The American Dream! It is a part of our vocabulary and deep in our national psyche at the core of who we are as a people. It has been on the lips and in the hearts of millions of Americans for generations. It is a wonder filled, hope filled, inspiring call to every person and to our country as a whole but what does it mean? What does it mean to you?
I believe that the American Dream means freedom in all of its dimensions and equality as well as equal opportunity and a whole package of basic rights including the right to vote. It means democracy not dictatorship. It means personal responsibility and also responsibility of the community for individuals to provide services that the individual alone cannot provide. It means a rule of just law, protection from violence and social justice for all. It also means hard work at a fair wage, an opportunity to own a home, start a business and get ahead. Each generation of Americans has always believed it had a responsibility to make life better for their children and to leave the world in a better place than they found it.
So far the dream has worked for most of our citizens although throughout our history it has not worked for whole groups of people, especially Native Americans, other minorities and women. Over the years we have tried to eliminate these inequalities and injustices and after long hard struggles we have made much progress. Yet today the American Dream is in jeopardy for large segments of our people. Poverty has grown in this century to about thirty seven million and a whole new class of people has emerged that are just above the official poverty line. Some sixty million people are in this "missing class" as Prof. Katherine Newman of Princeton calls them. They are one paycheck, one illness of a family member, one downside in the job market away from being back in poverty despite struggling valiantly. There is also the so called Middle Class Squeeze in which average Americans are feeling the rising costs of housing, healthcare and higher education while their salaries stay stagnant or slip. If you put all that together you have a large majority of people for whom the American Dream is a distant fading memory rather than a beacon of hope.
This series of articles will focus on a whole range of issues that affect the viability of The American Dream. We will discuss various aspects of the economy, foreign policy, taxes, federal programs, the work of the non-profit sector, the role of the states and municipalities, grassroots organizing and national and international movements.
I will end each piece with the words "I hope you are living The American Dream". For starters now I am asking you to reflect on what that term means for you and whether you are you living it.
Bill Ayres
Executive Director
WHY (World Hunger Year
