The Middle Class Act; Has the American Dream Become A Nightmare?

Craving "bling bling" and living above their means is why some middle-class Americans are now in financial ruin and living in poverty. Instead of admiring their manicured lawns or grilling steaks in the backyard, some are living out of their cars or sleeping on the floors of friends or family members.

It is true that America's economic downturn has a major negative effect on the middle-class lifestyle as stated in my first post, but some if not most of the turmoil can be blamed on their own personal financial choices. If a person was making at least $70000 a year for the last 5 or 10 years and was laid off last month, then why are they barely able to buy food next month? Did they not save any of their money? Did they need that huge house payment or new Tahoe? Why didn't they listen to the financial experts who say to save enough money for at least 6 months worth of living expenses?

In Dr. Phil's "Living Beyond Your Means" episode, he tells a financially strapped couple that, "The hardest thing to do is to admit that what you're doing is not working and be willing to change it." That's a major part of the problem. Most of these people are not willing to admit that they can't afford this lifestyle, which for the most part was an act to begin with. They don't want to give up anything.

Getting on a budget and living within your means will help to solve many of the financial problems facing the middle-class. To some this may be easier said than done, but if you put the well-being of your family and/or marriage first, the desire to achieve this common sense approach will become much more clearer and attainable. Nobody wants to see their kids hungry or having to sleep on someone else's floor. This thought alone should make most people spend their money wisely.

The Middle Class Act; Has the American Dream Become A Nightmare?

The current recession that America is facing has put the middle class under brutal attack, with new casualties everyday. The dream of a good career and raising a family in a good neighborhood, is no longer within reach for many Americans. Middle-Class neighborhoods were viewed as "incubators" for the American dream, according to the Washington Post report "U.S. Losing Its Middle-Class Neighborhoods".

A large percentage of former middle income Americans are now living in poverty. Many of them are having problems dealing with their reversal of fortune. "It's very sad," said Maria Chavez, who was a middle-class citizen a year and a half ago. "I cry sometimes because I don't want to come here for food", she said as she tried to find dinner for her family at a local food pantry.

This CBS report states that the recession and slow recovery are causing the Chavezes and many other Americans to slip into poverty.
"The most important anti-poverty effort is growing the economy and making sure there are enough jobs out there, "President Obama said Friday at a White House news conference. He stressed his commitment to helping the poor achieve middle-class status and said, "If we can grow the economy faster and create more jobs, then everybody is swept up into that virtuous cycle."

Who is at fault for these grim prospects? Some would say the U.S. government, while others would say that greedy CEOs are to blame. Many will argue that it's due to bad personal financial decisions. Is the American dream now just a facade or can we overcome these obstacles and continue the pursuit of happiness.

Hi, My Name is Humanity, and I'm an Oil Addict.

Our species has become hopelessly dependent on a non renewable resource for its most basic needs. We consume over 85 million barrels of it everyday. Oil and other hydrocarbon fuel types power every aspect of our modern lives. This is not a "go green" sermon, this is not a climate change debate. This deals with a phenomena that we are certain will happen soon and it is called peak oil. Peak oil is described as the point in time when global oil production has peaked and then enters a terminal decline, as it is a finite resource and subject to depletion.

To help illustrate how important oil is to all of us, lets take a moment to look at what we would lose without it. Hydrocarbons provide the bulk of the energy needed in modern manufacturing. Therefore, every product in your house and the house itself is essentially an oil product. Oil's importance to all modern forms of transportation is obvious. All of our food and goods are transported over great distances with vehicles that burn gasoline. Certainly the most frightening issue is that our current method of agriculture depends entirely on oil. Without the gas powered machines and petroleum based fertilizers and pesticides, we would not be able to produce enough food for our growing population. As scarcity of oil increases, so will the price of every product and service that requires it. If this decline in oil production happens as sharply as some predict, we are in for one of the most difficult times in human history.

Dr. Robert L. Hirsch, a Senior Energy Advisor for Management Information Systems Inc led a study for the U.S. Department of Energy on the subject of peak oil and said,

"The peaking of world oil production presents the U.S. and the world with an unprecedented risk management problem. As peaking is approached, liquid fuel prices and price volatility will increase dramatically, and, without timely mitigation, the economic, social, and political costs will be unprecedented. Viable mitigation options exist on both the supply and demand sides, but to have substantial impact, they must be initiated more than a decade in advance of peaking."

Many experts predict this peak will occur between 2010 and 2020. There is no easy answer to this problem and it will take a combination of solutions and sacrifices to get through this period with our population in tact. Its going to take a combination of strict conservation, heavier reliance on alternative energy sources, more efficient vehicles, better oil extraction methods and new technologies in chemical fuels to replace the void that cheap oil will leave.