Reinventing Yourself

There was a lecture on ‘The Great Gatsby’ by two professors at the University of St. Thomas recently. During that discussion, the question came up about the ‘American Dream’ and if F. Scott Fitzgerald was really talking about this iconic (really world-wide) focus on success and prosperity in his novel. Is ‘The Great Gatsby’ really a metaphor for the great American dream? If so, then what is success?

In this Trump-infused world, many have been led to believe that the accumulation of material goods such a money, cars, homes, and material possessions are true signs of success. In the real world that so many of us live in, the true sign of success is doing what you want to do with your life and enjoying it. Of course, that trite quote doesn’t get a lot of ‘hits,’ ‘downloads’ or ‘notices’ in our over-caffeinated latest, greatest, most stupendous (often outrageous) social media statements.

This focus on success wasn’t always so cloudy in this country. There seemed to be a clearly delineated pathway in terms of financial advancements for the average person. After World War Two, there was unprecedented growth with the GDP. For several decades, the middle class grew and prospered. Unfortunately, that growth slowed and gradually lost its luster beginning in the late 60s and early 70s.

The intertwinement and entanglements of business and political interests had been going on for a long time. It was an open secret that lobbyists weld an enormous power in Washington for the vested good of special interests and the moneyed elite. It was the middle class who were getting the short end of the dollar stick in most of these transactions, arrangements and agreements made into law.

Norman Lear’s autobiography ‘This Too I Get to Experience’ touched on the same subject matter……short-sighted vision instead of long-term perspective. Lear talks about a conversation he had with a Harvard professor who lamented ‘the most rapacious societal disease of our time: short-term thinking.’

The professor explained: “There will be a time very shortly when young people-very young people- will be looking into computer screens. They will be looking directly into screens, not to the side, so there will be no peripheral vision; they won’t be looking over the top, so they won’t see what’s ahead; they’ll be staring straight ahead into those screens, blind to everything ahead and around them.”

“Money managers and financial product traders will be selling, buying, and swapping financial products around the world. With that narrow focus, like a horse with blinders, they will have more control and hold more power in those split seconds than we can today imagine. And all of it entirely focused on short-term gains.”

Back in 2008, the near collapse of our world-wide financial system, and Wall Street in particular, should have been a wakeup call for all Americans to pay more attention to their wallets and events happening around them. Unfortunately, not much seems to have changed over the ensuing years. Every day there are new financially-coated products, events, angles, schemes, and ‘can’t lose’ facades presented to the general public.

To that end, reinvention and financial literacy should be a topic of interest that every American should acquaint themselves with. ‘What is financial literacy all about, you may ask? Essentially, it is the ability to use one’s knowledge and skills to effectively manage financial resources, ideally for a lifetime of financial well-being. Indeed, financial literacy is something we all have to work on each day—it’s part of our ongoing education.

Despite being a relatively new field of study, financial literacy has become increasingly important for governments and citizens – without it there can be broad implications for the economic health and stability of countries.

It simply comes down to that old, worn, yet so true cliché: Let the buyer beware. We all have the responsibility to listen and learn for ourselves instead of letting someone else do it for us. To use common sense instead of group-think and to forge our own path to enlightenment instead of following the crowd. Reinvention is another approach to ponder.

My own story of growing up poor has been chronicled in many blogs over the years. Again, it wasn’t something my friends and I were acutely aware of aside from the lack of a family car, no summer vacations and few material things around the house. Most of us started working at an early age and accepted that as ‘par for the course.’ I chose a different path for myself.

Sharon began doing chores on the farm when she was six years old. If the bulk tank wasn’t cleaned twice a day, her dad couldn’t sell his milk as grade A and there wouldn’t be a milk check at the end of the month. She remembers growing up with no sink in the kitchen but a shiny new bulk tank instead in the barn. She also chose to not follow her peers and remain on the farm. Higher education and the world of academia beckoned her attention.

One of the St. Thomas professors commented that usually it isn’t the ‘most likely to succeed’ senior who becomes the artist, writer, inventor, etc. More often than not, it’s the outcast, the shunned, the under-represented. But it’s not one of ‘those folks.’ The IN crowd need not apply.

