The American Dream

To the Editor: 
I hear politicians and talking heads using the phrase, “American dream,” but I don’t know what it means. I always thought it meant work hard, work smart, be frugal, and if you don’t have bad luck, you’ll get ahead. 
Apparently, though, that definition has changed. Now it seems to be “you should have everything you want and if you don‘t get ahead, blame it on someone else.”
One way life is fuller and richer is to have a comfortable nest egg, yet people seem curiously adverse to getting that nest egg. In fact, many are worried about having enough for retirement. One reason for that is that many simply spend too much money.
For example, they buy brand-name goods. Brand-name grape jelly costs more, but does it taste better than store-brand jelly? Is life fuller and richer because of it?
Any winter coat you can buy in November, you can probably buy in March for half the price. Do you need this year’s fashions? Do you really need an Eagle’s official t-shirt that costs $28?
Do you really need to shop to enjoy yourself? Do you really need a $33,000 vehicle when a $24,000 Camry would do fine?
Is there actually a need to go on? Advice on saving abound in media, so none of this is news or particularly enlightening. The question is why aren’t people doing it?
Well, there are lots of reasons, not the least of which is that businesses use psychology as a basis for selling and the U.S. government allows advertising to be deducted as an expense against taxes, etc., but that isn’t the real point.
If people want to allow those kinds of business practices (indeed, some people look forward to commercials) and government encouragement of consumption, that’s fine with me, but I do find fault with people whining that the American dream is alluding them because poor people and immigrants are taking their money, the government spends too much on foreign aid, and the American dream is out of reach because big government is stealing our money through waste, corruption, and taxation.
Nope, people have it wrong. For most people, if the American dream is out of reach, it’s because they stop at the nearest convenience store for a $3 bagel and coffee each morning, when that same snack is 40 cents using a thermos and brown bag from home, buying a $5 hoagie and a $1.25 soda for lunch, $100 a month for cable channels they don’t use, name-brand shoes, and … add it up. That’s where most people’s American dream is going. 
Does that make them happy? If it does, fine, but if they don’t have that comfortable nest egg, and aren’t getting ahead, don’t blame the poor, or immigrants, or the government.
Some people aren’t rising or flourishing through no fault of their own, but many Americans should look inwards for a reason why the American dream has eluded them if it has and certainly not look for solutions from oil snake salesmen posing as politicians.
Remember this, people work and sleep, but investments never sleep. They are always working, 24/365. Let’s cut down on consumption. Save and invest, but above all, let’s stop whining about the poor and immigrants.