It’s no wonder Tom Brokaw calls the people who lived through the Great Depression and the Great War as the greatest generation. It’s no surprise that these are the people who came up with the American dream. I am afraid we are losing that ideal today.

The American dream has always been about more. Today the dream seems to be about less. News reports constantly tell us that we are destroying the planet and must consume and do less. The rich are no longer cool. Getting rich through capitalism is deemed evil.

The original American dream centered around a belief in the individual. This belief held that if you worked hard, worked smart, were creative, and made wise choices you could do or be anything. That would be called selfish in our current culture. The dream today is more about community. Your first concern should be making sure everyone else has their basic needs met. The government’s job is now less about protecting equal opportunity and more about insuring equal provisions for all.

Past generations celebrated the winners in America. Now it seems almost embarrassing to hear about someone “pulling himself up by his bootstraps” to make it to the top. Today a reporter would ask that person who he had stepped on to make the business a success. His profit would be judged dirty and should be taxed heavily to pay for those less fortunate.

When my kids were taking history in high school, they were expected to read “A People’s History of the United States”, by Howard Zinn. Zinn, who passed away in Jan. 2010, was a well known academic historian and supporter of socialism. They read this along with their regular American history book. Zinn looked at history from a different angle. He told history from the perspective of the victims; Indians, slaves, women, and disadvantaged laborers. The villains throughout our history were the profit seeking white men.

Zinn has an impressive list of fans. Bruce Springsteen’s best selling album “Nebraska” was inspired by Zinn. Matt Damon is currently doing a series for the History Channel based on Zinn’s book. I am not a fan. To me it pours water on the American spirit. It denies the wonderful results that all Americans have experienced through others discovery, profit, and growth. I can’t deny the reality of weak and unfortunate people. A good society will do it’s best to provide for them.

Evolution and capitalism both teach that in life there are winners and losers. The Bible says “it rains on the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:35). I have been both a winner and a loser. Losing can actually make us better people. But I will never remain a loser because I will always aspire for something more and better. When I win, others around me will win. When my kids win, I win. If we have enough individual winners in our communities, then all win.

Don’t let this trend toward nationalizing everything corrupt the heart of our nation. The whole world would be a loser if it were not for the profit and commitment of the United States. We will rise out of this economic mess through free markets, free thought, free speech, free worship, and freedom to be what we want and to make as much as we want.

Is there still an American dream? For my kids sake, I hope so.