July 4 is the day America celebrates its independence and its establishment as a democratic republic. Paradoxically, the same systems and forces put in place by our Founding Fathers to grant us freedom also allow people to behave in ways which, over time, have systematically constricted our freedom in subtly destructive ways.
How many of you living in America feel that the ideal of the American Dream is what it once was? Every business interest in the nation has taken over every aspect of that dream and twisted it around into a way to blackmail your paycheck and your sense of security: the health care industry, the financial industry, the insurance industry, and consumer products and services. At times they hardly seem better than legal organized crime (I mean, really, have you ever even seen a good bank?).
And yet…
And yet, along with this long-term evolutionary perversion, the same freedoms and technologies also empower us as individuals or groups to make a go of it doing our own thing. Entrepreneurialism is alive and well. And it is the new creatives, the tech-savvy businesspeople of today who are rewriting what the American Dream means.
Many of us are rewriting the dream on our blogs, with each post.
Thanks to the democratizing power of the web, anyone can learn to earn an income online. In some ways, it’s easier than you think; in other ways, it’s harder, but anything worth doing with a possibility for high rewards is never easy—or everyone would be doing it. If you have access to the right information, you can have it easier than others do.
I hope I can be part of that for you, and make it easier for you to help us keep rewriting the American Dream, one blog post (and tweet) at a time.
Happy Independence Day, America.
I’m rewriting my online dreams with blogs every single day…
Happy Independence Day to you bro !
You’ve echoed my sentiments this fourth of July weekend, Michael. “The democratizing power of the web” (as you so beautifully phrased it) has allowed my husband and I to support ourselves doing what we love, and connect with thousands of wonderful people around the world as we do it.
And you have played a part for us, Michael. Yours is the one site I come back to again and again and always look forward to your newsletters. Thank you!
Mary, thanks so much for saying that. It really means a lot to me. I’m so happy to hear that you and your husband are doing what you love and it’s working out so well for you!
I have to wonder about our schools. It is almost 2010 and the amount of young people that don’t know how to really use the ‘net to improve themselves is shocking. They can download garbage but can’t find the info that will empower them to do anything. Real sad.
Jef, interesting remarks. Is this a problem that you spend time working on finding a solution? Do you volunteer with disadvantaged young people to help the situation?
Hi Michael, Happy Independence Day. you reminded me of my happy days in the USA back in 2001-3. i lived in San Antonio and McAllen, TX for two years as a missionary. i will always remember America.
Harson, thank you.
I agree about that internet is the democratizing power of the web. But how long it will last? How long it takes when those who had power before are getting more power in internet too?
Ask the Prez… He wants to place the Internet under FEMA/HLS… Guess who would have control of content. He’s already made it clear that he wishes to “clean up the content”