What has become of the American Dream?

552,800. 3.6 million. 42.5 million. 145.5 million. 120 million. 27 million.

More than 335 million Americans, and counting. The dream for 552,800 Americans: to have a home. The dream for 3.6 million Americans per year: a miracle to escape the eviction notice tacked on their door. The dream for 42.5 million Americans: to move above the poverty line. The dream for 145.5 million Americans: savings; security beyond paycheck-to-paycheck. The dream for 120 million Americans: wealth. The dream for 27 million Americans: to keep 308 million Americans in their respective places. 120 million want to become part of the 27 million. 145.5 million want to become part of the 120 million. 42.5 million want to become part of the 145.5 million. And half-a-million would be thrilled to have a door on which an eviction notice could be hung. But alas, 27 million have all the power and 27 million want to keep 308 million in their respective places.

Realistically, we could have 335 million (and counting) all secure and comfortably nestled into the current group of 120 million.

Compassionately, with barely a ripple, we could move 42.5 million in with the 145.5 million, thus wiping out the half-a-million and the 3.6 million.

But alas, 27 million have all the power and 27 million want to keep 308 million in their respective places.

According to some, the American Dream was once about equality, justice and democracy. Then, sometime after World War II, it evolved to mean individual material wealth and success. Now, it continues to evolve reflecting today's growing wealth gap, limited minimal upward mobility, and continued dearth of equality, justice and democracy. Today's dreams (by necessity) are small; today's Americans (by edict) are complacent.

Complacent: smugly self-satisfied, agreeable, and eager to please.

According to author Ronald Wright, “John Steinbeck once said that Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.”

I lost all the “temporarily embarrassed millionaires” at the mention of Socialism.

At its core, Socialism reflects a desire “to remedy or alleviate certain unfavorable conditions of life in a community, especially among poor people.” (Definition found beneath “Social” in dictionary.com.) Compassion. How can that be wrong?

Do we dream a bigger, more achievable dream? To alleviate suffering? Or do we continue as complacent, entitled temporarily embarrassed millionaires, dreaming of inconsequential individual material wealth from our respective places as desired and dictated by the all-powerful minority 27 million?

Regarding movement towards equality, justice and democracy, on page 95 of Carlo Rovelli's book “There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important Than Kindness” he says, “The recent historic failure of real socialism has arrested this impetus, and today, barely veiled by pro-democracy rhetoric, we are witnessing in every corner of the globe an almost ferocious radicalization of inequality: the distribution of wealth is becoming ever more unbalanced in every country, and the world has witnessed the emergence of a super-rich elite in which power is concentrated. The nineteenth- and twentieth-century ideal of equality, still vividly alive just a few decades ago, is today faded and derided.”

There are solutions beyond today's (failing) consumer capitalism. Yet we keep chasing the elusive monster.

In the 2001 short film, American Dream, Bigfoot researcher Wayne Burton says, “I just want to prove to the world and to the people of the United States, …I just want to prove that we're telling the truth about this creature, we're not making this up, it's real…” In the longer 2006 film “Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie” Wayne's partner Dallas Gilbert adds, “hi-o, hey-o, ti-a, hee-a may-a, mo-mo. Noq-ti-lace, beeee-tay; mo-mo, mo-mo, mo-mo.” This to attract Bigfoot. And back to the 2001 short, Dallas also says, “I'd like to retire with about half-a-mil for my wife and myself to retire with; be able to provide the little things I was not able to provide when my kids were little; and say hey honey let's go to take a vacation; I never had a vacation in my life; that's all I've done is work all my life… …I been married 23 years… …it's about time to have that vacation.”

Chasing the American Dream.

Chasing Bigfoot.