The American Dream is Far From Dead

[Possum]

I think the attachment exemplifies the fact that the American Dream is alive and well if we work at it hard enough.

[blackf3504dr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Possum I think the attachment exemplifies the fact that the American Dream is alive and well if we work at it hard enough.

The key wording there is "if we work at it hard enough". That seems to be something a lot of folks forget in this I want all and I want it now mind set.
I hear people on the news demanding a $20. an hour minimum wage and a guaranteed "living wage" whether you are working or not...
I have to wonder where they think all this wealth is going to come from and what happened to the work ethic in our country. I hope I'm wrong, but I believe people like Steve Jobs are few and far between now day.

[hondo122]

The work ethic is alive and well in America, the problem is the work is in China, India, Mexico and on and on and on. This stuff about jobs that Americans are unwilling to do is a lie! Americans will do anything paid a fair wage, just ask the guy who pumps out your septic tank or the plumber that has to open a line filled with sewage. The problem is we've been sold this cheap Chinese junk and told that's what you need. What we need are good honest employers that don't skim all the fat of the gravy.

[Gary - K7GLD]

Problem isn't the DREAM, it's the ability in present times to make those dreams a reality - shucks, just keeping the family fed, housed and clothed properly is an "American Dream" for many in our society today - it sure is NOT like it was 50 years or so ago when Jobs got HIS start!

[melvonnar]

I'd tell my story but no one would believe me.

[JimM68]

Ugh.... here we go getting political again.

The problem with the American Dream is the notion of the last couple decades that everyone deserved the payoff no matter what.
The unions and the "working class" priced our products right out of the market with this belief that everyone who screws widgets together on an assembly line deserves a 3000 SF house in the suburbs, 2 NEW cars, and 6 TV's with cable...

The "American Dream" is about the possibility of reaching for the stars.
NEVER about a guaranteed level of wealth.

Steve wasn't screwing widgits together. He changed the world.

[Tallyrver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimM68 Ugh.... here we go getting political again. The problem with the American Dream is the notion of the last couple decades that everyone deserved the payoff no matter what. The unions and the "working class" priced our products right out of the market with this belief that everyone who screws widgets together on an assembly line deserves a 3000 SF house in the suburbs, 2 NEW cars, and 6 TV's with cable... The "American Dream" is about the possibility of reaching for the stars. NEVER about a guaranteed level of wealth. Steve wasn't screwing widgits together. He changed the world.

Well said..

A person should be able to make what he is worth ,make a great product ,do great work ...make great pay. Do lousy or run of the mill work ,then get what you deserve. How can someone expect to be paid the same as another person who is putting in extra effort to advance themselves while just doing enough to get by?

Wayne

[RickO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimM68 Ugh.... here we go getting political again. The problem with the American Dream is the notion of the last couple decades that everyone deserved the payoff no matter what. The unions and the "working class" priced our products right out of the market with this belief that everyone who screws widgets together on an assembly line deserves a 3000 SF house in the suburbs, 2 NEW cars, and 6 TV's with cable... The "American Dream" is about the possibility of reaching for the stars. NEVER about a guaranteed level of wealth. Steve wasn't screwing widgits together. He changed the world.

Yep, very well said.

As for the American work ethic still being as alive and well as it ever was... I'm sure hearing a lot of news reports about crops rotting in the field in Alabama in spite of an unemployment rate of >10%.

Rick

[hondo122]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimM68 Ugh.... here we go getting political again. The problem with the American Dream is the notion of the last couple decades that everyone deserved the payoff no matter what. The unions and the "working class" priced our products right out of the market with this belief that everyone who screws widgets together on an assembly line deserves a 3000 SF house in the suburbs, 2 NEW cars, and 6 TV's with cable... The "American Dream" is about the possibility of reaching for the stars. NEVER about a guaranteed level of wealth. Steve wasn't screwing widgits together. He changed the world.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tallyrver Well said.. A person should be able to make what he is worth ,make a great product ,do great work ...make great pay. Do lousy or run of the mill work ,then get what you deserve. How can someone expect to be paid the same as another person who is putting in extra effort to advance themselves while just doing enough to get by? Wayne

From the disdain evident for the "working class" (your quote not mine) I can only assume that you are of the monied class, either self made or inherited, but not from the sweat of your brow. I suppose we could go back to the serf system that seemed to have worked nicely in the middle ages. No one believes that everyone should be paid the same, that is communism, rather that those that labor be allowed to make a living wage for said labor. I don't expect a garbage man to be paid as well as a hedge fund manager, although the garbage man probably does a job much more valuable for society. This discussion will go no where because folks have become too self centered to care about the common good.Oh well thats for another post.

[hondo122]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickO Yep, very well said. As for the American work ethic still being as alive and well as it ever was... I'm sure hearing a lot of news reports about crops rotting in the field in Alabama in spite of an unemployment rate of >10%. Rick

RickO you're forgetting the living wage thing, maybe that's why they passed the illegal alien bill so the kids wouldn't go to school and pick those beans, just a thought.

[hondo122]

Quote:

Originally Posted by melvonnar I'd tell my story but no one would believe me.

Tell me, I'm sure we all could learn something

[RustyJC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hondo122 The work ethic is alive and well in America, the problem is the work is in China, India, Mexico and on and on and on. This stuff about jobs that Americans are unwilling to do is a lie! Americans will do anything paid a fair wage, just ask the guy who pumps out your septic tank or the plumber that has to open a line filled with sewage. The problem is we've been sold this cheap Chinese junk and told that's what you need. What we need are good honest employers that don't skim all the fat of the gravy.

There's a story on page A10 of today's Houston Chronicle regarding a Colorado farmer who tried to hire locals to harvest his corn and onions. He was paying $10.50/hour. As the headline states, however, "The jobless say working in the fields is too difficult."

Rusty

[RickO]

I know I've already posted in this thread but I'm going to put my Admin hat on for a moment and ask everyone to focus on the topic and NOT allow comments to become personal.

Thanks

Rick

[Ramblin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RustyJC There's a story on page A10 of today's Houston Chronicle regarding a Colorado farmer who tried to hire locals to harvest his corn and onions. He was paying $10.50/hour. As the headline states, however, "The jobless say working in the fields is too difficult." Rusty

There is apparently not enough pain associated with being jobless, these days. During the depression, if a farmer advertised that sort of (inflation adjusted) wage, he'd have been overrun with people from all over the country to pick his corn and onions. Hardship is a great motivator. Those people could not depend upon government to provide them with food and shelter. They would have been mortified to hear someone say "I'd rather be jobless than pick onions". In fact, being jobless wasn't an option. If a job came along, you took it.

In my day (and I'm not that old), there was no work that was beneath me. I was not embarrased to flip hamburgers, pick tobacco, wash dishes in a restaurant, clean bathrooms in a church, mow lawns (I did all those). On the contrary, I would have been embarrased to have been unemployed, living on someone elses dime. There seems to be a disturbing trend towards shameless entitlement these days.