The American Nightmare
MIAMI – Once upon a time in the United States, a beautiful dream deteriorated until it became a nightmare for those who hoped to have a roof over their heads, the core of the so-called American Dream.
To have a little house where one can rest after a day’s hard work is something more than an oasis in the middle of the market. It is the material basis of the family and the living space where the children develop until they become useful citizens in the community.
It is a fact that the deterioration of the standard of living among the working classes substantially enriches the owners of the means of production and the lenders of services, because in that kind of crisis they obtain abundant and docile manual labor.
But it is also a fact that if the workers don’t see some of the fruits of their labor, the entire system can topple over.
The financial bubbles, the flight of capital toward fiscal havens, and the disproportionate support the government gives to troubled banks provided the big push to the current crisis, which has left so many Americans without a roof over their heads. They, too, deserve a handout from the government, even if they’re not part of high finance.
Entire families drift daily into mendicity, and a very young generation knows hunger and the lack of safety on our streets.
Meanwhile, a select minority stores away enormous financial resources and tells us through the major media (its own media) that the crisis is over. Unemployment spreads everywhere and a new type of jobless man has appeared who goes to factories and shops without even asking how much they pay or what are the working conditions – he just asks if they have a job available.
In general, mortgage foreclosures have dropped to their lowest monthly level nationwide since December 2006. Nevertheless, Florida is among the five states with the highest percentage of foreclosures. Taking into account the increase in the prices of housing in this market, this is the ideal time to dispose of same, if you’re a lender.
On the other hand is the jobless worker. Without a serious labor contract, the dream of one’s own house darkens, even if the TV networks say that everything’s fine.
While resources are diverted to spy on the civilian society or to start new wars in faraway places, entire families live in their cars. Left behind are the years when the working class could choose between several employers, obtain easy credit or buy a small house.
Some of the banks, saved with public money, continue to seize the homes of people in financial straits and, because no one knows the deep tragedy of being evicted until he experiences it, the loss of one’s home continues to be a very local tragedy.
The general perception does not record this unpleasant side of our society and it seems to me that the word “solidarity” should be heard more, because it is almost a taboo in our environment.
