Dreaming on the eve of July 4th

It's past time to revisit the Foundation of the American Dream. When was the last time you read all or part of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, or the Bill of Rights? That's what we thought. Doesn't it become difficult to argue about what they mean if you don't know what they say?

bald eagles: becoming endangered (again) or a pair to draw to?

Photo by J. Harrington

For the literary types, we suggest one or all of the following, courtesy of the Academy of American poets. (Yes, we've been a dues-paying member for years.)

An American History in Poems

Before the Fourth of July fireworks tomorrow, read and share this selection of poems that tackle American history, the American Revolution, and our relationship to independence and citizenship today.

“Flags” by Elana Bell
“Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“America” by Claude McKay
“Old South Meeting House” by January Gill O’Neil
“Ghazal: America the Beautiful” by Alicia Ostriker
“Day of the Refugios” by Alberto Ríos
“I am the People, the Mob” by Carl Sandburg
“America” by Walt Whitman

And because of the title of this blog, we bring you, courtesy of The Paris Review, from Minnesota's first poet laureate, Robert Bly, Five American Poems.

Today's American Dream must encompass all of the above. Instead, we are told that starter homes are now priced out of reach for first time home buyers. How does that fit with your idea of the land of the free and the home of the brave? We argue that the loss of affordability is due to neither land, labor, lumber nor regulatory costs. Everyone except the top 1% has been losing a class war for a very long time. Profits are, like cream, floating to the top. We need a system that is more fair and equitable. Isn't that the basis for the original American Dream, that -- all...are created equal, with certain unalienable Rights...? The original American Dream, as near as we can tell, was created by those committed to finding the right answers for this country, not just the easy answers or the ones they wanted most. The American Dream is based on fair compromise in which we each are winners.


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