Wasteful American Dreams
Part two of this.
Americans are fucking stupid. We have no sense of time and absolutely no consideration for anyone but ourselves. I blame 'The American Dream', that nebulously defined concept driving our culture is destructive to the very ends it strives to deliver.
Suburbia
A baby is born. It's parents look down on it with pride. All of their hopes and dreams made flesh. The parents bring the baby home to the box containing their lives. The child is nurtured until school age then educated to be like the neighbors children, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. The parents struggle to make their lives comfortable and still save for college where "the real education" begins. At 18 the child is sent away at great expense to the family. A high paying job requires a college degree that will put somebody, be it the parents, the child or both in debt. After college the child is sent to work with the primary goals of making money to afford their own place and finding a mate to have their own family with. Eventually the child is successful at both. The child is an adult now with a box full of children of their own. The parents, now grandparents need care. Nursing homes are expensive but they have a house they can sign over to the nursing home and some meager Social Security and pension income. Their wealth is lost but it doesn't matter their children are doing alright creating wealth of their own. Now the second generation spends their savings to provide a safe box to raise their children and educate their children so they may make their own family with a box in the suburbs. The second generation winds down their life in a nursing home paid for with the last of their wealth. The third generation now with a family of their own continues the cycle.
Three generations of wealth wiped out because parents can't wait for their kids to move out and kids can't wait for their life to start. How much further could the family have gone had they stayed by each other. How much more wealth could the family have amassed if the children didn't buy a home but simply combined their household with that of their parents. Why give it to strangers so you can die alone in a nursing home? Why not give your house to your children, share the pension so that the children don't have to work two jobs and never visit the nursing home? Spend time with the grand children so they don't end up trapped in the cycle of wealth creation and absorption inherent in The American Dream.
They call it 'The American Dream' but I often wonder whose dream it is. It's not something a sane man would conjure up as the ideal existence. It seems to benefit most those who would destroy a close family. Those who don't care about the future.
Americans are fucking stupid. We have no sense of time and absolutely no consideration for anyone but ourselves. I blame 'The American Dream', that nebulously defined concept driving our culture is destructive to the very ends it strives to deliver.
Suburbia
A baby is born. It's parents look down on it with pride. All of their hopes and dreams made flesh. The parents bring the baby home to the box containing their lives. The child is nurtured until school age then educated to be like the neighbors children, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. The parents struggle to make their lives comfortable and still save for college where "the real education" begins. At 18 the child is sent away at great expense to the family. A high paying job requires a college degree that will put somebody, be it the parents, the child or both in debt. After college the child is sent to work with the primary goals of making money to afford their own place and finding a mate to have their own family with. Eventually the child is successful at both. The child is an adult now with a box full of children of their own. The parents, now grandparents need care. Nursing homes are expensive but they have a house they can sign over to the nursing home and some meager Social Security and pension income. Their wealth is lost but it doesn't matter their children are doing alright creating wealth of their own. Now the second generation spends their savings to provide a safe box to raise their children and educate their children so they may make their own family with a box in the suburbs. The second generation winds down their life in a nursing home paid for with the last of their wealth. The third generation now with a family of their own continues the cycle.
Three generations of wealth wiped out because parents can't wait for their kids to move out and kids can't wait for their life to start. How much further could the family have gone had they stayed by each other. How much more wealth could the family have amassed if the children didn't buy a home but simply combined their household with that of their parents. Why give it to strangers so you can die alone in a nursing home? Why not give your house to your children, share the pension so that the children don't have to work two jobs and never visit the nursing home? Spend time with the grand children so they don't end up trapped in the cycle of wealth creation and absorption inherent in The American Dream.
They call it 'The American Dream' but I often wonder whose dream it is. It's not something a sane man would conjure up as the ideal existence. It seems to benefit most those who would destroy a close family. Those who don't care about the future.
posted by Dean ASC at 9:48 AM
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