American Dream With the Smell of Apple Pie

American Dream With the Smell of Apple Pie

American

A year ago I came across big real estate news that Duke Semans Mansion, across the street from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, was sold for $ 40 million. But much bigger interest was the news that the buyer was Russian immigrant Tamir Sapir who used to drive a cab. That was amazing story of the person who achieved his American dream. After three years as a cabdriver, he opened an electronics store where he often sold products to visiting Russian diplomats. His relationship with one customer, a Soviet oil minister, enabled him to begin selling fertilizer, and eventually, oil contracts, in Europe.

Tamir is one of 22 million people in the United States who were born abroad and immigrated to our country as refugees fleeing wars and persecution, to join family members, or to fill shortages in the U.S. labor market, one of those risk-takers who were trying to pursue the American Dream, who repeated the same story over and over again to himself and his relatives: "Once upon a time there was a hardworking man or woman, born in a poor family, who came to America, worked hard and eventually found riches and respect."

From the birth of America, to America today, the driving force and the heart of America has always been the "American Dream." By looking at America today, the most powerful nation in the world, the dream has literally become a reality for many immigrants. At least that's what many people believe in for many years.

But does this "happily ever after" scenario sound realistic? Is American dream a reality or a delusion? Do people ask themselves this question when they risk their lives crossing the borders or try to win green card in the lottery? I don't think so. As a survival instinct they repeat their favorite stories about uncles and neighbors that came to this country and built their happy lives here. Most of them are not able to accept the idea that if you're born poor, no matter how hard you work, sometimes success is still outside your grasp and American dream is just a dream.

Many of us remember the images of Hurricane Katrina. But the most shocking pictures were not of the hurricane itself but of the poor, stranded, helpless people begging for aid from the US government. Again American dream was not able to touch every American; tens of thousands of children and their parents were left behind. But did these images stop thousands of people who were ready to cross the border? No. This situation reminds me birthday parties with the piñata at the end. Invariably, there is some kid who scoops up everything, and a lot of other stunned kids look at each other and the empty floor. Yes, one lucky guy will get all the candies. But others will not get medical care, education, or government protection in case of disasters.

You probably want to stop my speech and argue: " But what about American middle class, those who live in the beautiful houses and drive to work in the nice cars? " Elizabeth Warren, the Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law, wrote an article that surprised me a lot. "American families are smack up against the wall, financially speaking." A middle-class lifestyle, she says, is increasingly out of reach for middle-class families, many of whom are going broke trying to attain it. She pointed out that now when two people are working in the family the financial situation is even worse than before. When a family builds its budget around two workers they're much more exposed to any economic disruption. A generation ago, if the sole breadwinner lost his job or became disabled, the family had a backup earner who could step into the workforce. Further, reliance on two incomes makes families twice as vulnerable to layoffs.

"The two-income family is like a speeding race car," says Warren. "It goes faster than its one-income counterpart, but if it hits a rock, it careens out of control and crashes."

Education and safety were always important concepts of the American dream. Both are perceived to be more elusive now than a generation ago, when families bought a house they could afford and sent their children to the school down the street without a second thought. Now middle-class families are stretching themselves to the breaking point to afford homes in safe neighborhoods and "better" school districts.

The American Dream for many Americans starts with first being able to just hold on to what they have. When I look at my American neighbor fixing his old car that died many years ago but still running like a zombie, I am not completely sure if he agrees with me that he is living American dream. His wage increases have not kept up with inflation, even though he has a very good paying job. His property taxes have gone up 40%. His healthcare premiums have tripled through his employer, and earlier this year his son had a seizure, which cost his family over $ 2,000 in expensive MRI tests (even with insurance). He has had to take out a second mortgage to pay for a new roof, furnace, and water heater because he spent every cent he had on the down payment on his home in this ridiculously high priced area of homes in which he lives (which is the most affordable area within a 30 mile radius of his job). He does not go to the movies or buy expensive stuff. He watches all the commercials on TV about everyone enjoying their big-screen TVs and cool blackberry phones but has never actually owned one. He became practically a financial advisor in the past few years just trying to get his monthly payments and interest down as far as he can. His wife is working 20 hours a week just to help pay the bills, even though by doing so it means putting their youngest daughter in the day-care which saps more than half her take-home pay. He needs a new car; old one has practically does not run so there will be another loan. He has no savings, and never will I imagine. He is credit card debt free thankfully, but he is afraid he cannot avoid it for much longer. He is on the edge, and inching closer to free-fall. His American dream is just to stay on the edge as long as he can without falling.

Several years ago when I traveled to Ukraine and met couple of people, while trying to find some nice Odessa apartments for rent, I always met locals who compared his or her life with mine, noticing that I live in a place where dreams come true. At that time I thought they were right.But I now I can see that the face features of the American dream altered beyond recognition. Stagnant wages, longer work hours, record levels of debt, lower savings rates, and significant poverty levels left wrinkles on its face. In 1990, a majority of Americans said they lived better than their parents lived, but did not expect their children to live better than them. Many people have abandoned the idea that upward mobility is a given. But that does not stop them from spending money to achieve a desired lifestyle, even at the cost of higher debt. Their attempts to turn opportunity into reality become more risky than ever. But does the high price tag for achieving success, as narrowly defined by the American Dream, worth the effort and the great sacrifice? In the pursuit of the American Dream it's easy to lose sight of what's really important. You may sacrifice so much just "to get there" only to discover that there is no "there" there.

But in spite of everything I know that my neighbor lives American Dream for the last thirty-five years. Not the dream that has been advertised to us by newspapers, the other one. In this dream he has a son who gets much better after his seizure, he has a beautiful wife that adores him and thinks that he is the best man on Earth, he has parents that are still alive and who drive to Los Angeles from Arizona every Thanksgivings with a huge turkey and cheap wine in the trunk of their old Chevy Lumina. I hope my neighbor understands that it is not his fault that the things did not work out as planned. After all it is not in our power to change the society where American dream can come true for everybody but is in our power to have our own dream which is not that ambitious and hard to achieve but warm and kind as Thanksgivings dinner with your kids and parents laughing at the same joke, knowing that the most happiest moment of your life is right there in the room with the spice of cranberry source and light smell of homemade apple pie. And everything else is just an illusion.

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Phillip Phillips: Fat Bottomed Girls - Top 6 - AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 11

Phillip Phillips performs "Fat Bottomed Girls" by Queen at the Top 6 performance show. Check out full performances with judges' commentary only at www.americanidol.com http (Official Site) www.facebook.com ('Like' on Facebook) twitter.com (Follow on Twitter) bit.ly (Buy Now on iTunes)
American Video Rating: 4 / 5

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