? No one! trouble is no one read the contract and with no oversight the Mortgages were approved even though most anyone could forsee that it would end in forclosure. If you double the intrest rate from 2 to 4 % then you almost double the monthly payment. Then investers jumped in hoping to ride the market up buy buying and selling quick time using the "Low" intrest rates and hoped to get rid of it before it went up! well this is like musical chairs, somebody gets left with the increased payment and can't unload. Noe that is where we are now. This is not Thanks to Bush but thanks to Clinton. This is why everything looked rosy for awhile and then the balloon broke. Blame "Good Ole Willey" for this one. Look it up using Google or ask and I will do it for you!

Another  thing about the price of gas! This was caused by the "Enron loophole"! Now the bill that created that loophole was signed in 2000 by Bill Clinton! "Good Ole George" did not become president until 2001. The Bush addministration prosecuted the Enron gang but the loophole is still there and the Democrat congress wont close it! Google it it is all there!

Now for Oil, There was no oil when America was created and the new country had no Money so what is your point? The American Dream is within each person who truly seeks it. They will find it if they work hard and have perserverance. Only a few of those that have the wealth today were born into wealth. They made thier own opportuities. I remember a large billboard one day that said: "Isn't it strange that the harder we work the luckier we get" The American Dream lives on!

More Edit:  You talk about let the corporates crash and burn! WOW! What a thought! If they crash and burn so do the rest of us since we the share holders of America (Many Many Millions of us) along with international Stockholders would also CRASH and BURN. Corporations are not owned by a few people, They are not owned by the CEO's or the Board's of Directors, They are just high paid employees! The Owners are the Shareholders. Now I guess that in one sense this is a form of Corporate Socialism since so many people are co owners of the Corporation. But here we have a choice to sell or trade our stock if we don't like it! In Government Socialism we are forced to the feeding trough for whatever is there and have no choice in the matter at all.Where is the Incentive to work hard to do better, to be creative if only the Government Fat boys are going to get anything out of it? Oh they will give some of it to the "Less Fortunate" (Code for Lazy) who do little work and create nothing just to buy their votes to stay in power and this scenario works well for the poloticians and the lazy but not for me! This Question was about the American Dream! How did it become one of How can we create an "American Socialist Nightmare"? Which is better or worse, Big Business or Whopping Big Government? Which will enslave you? McCain is not the best choice in the world but a Vote for Ron Paul is a "Back Door Vote" for Obama! Any vote for Obama, Front or Back Door is a vote for Socialism in America and International Socialism using America's wealth for International distribution! Let the American Dream Live on don't try to kill it! Obama will Kill it!

Edit:---My Family, both sides, left the British Isles and came to America in the mid 1800's for Religious freedoms and the "American Dream" They found both and they and their Families have done Well in America and many have served voluntarily in the Armed Forces with pride. They have served in many Wars, some wounded others spent time in POW camps but to my knowledge, All have come home to America. My own Father was in WW I on a Battleship escorting convoys to Europe. His Brother was in the Army and fought in the Battle of the Argone forest. My Brother was in Korea, I was in the service between wars but later went back as a Civilian speacialist for the Army in Vietnam 1968-1969. I have a Son and a Daughter who have served in the marines and Air Force! We Love this great country and the Dream goes on! We will not vote for Socialism!

Well Heralda, Things seem to have slowed down and cooled down and I was just having good clean fun! I know you don't agree with much of what I said above and that is OK! That is what Freedom is all about, the ability to say things, to give opinions without fear of retribution by a oppressive Govt. It is bad enough now that we have certain words banned. They may be bad and I agree with that but they should not be banned as that is infringement of Freedom!

What I have done here is given "My opinion" of the "American Dream" based on my many years of experience and many years of study and research that never ends! I have enjoyed the "Dialogue"!

I shall never surrender the American Dream!

Proud Vet

Answer 6

The American Dream is not dead.  I am a living example of it.  It must really suck to have such a negative outlook on life...

Answer 7

False illusions die on the vine.  Illusions of getting something for nothing are simple facades.

Reality is there is a matrix of Industrial and Technical Economic opportunity.  The learning curve is challenging not prohibitive.   "We The People" are in a unique position to grow and prosper.  Ethical concerns arise when the discussion turns to how and who will participate in the wealth opportunities of complex growth.  Education and knowledge will be critical factors.  Critical thinkers have distinct advantages.

Answer 8

For  you many dreams are dead manhood for one You sound like a scared little boy

Answer 9

its all downhill from here.... especially if you get that racist McCain in office...

Answer 10

Empires come, empires go.

The question is.....will the USA suffer a calamitous decline (such as the Roman Empire), or a gentle drift into obscurity (such as the British Empire)?

There is little doubt that the zenith is now in the past.

Answer 11

wow, your either really spoiled or ignorant, their are plenty of people every day achieving the American dream, my husband got his GED, he's 24 and makes almost $70,000 a year, he's in the Air Force and the military paid for his schooling, he has his associates degree and is working on his bachelors, we bought our first house 6 months ago and have 2 cars, he's been all over the world and whenever he comes back home he ALWAYS says that Americans don't know how good we have it, including you!!!

Answer 12

well you can't blame the Republican party completely. The economey goes its own way wheter its a democrat, republcican, or even Ralph Nadar in the white house(except if they make radical(like really radical) changes). I think the American Dream has been dying since the 1960's. I still think it has a chance has slim as it is. We still can turn it around.