Reinvention is one approach to seize the opportunities present and not follow the masses. As nebulous as words like ambition, hunger, and striving might be, the simple fact is that nothing much has changed over the years. The Gilded Age and Nick’s ‘roaring twenties’ both manifested the same trite cliches and banner headlines. Today, one’s knowledge of the truth behind the façade goes a long way in this new world of podcasts, social media posts, and TikTok nonsense.

Yes, prices have gone up, some opportunities have disappeared and sometimes the future can be a dark and bleary horizon for a lot of folks. But the simple fact remains that a lot of the cliches about success we’ve heard over the years still ring true. These are all simple, sometimes simplistic but true statements. Bottom line; it’s all up to you.

Do I know if the American Dream still exists? Frankly, I don’t know but I have to believe it does…and has for generations. It’s still up to each of us to find our own way in this crazy, exciting, sometimes contradictory world. If not us, then who?

White Trash

Most of us, whether we’ll admit it or not, have areas of interest that might surprise a lot of other folks. Where this subject matter comes from is less important than the depth to which this attention to detail can grasp at and hold tight to our reflective consciousness. Some people might call them our ‘hot buttons’ or for others, their ‘touchy subjects.’ No matter the moniker, the subject in question often seems to capture our attention and hold it tight.

I am guilty of those inquisitive infractions. For whatever reason, my attention is often drawn to the subject of class in our society. In my mind, it ties in nicely with ‘The American Dream,’ ‘Class Consciousness,’ and (the old favorite of mine) ‘rising above your raisin'.'

Over the years, I’ve read several books on class. It’s a subject matter that has long since fascinated me on a very personal level. Perhaps the thin fabric of my upbringing had a lot to do with it. Growing up, it certainly wasn’t the glamor of wealth or accumulated material possessions that caught my attention. Instead, I think it was the place that American society had sketched out for me as a child based on my social, economic, and cultural upbringing.

Both my grade school and high school councilors slotted me into educational tracks based on my test scores. My family structure certainly didn’t help advance any educational chances at success. There were sometimes understood and other times openly stated assumptions that I would follow a pre-ordained path and certainly never give any thought to ‘rising above my raisin'.’ My mother and father did just that. My grandparents the same. That simply was the way it was and always had been back then.

I recently read a scholarly study of class in America entitled: ‘White Trash.’ Without apology, I’ve enlisted the help of ChatGPT to give a summary of the book.

White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America (2016) by Nancy Isenberg is a historical study that challenges the idea of the United States as a classless society. Isenberg traces the roots and evolution of class divisions in America, focusing on the persistent stigma and social marginalization of poor white people—often labeled as “white trash,” “rednecks,” “hillbillies,” and other derogatory terms.

Nancy Isenberg argues that from the colonial era to the present, class has always been a defining feature of American life, even though the nation has long promoted the myth of equal opportunity. She explores how elites and political leaders have used class distinctions to shape social hierarchies, justify inequality, and control land and labor.

The book begins with the English colonists who viewed North America as a dumping ground for Britain’s “waste people”—the poor, criminals, and indentured servants. These early settlers were seen as expendable laborers, and this attitude laid the groundwork for centuries of class prejudice.

Isenberg traces how these class labels persisted through American history:

• In the 18th and 19th centuries, poor whites were described as lazy, degenerate, and unfit for citizenship, often excluded from education and property ownership.
• In the Civil War and Reconstruction eras, politicians and writers reinforced stereotypes that pitted poor whites against Black Americans to maintain racial and class hierarchies.
• In the 20th century, cultural figures—from eugenicists to politicians—used “white trash” imagery to discuss morality, genetics, and the supposed decline of the nation.
• In the modern era, the term has resurfaced in politics and pop culture, reflecting ongoing discomfort with poverty and class mobility in a society that insists everyone can “make it” through hard work.

Throughout, Isenberg shows how class prejudice has shaped American politics, settlement patterns, and cultural identity. She concludes that “white trash” is not just an insult but a window into the enduring reality of class inequality that contradicts the American Dream.

