Remembering when America was Great

Yep, that’s me

I was born in 1980. My parents were part of the back-to-the-land movement in Northern California. We had 40 acres, an incredible community of like-minded young people who were helping each other. The energy and vitality of that time was beautiful, something special and precious to behold. And I was just a child. The most carefree time of my life, my formative years, spiritually speaking, were spent in that unique bubble. I remember it very fondly. Those events made me who I am today.

do you remember when?

You were born in 1950. Your parents were part of booming new Suburbia. Your dad, as a high school graduate, obtained a full time job with benefits and supported your entire family comfortably on one income. He bought the property and built the house you lived in. Your mom took care of the home, she took care of you. She did the good, spiritually fulfilling jobs of feeding, cleaning, organizing a safe, modern single family home. The folks in your neighborhood came together for barbeques and evening cocktails. Their kids played catch in the yard with you. The most carefree, formative years of your life were spent in that unique bubble. You remember it fondly. Those events made you who you are today.

I would like to give that childhood to my own children. It was a good one. You would like to give that childhood to your children. It was a good one.

I have not been able to give that life to my own children. You have not been able to give that life to your own children.

Times have changed.

As a young family, we started out with me staying home with our baby. My husband found a job. But it wasn’t a full time job with benefits that would allow us to buy a home. It was a job that required 40 hours of his time a week. A job with no benefits, with no long term security. A job that barely allowed us to pay rent on a cold, dark basement apartment in the bottom story of a doctor’s house. We qualified for food stamps, for public assistance with health care, too. We took those ‘hand-outs’ because it was our only option to avoid being a burden on our own parents. Our only option to keep the heat on and a keep food on the table for our children.

When our second child was a year old, I got a job, too. I worked part time at a grocery store. My husband continued to seek full time employment and found only contract work with no safety net. With two incomes, we still qualified for public assistance. We continued to take ‘hand-outs’ because it was our only option to avoid being a burden to our parents and to provide adequately for our children.

I want the same things you want. We all want these things. A safe, clean home for our family. Safe, clean food to eat. Safe, clean water to drink. Safe, clean neighborhoods for our children to play in. Safe, secure jobs for the working members of our families to earn a respectful living.

Remember when America was great? I get it. I want that back, too. It wasn’t perfect though. It wasn’t great for everybody. And the policies and social contracts that made it great for some didn’t make it great for everybody. Those policies and social contracts won’t make America great today, either. We can’t go back. There is only forward.

Your with great respect,

the Honking Goose