Tom Brokaw examines the state of the American Dream
In ‘The Time of Our Lives,’ the veteran newscaster discusses restoring the nation's greatness
Quote:
What happened to the America I thought I knew? Have we simply wandered off course, but only temporarily? Or have we allowed ourselves to be so divided that we’re easy prey for hijackers who could steer us onto a path to a crash landing?
These were not questions I was asking in August 1962, when I was a newlywed and a rookie journalist. America was investing in a new generation of leadership and promise. John F. Kennedy was in the White House. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was on the march in the South. Astronauts with the right stuff pointed their aspirations toward the heavens. Women were stepping out from behind their aprons and questioning their assigned roles. Young artists were giving new voice to music, film, and literature.
I couldn’t wait to be a part of it all.
A half century later it is a much different world, and I am a weathered survivor of the rearranged American landscape, a familiar territory for me in my personal and professional life. Wherever I go I am asked, “What has happened to us? Have we lost our way?”
One often repeated question is the most troubling of all, because it challenges an American belief so fundamental it might as well be carved in stone on a Washington monument: “Will our children and grandchildren have better lives than us?”
Is that essential part of the American Dream disappearing? There are no simple, reassuring answers, and as a citizen, father, and grandfather, I am not immune to the worries that prompt the question. I believe it is time for an American conversation about legacy and destiny.
I am not a sociologist or a psychologist. I am a journalist, an observer, and a synthesizer— a man who has explored a lot of the world and been a witness to recent history. I have seen what enlightened leadership can accomplish, whether it is on a family, community, national, or world level. I’ve also been astonished by our capacity to make the same mistakes in one form or another again and again.
I have made my own share of mistakes, as we all have. They’ve yet to invent a GPS system for the best road to a secure and worthwhile future, but I do have some thoughts, original and inspired by others, for our journey into the heart of a new century. To begin, isn’t it time to reflect on where we have been and how we are going to move forward together, and to do it with more listening and less shouting?
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I recently watch a serious examination of the "War to End All Wars" later called WWI. The video stated that the loss of live with the technology at the time was HUGE! Many years ago in a discussion group I did an examination of the "cost" of war in money and lives but this piece saw the USA come from a debitor nation to a world power thought this first "world war". Something I had never anticipated. Well, about 5 or 6 years ago, I posed another question about war and revolution and to some extention to follows some of Brokaw's ideas.
3 Revolutions – just an old man’s opinions and thoughts….
1. Taxation without “Representation” – the Revolutionary War – 1776
2. End of “Slavery” The “Civil” War – 1861
3. Slavery to Taxation? – 20??
The majority of Americans are taxed at an outrageous rate. The middle class is carrying an unfair burden with out representation for the “elected” officials who have been bought and paid for big business and the criminal element of this land. The “poor” are living off “welfare” funds robbed from those who have paid into social security and unemployment insurance who will either die before every receiving funds or simple get cents on the dollars paid in…..is there any chance of reform? With out a 3rd revolution? Will that 3rd be a peaceful or violent change? What change could a peaceful revolution take? What could cause the revolution?
All good questions?
Well, some things have changed since this was written. The housing crash and massive unemployment of that middle class! Brocaw envisions a bloodless revolution, again only time will tell.
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