Powerful forces are up in arms about Donald Trump. The media calls him dangerous. Establishment political operatives say he has no respect for the rules. Yet the nation hearkens to a seemingly new promise of American greatness.
However American greatness has always been present! It wells up from old fashioned ethics that empower ordinary people to challenge economic atrophy. Its origins are where those, distributed in the middle, diminish political and corporate self-interest to certify intrinsic fundamental American values.
The community, in which I was raised, like thousands across the country, is one of those springboards. It was a fascinating mix of white-collar and blue-collar, Christian and non-Christian families. Everyone in that Long Island town appeared satisfied with their piece of the American Dream.
My neighborhood might have been considered an affluent bedroom community of New York City, but no one ever felt entitled or socially prejudiced. When someone was in need, people came together to help. There was never talk about who was welcome—or not welcome—to live there. People would fit in by being a responsible part of the community’s whole.
This place of hardworking, connected people produced famous and not-so-famous offspring. All of whom likely remember it as a great place to grow up.Those who lived there, like citizens of many similar towns, based success on simple honesty hard work and were part of the economic engine that powered America to greatness.
Today we hear a lot about superstars and not enough about the millions of families who quietly work toward their personal dream-come-true prosperity. Missing are the amazing stories that are cornerstones of my hometown’s quiet prosperity where countless people used their own notes, octaves, and melodies to make rich music in uniquely —yet enormously prosperous—ways.
Although they’re rarely talked about by the media, people who have such stories make up an expansive segment of our population in this country. They demonstrate it’s still possible for average folks to become financially victorious in any economic climate by living honorable lessons taught to them as children.
In the United States, our freedoms were intended to “secure the blessings of liberty”. Intended or not, idealistically fair values were interlaced into the fabric of this nation’s founding documents and were a driving force in the community that was my American Dream.
Some may deny the powerful principles that shaped the dream of our founders and subsequent economic greatness their beliefs sowed. But the formula remains a fact—wealth, happiness, and security can be created by harnessing an individual’s strength of spirit consistent with conscience. The way we did in my hometown and similar places, where American greatness has always lived!
Kevin J. Palmer
The Quiet Rich
