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“I grew up in the first American Dream, where returning soldiers from World War II were greeted by new suburbs, with cute ranch-style homes on quiet cul-de-sacs, surrounded with green grass and white picket fences. That American Dream was filled with square deals: military service earned veterans’ benefits. A union job earned a square deal of pay and benefits. Income disparity between the rich and poor was minimal (relative to the present), as we all sacrificed in the war effort, so we all deserved fair treatment in the workforce. Of course, “we all” were nondisabled, heterosexual, white people, as racism, anti-semitism, sexism, homophobia, and a hatred of foreigners still persisted in this American Dream. It was an exclusionary White dream to be sure. An additional flip side of this dream was the largess gained from the new American Empire, with massive income streams driven by our growing worldwide domination and exploitation as we surged past Britain and Japan and China was not yet on the horizon.”
Author: Robert J. Gould
Published in: Counterpunch http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/01/29/dreamstate/
Sierra County Prospect http://www.sierracountyprospect.org/2016/01/27/first-american-dream-12716/
RICentral http://www.ricentral.com/letters_to_the_editor/the-american-dream-is-being-redefined-in/article_3d95a3f0-c6a9-11e5-bd30-bbb3f3cfba47.html
Huntington News http://www.huntingtonnews.net/128581
Date: January 27,28,29,2016
590 Words
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