Answer 13

There will always be the rich there will always be the poor, there will always be the successful there will always be failures, there will always be ups and downs in the economic cycles of countries & the world. America is like us in Britain full of the most enterprising people on earth that have given the world so much and will continue to do so because of our very nature.  Be an optimist instead of a pessimist, the optimists always come out on top.

Answer 14

Yes!I feel it is now time for Americans to finally admit that in 20years time they will be 4th in the economic 'pecking'order!Behind China,India and the EU!What would John Wayne and Lee Van Cleef have thought!I wonder!!??

Answer 15

Wrong.  If the Fed doesn't support Fannie and Freddie then banks around the nation will fall...THEN you would see a depression.  By bolstering these two lending giants, the Fed is once again trying to save the economy from crumbling...but the common american can't see that and only sees the Fed totally not doing it's part as the nation's central bank (and sole purpose is to support banks) and is just helping big companies stay afloat.  Not true.  Oh...and the univeral collapse of the economy?  Where did you get that silly statistic from...GDP has risen from last quarter.  That means the economy is doing better.  And no, we are not in a recession.  Next please...

Answer 16

Oh boy!  If I had enough money I would send you to USA to tell Bush to his face these honest truths.

Answer 17

Yeah.

And George Bush killed it.

Answer 18

what was the dream? Was it the one of the founding fathers?

Or was it the law of the Jungle that it became?

What happened to the STATUE of LIBERTY "

which  says _

"LIBERTY EGALITY & FRATERNITY"

                                                                                                      "L"LIBERTY EGALITY & FRATERNITY"

When Ameruica forgot that the Dream was dead.

Answer 19

Maybe for you it is

I am still doing far better than I was 8 years ago.

Try bettering yourself and not blaming the republicans for all your failures and perhaps you will start to succeed

Answer 20

It's not dead, it's just changed.

Answer 21

I hope so, as the american dream has ruined the rest of the world.

Answer 22

The sconomy has more issues about it than just mismanagement.  There are MACRO economic issues that are far bigger than can be explained here.

The American Dream is only dead in the minds of people who are indeed the 'whiners' that Phil Gramm was talking about...

Lighten up and live within your means, work hard and fly right , and the American Dream is yours for the taking...

Answer 23

You have absolutely no clue, do you?  I'm going to guess you've never stepped foot outside of our great nation.  I have.  In fact, I'm writing from Saudi Arabia right now, and I'll tell you that the American dream is still very alive in the US and the dream has spread to other nations across the globe.  If you want to leave, then get out.

Answer 24

No, the American dream iIS NOT dead for those willing to work hard.  It IS DEAD for those who want everything given to them.

Answer 25

the nightmare begins.....(devilsh grin).....at least you will remember a time when the poor could afford food.....

Answer 26

i believe that the American dream is dead for the moment this is mainly because of the situation that the American government is in, but i believe that if in about 5 to 10 years that if America could tidy there economy up and focus on the future that is ahead then the belief of a good living will return

Answer 27

I'm going to say this point of view is yours, and yours alone.  I've been climbing the corporate ladder since Bush got into office, the fact that I've done well has no bearing on the president.  It has everything to do with one's self.

It is true thought that achieving that dream is harder today than it might have been in the past, but it's not dead.

And.... if the government didn't bail out entities like Fannie Mae, things would be worse.  Japan suffered a similar meltdown to what we experienced in the 90's, it took a decade for them to recover, government inaction to keep businesses like Fannie Mae floating were to blame for the 10 year lull.

Answer 28

the dream is in your own head.

Somewhere over the Rainbow, now be quite and go to sleep.

Answer 29

The American Dream is still alive and well, though it is much harder now to achieve it than it once was. This is not due to Republicans, as you suggest, but a government that invades markets and those pursuing better things in order to cushion those who believe that they are owed sustenance as some kind of right of birth in America ... and vote for those spouting such a design for this country. While it is cumbersome for those that are determined to fight and claw, be personally responsible, and generally excel in life, it isn't the government that keeps the American Dream alive, but the citizens. That is why it is still very much alive, and will remain so to those who have the proper attitude and approach to living.

Edit:  Since you brought it up, the reason that both of these institutions are in trouble is due to precisely what I said. Are you aware of the Community Re-Investment Act of 1977 and the subsequent legislation attempting to correct the damage done by it - which created the sub-prime mortgage crisis? It was congress meddling in free markets, insisting that loans be given to people that did not previously qualify according to sound economic policies. The subsequent failure rates of such loans were well known long ago, and guess who made a mad rush to 'buffer' the very market that they created, and instead of relieving the problem (forced loans), added even more liberal lending mandates? It is the same people who are now frantic to claim credit as having saved the collapsing industry, and liberals - as usual - blame it all on corporate greed. Your suggestion that this is corporate welfare is false, for the government is entirely responsible for this crisis to begin with. This is but one example. The things you listed in the original question could be similarly debunked, such as dwindling resources, etc.

Study the law (Community Re-Investment Act of 1977) and things stringing from it and see who should really be faulted.

Answer 30

I think that Davey Crocketts answer is very true:

When you look at the U.S. it has it's problems, but it has overcome far worse in the past. It is still an exceptionally wealthy nation and although it will have a rough patch during the credit crisis, I reckon it will bounce back.

Here in the UK we are having similar issues but the government is trying to find a selection of fascinating methods to stiff us through a variety of taxes, what with the fuel and food prices going up and lets, face it, mortgage rates are about to rise... we're pretty screwed for a while.

(please send cash!!) ;-)