The American Dream Is Killing Us? Really? Podcast 618

Deaths of Despair” is what some researchers call them. Death due to suicide, drug overdose and the consequences of heavy drinking. Alarm bells are ringing. Over the last twenty seven years deaths among middle aged white people with a high school diploma or less have doubled. So many deaths it has caused a fall in overall US life expectancy. Let’s talk about it in The American Dream Is Killing Us? Really? Podcast 618.

Failure Isn’t Your Fault Anymore?

This is a lurid headline. Lurid headlines get attention. Writers are writing. Talkers are talking. Princeton researchers blame ‘Cumulative Deprivation’. We’re suddenly wondering if The American Dream Is Killing Us? Really? Podcast 618.

American Dream Grows Up

What is The American Dream? James Truslow Adams tied it to the Declaration of Independence. All men are created equal. We have an unalienable right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Who Says You’ll Be Happy

When did it become The American Dream? Do we expect our government to help us be happy? Are we supposed to be guaranteed success in our pursuit of happiness. A house in the suburbs? Two cars? A great job? Happy children? Retirement? Health Insurance?

Economic Inequality

Robert Samuelson thinks economic inequality is the cause. Inequality causes slow active social forces accumulating and destroying the hopes and dreams of white people with a high school education or less. It drives them to despair. Drink. Drugs. Death. Writers like JD Vance add to the ‘White Trash‘ ethos with stories of poor, dumb white people living in Appalachia.

We All Have Tough Times In Our Family Histories

In The American Dream Is Killing Us? Really? Podcast 618 I tell some stories of my own family’s history in the coal mines. I wonder what people think we’re responsible for these days. All of us have some kind of despair but we fight it. We get knocked down and get back up. Live to fight another day. Never give up.

Get Up And Fight

Life is a challenge. It does not come with a guarantee. How we define winning and success changes with age and time. Happiness doesn’t require a house in the suburbs and two cars. Happiness requires a warrior mentality to some degree. Sometimes you just have to reach down and get it.

The American Dream Is Killing Us? Really? Podcast 618

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul.

Podcast 544

Podcast 544-Self Definition. How would you describe yourself to someone you did not know? Are you defined by how you look, what kind of job you have, what kind of car you drive? Are you defined by material possessions? Do you define yourself according to the political spectrum as being of ‘the right’ or ‘the left’. A question that started out in Yoga class has been resonating with me all weekend. Time for Podcast 544-Self Definition. In a daily Yoga practice the question of how one defines themselves has to do with attaching yourself to how you do certain poses, how you look, how strong you are in comparison to others. Reaching a deeper practice requires the student to let go of those kinds of hard and fast definitions of themselves. In this podcast I expand on this idea to fit into society in general. Asking how we define ourselves certainly isn’t an original thought of mine, it came from my fantastic Yoga Teacher, Angela T. But expanding it to society as a whole is an interesting exercise. We’re living through a period of change, with new tools and new ways of doing things people could only imagine just twenty years ago, and thirty years ago the things we think of as everyday weren’t on anyone’s mind. All kinds of changes are taking place due to these new tools, yet many of us remain in the old world, deeply attached to outmoded perceptions and ideas about who we are. Historians like to name ‘eras’ well after they have passed. For example, historians refer to the United States just before the Civil War ‘antebellum’. Historians refer to the period between World War I and World War II as the ‘interwar’ period. People living in those times did not think of them as ‘antebellum’ or ‘interwar’, just their time. How we define ourselves has a big impact on whether we are resistant to change, which we all are to some degree or another. Big changes are underway now, and will gather momentum in the near future. Given the advances we see almost everyday, more change is on the agenda going forward. Hanging on too tightly prevents us from seeing solutions, using ideas, and being happy. How do you define yourself? In this podcast I share how I have defined myself in the past, how it effected me, and how I think about these things today. Sponsored by Karow Contracting.

Podcast 435

How Tough Are You? How tough do you have to be? A new era is coming socially, economically, and politically. A selection of news stories about technology shows how quickly our world is giving way to something new. Socially our ideas about morality, fairness and even the nature of reality are evolving. Economically old systems are transitioning to new, even as industry and ideas minted at the turn of the twentieth century can still be dominant, new ideas in manufacturing, media, communications and the tools we use to do our work are beginning to take hold and to forge their own reality. Politically new issues, new ways to communicate and new kinds of candidates are emerging and wreaking havoc with ‘the process’. These are significant changes that make the world unfamiliar to people who became adults just twenty or so years ago. Our individual success, and our success as a country may depend on how tough we are and whether we adapt to these changes well enough not just to survive, but to thrive. It’s clear these days, that the new world will look nothing like the old. Even assumptions so called ‘experts’ make about the future are turning out to be not be so accurate. Rapid change can be disruptive and confusing to say the least. Especially when people have to live through it. With 64 percent of the working age population out of the work force in the United States, and the new jobs most vulnerable to new technology tough days might be ahead and we will have to be tough to deal with it. What is ‘tough’? What does it mean to be ‘tough’? We hear a lot about the difficulties individuals have these days, but we aren’t hearing enough examples of real toughness, and they’re out there. Maybe it’s time we started thinking that way as a nation? Sponsored by Pride of Homes and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul.