Lyza n Peter

This last pic is of Lyza, just so you can see how much they look alike!

Two Questions…

Is it Christmas yet?

-and-

Is it Time to Revise the American Dream?

What is the American Dream? I’m not sure there is a specific dream, but in as much as there is one, I think it might be in for some revising.

First, what is (or has been) the dream through the generations?*

§ It started out as a dream of gold and the opportunity to expand European power.

§ Then it morphed into political, religious, and economic freedom, during the revolutionary period.

§ Then there was the state’s and equal rights period. I might also call this the struggling with our own stated values period. (This is not a contiguous period overlapping concurrently with the next period.)

§ When the Union became more settled it transformed more into “own a home and raise a family.”

§ Eventually, as peace and prosperity became commonplace, the dream has morphed into the “get conspicuously rich**” stage, being the stage we are currently in.

So, why might it be time for a change in the dream rhetoric?

Depending on the breaks, I think this period may be close to an end, in fact, we may already be in the transition period. I’m guessing we see a series of economic collapses. Conditions get slightly better, but never fully recover to pre-crash standards of living. Sort of like a downward trending roller coaster. Runaway greed has never been sustainable.

I think this is likely to send things in one of two directions.

1. Paranoid, xenophobic rhetoric escalates as American governance continues to worsen. The middle class evaporates, real class struggle begins, and over a generation or two, we see a radical restructuring of the American political system accompanied by some fairly severe civil unrest. (None of which ends well for most involved.)

2. Paranoid, xenophobic rhetoric escalates as American governance continues to worsen. However, the rising generation gets fed up with it and actually starts thinking differently about American’s role in the world. By differently, I mean they start questioning the fundamental basis of most political arguments.***

a. Big Government vs. Small Government: It isn’t about the size of government but about how well it governs, and about what it governs/provides.

b. Market Economy vs. Social Safety Nets vs. Communism: It isn’t about who gets what or why. It is about something else, about growing and nurturing the whole to create a great society rather than just great people.

c. Religion vs. Secularism: I don’t know where to go here, but someone brilliant is going to make a break through. Just before the Vogons show up. J

d. Et Cetera, et cetera: You get the picture.

I’m rooting for #2. Either way, I see big change in the next 30-40 years; I just hope it is good and measured instead of violent, radical, and ideological. America is again being tested as a nation, an idea, and an example. I don’t believe that any group of people is more intelligent or blessed than any other, but I think the generation of Americans currently below 5 years old will have the perfect conditions growing up to do this right.

* I apologize but this is a pretty limited series of definitions based on one white kid’s perspective.

** I feel like wealth is also tied up in a sense of moral rightness, but that is another topic entirely.

*** I’m not a ground breaking thinker here, but I see other more brilliant people (like you) coming up with some earth shattering ideas in these categories.

HAPPY VALEMATIME'S DAY!!!

He's Here!

Peter Thomas Halverson
7lbs 6oz
19.5 inches
Super good eater and sleeper!

Ice Cream Anyone?

This is what happens when you pay more attention to getting your taxes filed online than to the 3 year old eating ice cream right next to you :)