The Republican Attitude That Divides Us

How the Republican attitude divides us...

The American Dream, Austin Public Library

From "CoronaDischarge" at Huffington Post:

The whole "real American" meme is just more of the code for "Barack Obama is "different". ... he's "foreign". ... he's "not one of us" ".

Except by now everyone knows what he really is that bothers them:  He's black.

The thing about it, however, is that when you really get right down to it, it is this Republican attitude that so eagerly seeks to divide us, that so eagerly embraces special interests, that is so intolerant of differences, and lives to advantage themselves over others ... that is the real assault on what "American" is.

Theirs is an America that seeks to define itself by what it can hoard, not by who it can help. Theirs is an American future that breeds only further separation and partisan rancor. Theirs is a future that is not the America that I want to live in, nor is it an America that leads the world by any example of what we all could be.

What does the American Dream mean to you?

To me, the "American Dream" doesn't mean that a few can get so absurdly wealthy that they can own mansions with dozens of rooms and a few extra vacation homes to boot with the rest of their bushels of bucks stashed away in some offshore account.  Instead, it means that most Americans can live a comfortable life, with a decent job that pays decent wages or perhaps own a  business that is involved with and concerned about his/her community; that most Americans can pay their rent or mortgage and keep the heat and the lights on; that their children can go to good schools and aspire to a healthy, prosperous life; that those Americans can enjoy a dignified retirement, free of the stress of wondering how they will eat and how they will pay their medical bills.  

This is the American Dream that many of us and many of our parents enjoyed in the 50's and 60's... and many of us still are able to live this Dream.  But increasingly, many are not.  When half of American households hold only 1% of the wealth; when the top 1% hold 34.5% of the wealth, something is.. well, wrong.  And the difference between Republicans and most Democrats is that most Democrats know that that rampant income and wealth inequality is harmful to this country.  Most Republicans seem to welcome it.