While some of Isenberg’s chapters are hard to chew on and digest, their message is very clear. We have always had a class structure in this country and we love to pretend that it isn’t there.

‘Educating Rita’ as a wonderful example of these phenomena. Educating Rita was a 1983 movie starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters. A woman takes night classes at ‘the university’ and finds to her amazement that she has the knowledge and talent to succeed there. But forces in her life all seem to conspire against her. Think of this romance/drama as the American Dream without the violins and background music. Instead, you’ll hear the scrapping of fingernails on a blackboard and the vision of the future that can’t be reached.

Another good example of this idea is the movie ‘Rudy.’ Based on a true story, ‘Rudy’ does a good job of examining the complex and confusing roles that class places on folks seeking to break out on their own mold and for those who don’t want them to leave the fold.

My latest novel entitled: ‘Agnes’ deals with an imagined love affair between a college-educated young man and a middle-age woman. She is a secretary at his work. She cares for her elderly mother in the same home she was raised in. Her life is simple and sad and complete with no window to the future until he steps into her life. Their educational backgrounds, social standings and exposure to the ‘real world’ all conspire along with their age differences to erode the affection they feel for one another. Class does matter even though people love to pretend it doesn’t.

The theme of class differences has permeated a lot of my writings. Whether in a play structure, movie or novel, the idea of class differences fascinates me.

One of my first novels ‘Love in the A Shau’ painted a picture of just this scenario with my main protagonist. I also touched on this concept briefly in several blogs: ‘Damming the Intellectuals’ and ‘Rising above Your Raisin’ as examples of social and economic crossovers.  Another blog entitled: ‘Book of ‘61’ talked about the caste system at my old high school.

That caste system (strictly my words and impression only) at Cretin High School was neither good nor bad, right nor wrong. It was simply recognition by the administration that some students were better prepared for college than other students. Test scores were the primary indicator of this placement but I’m willing to bet that socio and economic factors also played a role in that determination.

Class is a worn-out pathway we are forced to follow until such time that we consciously select a different route to travel. It is a conscious, and perhaps at other times, a subconscious decision to follow our heart and head instead of directional cues from those around us. It might mean leaving behind friends and family who choose to stay in place.

But in the end, it’s being true to oneself and seeking fulfillment where it means the most…to you…consequences be damned.

Conversations with a Madman

He always seems to be mad at something, about something, against something, because of something. That ‘something’ can range from government action, inaction, the governor himself, politicians (unless they see it his way), taxes of any kind, liberals, young people, women, old people, minorities, immigrants….  And the list just goes on and on.

He always has excuses for Trump’s behavior and that of his fellow Republicans. Yet, if I asked him to define his version of conservatism, he probably couldn’t. In the history of modern American conservatism, there were three distinct waves of change. The first wave was best symbolized by William F. Buckley and Ronald Reagan. The second wave, by Paul Ryan and two Bush presidencies and the third, now best represented by the sometimes confusing, sometimes scary present party in power.

If I were a betting man, I’d say his philosophies run more along the lines of ‘I just heard it on Fox, so it has to be true.’ Like many of us programmed to believe the ads of the sixties, what he sees and hears, he believes. Political news on the radio that morning is gospel and can’t be challenged. Even my occasional ‘You’ve got to be fricken kidding me’ doesn’t seem to faze him or his firm belief that if they ‘said it on radio,’ it has to be true.

He doesn’t respect women and, in fact, seems to fear their intellect, power and agility in the face of stupidity. In other words, normal strengths given to the more powerful of the tribe. Any man who doesn’t see women as an equal missed that train a long time ago.

Photo courtesy of Bob Getterz

It was so much easier when we were all younger and the biggest argument centered around which radio station, KDWB or WDGY, was the best Rock and Roll station in town (the twin cities of Minnesota.) Oh, for those happy days again.

While my friend is ‘a piece of work’, we have actually found, somehow, common ground upon which to carry on some pretty interesting, stimulating and intelligent conversations. The key I discovered, right up front, was to respect his point of view even if he didn’t know what the hell he was talking about … from my point of view, of course.

