What is the American Dream?

America (both the US and Canada) has been seen as the Land of Opportunity. The American Dream is that every individual has an equal opportunity, through intelligence and hard work, to become the best version of themselves… to reach their human potential. This does not mean wealth and power, although that is how it is often framed. It means security, health, and happiness, achieved through excellence and success at an occupation or profession.

Note that I do not say “equal results”. Rather, equal opportunity means equal freedom from external pressures that are barriers to success (physical safety, for example), and equal access to the ingredients of success, such as adequate food, housing, education, healthcare, and a healthy environment. What a person makes of themselves is then a function of their creativity and hard work.

What is the role of Government?

As Lincoln said, government of the People should be By the People and For the People. Government “by the People” means that the people in government are drawn from the People… that those in government represent the people at large. Government “for the People” means that government should be for the good of the People. In other words, the  business of Government is to work for the People… to do what they want it to do. Obviously, people disagree about what government should do, and that is where Democracy steps in. Government makes the rules, and those rules must reflect the will of the People. Good rules create sustainable social, environmental, and economic good, by promoting social behavior and ensuring the durability of an equal opportunity environment.

My Basic Tenets

  1. Sustainability – Environmental, Social and Financial.
  2. Democracy. It ensures that people get the government they deserve. 
  3. Government of the People, By the People, and For the People: the government serves the People.
  4. Equal Opportunity, not Guaranteed Results. Individual responsibility, with compassion for disabled. 
  5. People who can work, should work. Government should ensure that everyone has an opportunity to work at a job that benefits them and society at large.
  6. Pay your way. Revenue should pay for expenses. Do what you can afford, but figure out how to afford what you must do. This applies to governments as well as people.
  7. Wealthy people benefit more, so should contribute more. Taxation should create progressive friction to the accumulation of wealth by individuals and corporations.
  8. No one deserves a million times as much as another person who is doing useful work. 
  9. Markets are inevitable, but Capitalism must be regulated. Capitalism creates upward spirals of wealth that contradict the principle of equal opportunity.
  10.  Nations have a right to protect themselves, but do not have a right to take over other countries by force. National defense is great; military aggression is not.