By: T F Stern
T F Stern’s Rantings

While going through Facebook contacts this afternoon, one entry caught my attention over all the others. The Federalist Papers asked, “Is the American dream alive or dead? Do you expect that your children will be better off than you are?”

It’s not an easy set of questions to answer and it certainly deserved more than a casual, “Like” button hit; but here goes… The first part asked, “Is the American dream alive or dead?”

Define the American dream or we could be talking about apples and oranges; something we should be careful not to mix, it causes gas. Is the American dream home ownership, a new car in every driveway, minimum wage with 2 weeks vacation and health insurance coverage thrown in; as we have been led to believe or is the American dream something else?

No, the American dream has more to do with how we live our lives with a clear understanding of individual liberties and rights as protected by our Constitution than with the amenities of life. At one time we lived in a small apartment and never once felt as if our American dream was linked directly to the size of our dwelling. Sure, owning a home was on our “bucket list,” but if that never happened, then enjoying what we could afford didn’t diminish our accumulated success. The opportunity to work hard, or better yet, work smarter, provides and sustains my American dream. No, the American dream lives and will always live as long as my heart beats within my chest.

The second part of that general question points toward the amenities of life, “Do you expect that your children will be better off than you are?” I want my children to have as many blessings of “the good life” as are available. Their righteous desires coupled with their willingness to earn these amenities through honest efforts along with a reasonable return for those efforts are not favorable. Our current economic climate casts a dark cloud on such a future for them. America’s downward spiral towards imposed socialism under totalitarian rule disregards individual efforts in favor of the collective and the stage is set for imposed austerity.

For years we have been told to limit our use of energy consumption, learn to accept less use of air conditioning in the warmer months and to put on a blanket in the colder months rather than turning the thermostat up to a comfortable temperature. Smaller, more efficient cars are being foisted on the public as a means of avoiding environmental Armageddon; supposedly we just can’t afford the luxury of gas guzzling muscle cars. I’ll throw in those compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFEs) that are mandated to replace incandescent bulbs; it’s all part of eliminating individual choice and has little if anything to do with improving the quality of life.

If the U.N. has their way, and they have been marginally successful already, implementation of Agenda 21 will force folks to live in metropolitan areas, limit miles driven on our extensive and hard to maintain road systems and permanently alter individual freedom in favor of Sustainable Development. Instead of leaving such decisions up to the individual based on his/her ability to pay, the State will determine the size of your dwelling, where it should be located, the use of nearly every aspect of the human condition will be through permission of the collective and the needs of your community; it’s called “communitarianism” (spell check doesn’t recognize this new word in our vocabulary; either that or spell check prefers the old America and has a dream of its own).

Dismal as it may sound, the economic future of America isn’t something to look forward to. I hope my children are made of sturdy stock because the yoke of imposed serfdom we are placing on their backs will tax them physically and spiritually. Debt is a terrible task master that never sleeps and that is what we have bequeathed future generations.

I didn’t say that my children would forfeit their opportunity to experience the American dream, only the likelihood of their being able to enjoy creature comforts that are greater than I have been blessed to enjoy in the form of amenities. Prosperity and the idea of perpetual growth does not fit with our declining Dollar and a steady attack on the free market system in favor of “Social Justice,” wealth redistribution and socialism imposed by a totalitarian government which has turned a blind eye to God-given inalienable rights and our constitutional republic. (I love an occasional run on sentence; serves my high school English teachers a just reward for their efforts to contain my exuberance.)

God grant us the courage to face the realities before us with integrity and resolve that we restore this nation in favor of the Great Experiment envisioned by our Founding Fathers. May the American dream live eternally is the desire of my heart and the prayer on my lips. In the name of our Creator and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

This article has been cross-posted to The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government & The American Constitution.”