Without apology, I willingly conceded that my ‘left wing crazies’ were just as off the charts as were his ‘right wing crazies.’ We agreed that term limits should have been placed on most if not all politicians starting with George Washington. We agreed that down through the ages both parties were guilty of any and every indiscretion, crime, unethical, and immoral action possible. We agreed that a good number of politicians’ only real focus is to get reelected which they, in turn, see as their sacred duty to their constituency. Most self-serving politicians speak out of both sides of their mouths, depending which way the political winds are blowing ‘that day.’

Having agreed on some of those basics, my ‘friend’ and I are actually able to find even more common ground in which to have calm, ‘mostly’ rational conversations. He plays the stock market every day and seems to understand value-investing. He studies trends, changing political winds, the economy and makes his decisions based on his own gut appraisal of the marketplace. And he seems to be doing pretty well at it. Of course, he is also an avid gambler and I suspect loses much more than he would care to admit.

Ninety-nine times out of ten, I find our conversations quite educational. I like to hear about stock market trends, emerging companies, particular stocks and the current take on the market from one who plays it on a daily basis. Just to catch a glimpse into his slant on things is fascinating for me as a writer and ever-present voyeur into other people’s lives.

I’ve told my friend that one of my greatest strengths is knowing and admitting that there is so much I don’t know about everything; the stock market in particular. The handlers of Sharon’s retirement account and the good folks at Ameriprise have placed us in stocks and bonds that fit our (not too) conservative approach to the market. It seems to work for us and I don’t lose sleep at night no matter what gyrations the market is going through on any given day. I can’t say the same for my friend.

I think that Noam Chomsky in his book: ‘Requiem for the American Dream’ is able to capture the essence of my friend’s grudge with the world. He says: “There’s unfocused anger going on in self-destructive directions.” He calls this phenomenon ‘generalized rage.’ “It’s most white, working-class, lower-middle-class people, who have been cast by the wayside during the neoliberalism period. Everything has been taken away from them (they feel). There is no economic growth for them, this is for other people. The institutions are all against them. They have a deep concern that they are losing their country because a ‘generalized they’ are taking it away from them.”

Interestingly enough, I meet several guys like that in the service, determined to save their country from the perceived threats within. While my friend and I have never directly addressed this particular slant on life, it certainly sounds like him from everything he’s said to me. I have several other acquaintances back home like the one here. Their political slant on life is so different from mine that only by finding slivers of commonality between us can we keep our conversations going.

One thing that struck me, right from the beginning, was the sincerity from which my friends claimed their knowledge and defense of their political views. It’s hard to argue with someone who feels that passionately about things. It calls for respect in the face of (my own) reality and the challenge of trying to see the argument in question from their point of view.

Yet, like so many other challenges in life, I see it as a win-win situation. If my friend is able to change my point of view, that’s great, I’ve learned something new that day. If not, then my own point of view (after calm, thorough examination) has been justified and reinforced. I win either way.

I hope I can say the same for my ‘friend.’

Passing Down the Dream

I’ve always been fascinated with the concept of ‘the American Dream.’ Not unique to America, it’s the universal idea that anyone can pull themselves up from their proverbial bootstraps and earn success and happiness if they just work hard enough at it. In the past, I’ve written several blogs about the gradual demise of this ideology as a part of the American lexicon. Nowadays, it seems to harken back to a time and period lost in the history of our country.

Two books, in particular, have done a pretty detailed analysis of the gradual shifts in the business, political and social climates of the Seventies that led to this major change in American society. Neither book offers up easy answers to our current challenge of growing a stronger middle class and lifting up others along the way.

Recently, I’ve come across two more books that tie nicely into this question of advancement for the masses in the twenty-first century. Not surprisingly, there’s a curious correlation between education, neighborhoods and housing in addressing the causes of this problem.

‘Our Kids’ (The American Dream in Crisis) and ‘Golden Gates’ (The Housing Crisis and a Reckoning for the American Dream) both address this continuing crisis within American society.

