Is the American Dream Dead? I hope so!

If you had asked any random American in the spring of 2008 how they defined the “American Dream,” you would probably hear something to the effect of owning a house with a white picket fence, a few children running around the yard with a dog, and a BMW for him and a Honda Odyssey for her parked in the driveway. Fast forward a few years to the summer of 2011 and that same person may have a slightly different answer. It’s not that people don’t want the same types of things as they did prior to the recent downturn in the economy, it’s just that the thick veil of unreality that had clouded the eyes of millions of Americans for years suddenly became a little bit thinner.

For tens of thousands, the American Dream was achieved not by years of conservative spending habits and prudent investing, but rather a no-limits bared consumption lifestyle fueled by easy credit and people’s unwillingness to use the word “no” to stuff. “Should I buy a 3rd pair of shoes this month even though I have 5 like them at home?” Yes! “Should I buy a new Ford F-250 truck even though I’m not a contractor and I commute 35-minutes to downtown each day?” Sure! “Should I take out a HELOC to fund that $50,000 gourmet kitchen I’ve always dreamed of despite the fact that 99% of my cooking involves the microwave?” Of course I should! “Should I buy this home that’s 3 times larger than I need, with no money down and an adjustable mortgage due to adjust in 36 months?” Absolutely!

These examples may be comical to a degree but a quick step back a few years and that was reality for many people. “Let the good times roll” was the prevailing attitude for the masses and the result was the inevitable crash we all had the privilege to walk through. As our glass-house perceptions of reality came crashing down all around us, we adamantly cried “never again, I’ll do it differently next time.” Fiscal responsibility chatter started flooding in from the white houses of Main Street to the slightly larger White House on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. At last, everyone seemed to be reading the Tortoise and the Hare again and desiring to morph their lives to resemble that of the Tortoise.

Though the mess isn’t over for everyone yet, there are enough positive changes from the job and stock markets alike to see that a recovery is in progress. Life is returning to what many people would call normality;  in doing so, I wonder if all those people who begged to become the Tortoise, if given the 2nd chance, are doing so? I’m curious what lessons have really been learned during the down times? Have behaviors really changed? Do we really intend to be more watchful of our spending habits? Have our investment strategies sincerely become more conservative? Have the methods for obtaining the American Dream, at least the pre-recession versions, really died? I hope so for all of our sake. Otherwise, we’ll be right back in this position within a decade if not sooner.

Do I Really “Need” This? (Part 1/3)

I believe “needs” can be divided into two simple categories; 1) Survival needs such as food, water, clothing, and shelter, and 2) everything else. Survival needs are required live regardless of your social status, geography, political party preference, or nationality. These needs are no respecters of persons or position, and without them you and I would eventually die. So what about everything else we often refer to as needs? Are they really needs at all? Does God care about them too? Where is the distinction between my wants as a person and my needs? These are legitimate questions and I will be dedicating the next three posts to this topic.

 

“Are they really needs at all?”

Beyond the basic survival needs that we as humans all share, there are situations that people face individually that need to be addressed in some way. If you have no regard for the law and couldn’t care less about the consequences of your actions, then you might be fine with stealing food or clothing or even shelter (might be a little hard to pull this off without many people noticing though) to supply for your own needs.

 

However, if you choose to be a law abiding citizen then you will need a better method for obtaining the basic needs in life. For most people this is called a JOB. You know, that old fashioned thing where if you work, you get paid? I know, it’s a radical concept for a few people just waking up from the 1970’s that are still under the delusion that life is a free ride and governments were established for the sole purpose of enabling their poor lifestyle habits. For the rest of us, a job enables us to create the financial means we need to meet the basic needs of our family. If we are smart enough not to spend every penny that comes in and instead put a little away consistently for our future, then down the road 40 or 50 years when our bodies don’t have as much steam left in them, we’ll have something to financially sustain us (I know, another amazing concept!).

 

Where most people get hung up is during the middle stage of our life, when our lifestyles and focus gets off track. Perhaps I should back up here. If you are a Christ follower, someone that isn’t a mere hearer of the Word (The Bible), but is a doer of the Word (James 1:22), then our focus is supposed to be one that is constantly looking for ways to share God’s love with others. Our lifestyle is supposed to emulate that of Jesus while he walked the earth. Too many people get the job, start the life they envisioned for themselves by trying to keep up with the Jones next door, and completely forget their primary purpose of being on this planet, which is to live a life that emulates Christ. Instead, they seek only to satisfy their own desires, wants, and needs, and give little to no regard to those living all around them. Of course, it’s not always a complete disregard for others or one-upping our neighbors that gets us into financial trouble. Often it’s simply doing things out of order, like buying those clothes, that plasma HDTV, or going to that nice private school, without really having the money to pay for them. We use debt instead of cash to support the lifestyle(s) we want even though we don’t have the tangible, financial means to do so. Then months, or years, later we wake up to the realization that we are drowning in our financial river of mistakes and we need help!

 

Is there any help for us whenever we find we need it? Is God really interested in helping us get out of our own financial messes? I’ll explore the answer to this in my next post.

 

(Here are the links to a few other posts related to this topic including “My Flag is Higher” and “A Spending Culture“)