The American Dream
The American dream is what sets this country apart from the rest of the world. The idea that we are free to do whatever we want, and we have the ability to start businesses and create unique career paths. All you need is to have a good idea and the desire to work hard to be successful.
The Founding Ideals
America was founded on the ideals of freedom and democracy. We are a people who are governed by leaders elected in a free and fair voting process. Our leaders are supposed to understand the struggles and hardships of being the everyday working professional. Our laws are set up to enable creative thinking and progress without government restrictions. If we do not like the direction our government is leading us, we can campaign and find new leaders to take their place. The people have control, and it is the people who make the decisions not a monarch who has never had a real-life challenge.
We are going to look at this freedom from a business perspective. As our society evolved, we started to put rules and regulations in place to help prevent things like price gouging and unsafe work practices. The idea behind these laws were to ensure people were not taken advantage of. While this intent is good in concept it can lead to some debate over where the government should draw the line. People have the right to fair pay, but is it the governments job to set the market? This question has caused decades of debates between politicians. We want to protect workers, but we do not want the price of labor to go up too much. A business owner should have the right to make money, but they should not have the right to take advantage of their employees. Where and when the government should be involved is a debate that will never end. People will always have different views and we must learn to compromise when making laws. We must remember that debating issues such as these is freedom itself. We can have these conversations with punishment or thereat of government intervention. Freedom to criticize government is just one important thing that makes America great.
Continuing Family Legacies
It is not uncommon for a child to take after one or more of their parents. For centuries children learned a work trade from their parents and that is what they did for a career. A blacksmith’s son became his assistant and learned to take over for his parent one day. This has not changed but has evolved in America. Individuals were now free to start their own companies and small businesses became generational. If you look around your circle of friends, it is likely that a few of them work for their family business. Companies are started and often a new generation takes it to the next level. As times and technology change the business world changes as well. Infusing new younger ideas into family businesses has evolved many of them. The ability to have an idea, to create a company around this idea, to work hard, and to eventually pass the business on to a child or family member is what the American dream is about. Parents want to give their children the best life possible and being able to pass down a family run business is a dream for many Americans. It is part of what makes America such a great country.
Ever Evolving
The concept and idea of America is a never-ending process. There is always room to learn, grow, and do better. This is part of the reason why there are 27 amendments to the constitution. These changes, that happened over time, reflect an evolutionary process. America once allowed slaves. We once said a woman had no right to vote. What sets this country apart from other places is the people can realize injustice and change things over time. This change never happens soon enough. Recent events remind us that there are still bad people out there who feel like gender and race matter over actions and character. However, our right to free speech and peaceful protest has created a movement to raise awareness and effect change. Some people will always fight this change, but history has shown that if the majority of American band together we can accomplish great things. United Americans have won war, have spread democracy, and even landed a man on the moon. We must continue to find things to unite us and avoid being divided. Just remember actions speak louder then words. We must do what is right to affect change and to continue to move America forward.
We do not know what our next challenge will be, but we do know there will be one. There is always a threat to freedom and democracy, and we will prevail. It is what America and American’s have always done. Just remember to be fair, to be accepting, and to do the right thing. Speak up for what is right and be a driving force for good in this wonderful country. Help move us forward and together we can be great and proud of our country.