It took a while for me to truly grasp the cusp of the problem. What I experienced growing up back in the fifties and sixties wasn’t the same as it is for younger folks today. Growing up, I, along with a lot of my friends, were neither wealthy nor middle class. But that didn’t stop us from moving up in society. We got an education, found jobs and advanced in our careers. On one level, it seemed as simple as that.

A friend was talking recently about being raised poor and not knowing it. His father, along with his uncles, all worked at the Firestone Tire factory in Akron, Ohio. It was a hard, honorable job but one that didn’t pay a lot, especially for a household of many children and a mother who didn’t work outside of the home. My friend’s situation was no different than the Irish, Polish, Black and Eastern Europe neighbors in his community.

Photo by Jerry Hoffman

My own story of growing up poor has been chronicled in many blogs over the years. Again, it wasn’t something my friends and I were acutely aware of aside from the lack of a family car, no summer vacations or very few material things around the house. Most of us started working at an early age and accepted that as ‘par for the course.’

Starting at age six, Sharon grew up doing chores around the farm. If the bulk tank wasn’t cleaned twice a day, her dad couldn’t sell his milk as grade A and there wouldn’t be a milk check at the end of the month. She remembers growing up with no sink in the kitchen of their old farmhouse but a shiny new bulk tank instead in the barn.

One of the key differences for my friends and I verse our parents was education. My Mother had a 6^th grade education. My father’s educational level is unknown. Sharon’s mother had two years of high school. Her father just went to the eighth grade. Not unusual for that generation.

Yet because of our own opportunities at education, our kids, Brian and Melanie, have between them a law degree and a masters in entrepreneurship. Our grandchildren have a legacy in education that will demand, even now, that they will probably have advanced degrees beyond just college.

As mentioned in ‘Golden Gates’: “It was hard to see it back then, but America was in the middle of a vast realignment that was fundamentally altering where we live, how we work, and the structure of our families. Ultimately, growing class segregation across neighborhoods and schools means that rich Americans and poor Americans are living, learning, and raising children in increasingly separate and unequal worlds, removing the stepping-stones to upward mobility.”

It wasn’t always so cloudy in this country in terms of potential financial advancements for the average person. After World War Two, there was unprecedented growth with the GDP. That growth in the middle class slowed and gradually lost its luster beginning in the late 60s and early 70s.

The 1970s were also notable for another reason. It harkened in the beginning of a new financial equation. It was the beginning of a new mindset about real estate, when property in every shape, location, and purpose became a good financial investment.

The intertwinement and entanglements of business and political interests has been going on for a long time now. It’s no secret that lobbyists weld an enormous power in Washington for the vested good of special interests and the moneyed elite. Generally speaking, it’s the middle class who gets the short end of the dollar stick in most of these transactions, arrangements and agreements made into law.

A Harvard professor has been quoted as saying: “There will be a time very shortly when young people-very young people- will be looking into computer screens. They will be looking directly into screens, not to the side, so there will be no peripheral vision; they won’t be looking over the top, so they won’t see what’s ahead; they’ll be staring straight ahead into those screens, blind to everything ahead and around them.”

Money managers and financial product traders will be selling, buying, and swapping financial products around the world. With that narrow focus, like a horse with blinders, they will have more control and hold more power in those split seconds than we can today imagine. And all of it entirely focused on short-term gains.”

The financial crisis of 2007-2008 revealed the fallacy of this short-term thinking. We used to have an economy that manufactured stuff, now it manufactures debt. This concept of ‘wealth supremacy’ suggests that the core aim of our economy should be delivering ever-increasing gains to investment portfolios instead of a wider distribution of wealth to the masses. While there is no easy answer, education, once again, comes into play here.

Financial literacy is a topic of interest that every American should acquaint themselves with. Essentially, it is the ability to use one’s knowledge and skills to effectively manage financial resources, ideally for a lifetime of financial well-being. Indeed, financial literacy is something we all have to work on each day—it’s part of our ongoing education.

Despite being a relatively new field of study, financial literacy has become increasingly important for governments and citizens – without it there can be broad implications for the economic health and stability of countries.

While we can’t, as individuals, control the stock market, affect financial futures or the political games being played in Washington, we can steel ourselves against the mis-information and financial pitfalls all around us. It is up to each one of us to watch our pocketbooks and nest egg for the future. No one else will do it for us.

