What Makes Us American?

The storm is over, and so I have been spending my time doing laundry and watching BookTV on CSPAN. One the the authors was Christine O'Donnell who basically said that the problem with socialism is that the state decides what role you should play, but the American dream is to work as hard as we can to get a good car and a good house. Somehow this wasn't very inspiring.

In American we have a limited social safety net, so we have to work very hard. We have to fund our own retirement, and increasingly our own healthcare. This makes it all about money, whether we want it to be or not.

How does it all come down to money? It is just a human construct, it is a make-believe thing. Why is it worth more some days than other days? I have sold my soul- or at least my time- for the make-believe thing. I go to work everyday. If I won the lottery, I would want to work just enough to value my time away from work. Maybe two days a week. That would be heaven.

Maybe someday. When I am done with therapy, paid off some debts, when all my meds go generic. Maybe I can work less hours. How un-American.