The American Dream *revisited*

Growing up as a child in America, I kept hearing about “the American dream”.

I had it driven into my brain that America was the greatest, most powerful and richest nation in the world and that people from other lands would do anything to be American. To live the American dream.

For the estimated 3.5 billion homeless people living in America, that dream has become a nightmare.

Let’s look at some statistics:

• 40% are families with children—the fastest growing segment


• 41% are single males.


• 14% are single females.
  
• 5% are minors unaccompanied by adults.
  (this means that nearly 1.5 million of homeless people are under 18 – I bet all you parents are quite proud)

The mobile and often hidden nature of homelessness makes this group difficult to accurately survey and completely accurate and comprehensive statistics are difficult to acquire, however, these figures seem to be reasonably accurate.

• 49% are African American


• 35% are Caucasian


• 23% are veterans


• 28% have more than a High School education

These are people like you and me. They could be your neighbors, your friends, your family but they are looked at as the dregs of society and a burden to the communities they wander, asking a passer by for some change in the hopes that their next meal can come from somewhere other than the garbage.

Contrary to some people’s beliefs they are not all lazy and shiftless. They are not all drug addicts or drunks. They are not all mentally ill.

These are people that have become victims of years of failed mismanagement of their country, where livable wages get left in the dust of runaway cost of living expenses. That is IF they’re fortunate enough to still have a job.

How long do you think you and YOUR family could survive if your job was cut? Especially in an unstable economy where the job market offers even LESS than the meager salary you once had, making it even MORE difficult to survive. That is IF you are fortunate enough to find another job quickly.

So if you think that it can’t possibly happen to you, think again.

Look around you and see what has become of the American Dream. Look at the prices you pay at the pump and the grocery store. Compare the cost of living today to the same time last year.
Now do the same with your income.

Has your income increased at the same percentage as your cost of living?
If you are like the 90% of the American population the answer is: no. You are moving backwards. Falling behind.

But there IS one thing that has been saving people from becoming homeless, at least for a while, and that one thing is debt. Credit cards. Buying now and paying later. The American way.

But that is merely an illusion.

A temporary fix.

The band aid on the cancerous tumor.

Because in reality, this is just putting you more behind. Burying you further. Enslaving you. Holding you hostage.

Being a slave and a hostage is NOT the American Dream.

Not MY American Dream anyway.

Why is it yours?