Crossing Over

Most of us, whether we’ll admit it or not, have areas of interest that might surprise a lot of other folks. Where this subject matter comes from is less important than the depth to which this focus can grasp and hold tight to our reflective consciousness. Some people might call them our ‘hot buttons’ or for others, their ‘touchy subjects.’ No matter the moniker, the subject in question often seems to capture our attention and hold it tight.

I am guilty of a number of these inquisitive infractions. For whatever reason, my attention is often drawn to a wide variety of subject matter. ‘Class in our society’ is certainly one of those areas of interest. In my mind, it ties in nicely with ‘The American Dream,’ ‘Class Consciousness,’ and (the old favorite of mine) ‘risin above your raisen.’

Over the years, class in our society has been addressed in movies, song, and in literature. It’s a subject matter that has long since fascinated me on a very personal level. Around the turn of the century, one of the first manifestations of this was through the tales of Horatio Alger; a rag-to-riches story, for young people to absorb. Cloaked in Protestant colors of hard work, sacrifice and determination, it was the banner under which thousands of youngsters pinned their hopes and dreams for a better future.

Perhaps the thin fabric of my own upbringing had a lot to do with my later fascination of the subject. Growing up, it certainly wasn’t the glamor of wealth or accumulated material possessions that caught my attention. Instead, I think it was the place American society had sketched out for me as a child based on my social, economic, and cultural upbringing.

Both my grade school and high school administrations had slotted me into educational tracks based on my test scores. My family structure certainly didn’t help advance any educational chances at success. There were sometimes understood and other times openly stated assumptions that I would follow a pre-ordained path and certainly never give any thought to ‘rising above my rasin.’ My mother and father did just that. My grandparents the same. That simply was the way it was and always had been back then.

One of the chapters in a recent book about class talked about working class folks who, usually inadvertently, get a taste of another life outside of their own realm of existence. The example was a young woman who was taking college classes at night to get a promotion at work.

What she found to her amazement was her newfound ability to grasp the material and delve into it at a deeper level than she ever thought possible. She was encouraged by her teacher and fellow students to continue her pursuit of knowledge. But this is where it got complex and ugly.

Her boyfriend didn’t like the time she was spending in class and not with him. Her parents worried that she was hanging out with ‘those’ people who would give her ideas about her own class and status in life. She was treading where few of her family and relatives had ever gone before. And it made them all very nervous.

‘Educating Rita’ as a wonderful example of these phenomena. Educating Rita was a 1983 movie starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters. A woman takes night classes at ‘the university’ and finds to her amazement that she has the knowledge and talent to succeed there. But forces in her life all seem to conspire against her. Think of this romance/drama as the American Dream without the violins and background music. Instead you’ll hear the scrapping of fingernails on a blackboard and the vision of the future that can’t be reached.

Another good example of this idea is the movie ‘Rudy.’ Based on a true story, ‘Rudy’ does a good job of examining the complex and confusing roles that class places on folks seeking to break out on their own mold and for those who watch them leave the fold.

One of my first novels ‘Love in the A Shau’ painted a picture of just this scenario with my main protagonist. I also touched on this concept briefly in several blogs: ‘Damming the Intellectuals’ and ‘Rising above Your Rasin’ as examples of social and economic crossovers.  Another blog entitled: ‘Book of ‘61’ talked about the caste system at my old high school.

That caste system (let’s be honest here) at Cretin High School was neither good nor bad, right nor wrong. It was simply a recognition by the administration that some students were better prepared for a college-bound track of studies than other students. Test scores were the primary indicator of this placement but I’m willing to bet that socio and economic factors also played a role in that determination.

In life, class is a worn-out pathway we are forced to follow until such time that we consciously select a different route to travel. It is a conscious, and perhaps at other times, a subconscious decision to follow our heart and head instead of directional cues from those around us. It might mean leaving behind friends and family who choose to stay in place.

But in the end, it is being true to oneself and seeking fulfillment where it means the most…to you…consequences be damned.