Don't confuse the American dream with the American lie.

The Veteran's Administration, IRS targeting, Bergdal, and Benghazi. I understand that they all run together and the news changes day to day, but I don’t understand the lack of outrage. I’m not talking about the outrage from the far right; these aren’t the issues of abortion or gay rights. I’m talking about the outrage from every American, especially my generation. We have more citizens commit suicide, than die in car crashes. We have a rate of unemployment that is 6.3 percent. We are 17th in the world in education. We do, however, lead the world with the highest crime rate. Yet we sit back and stomach it. 

Why do we put up with scandal after scandal from the White House and a paralyzed Congress? Last year, Congress had a record low approval rating, yet we still re-elect the same incumbents. Albert Einstein defined insanity as, “doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” The explanation for our loss of sanity is simple: we have fallen victim to the American lie. 

The American lie is so seductive, because it sounds like the American dream. You know, the American dream where a man with nothing can work his way to the top of society, where everyone willing to work is able to obtain those little pink houses that John Mellencamp sings about. The key word is work; the dream is a payment for services you do for your country, whether they are in the military or the workforce. This is where the American lie ensnares its victims.

The American lie is that the American dream is a right. It is not simply being alive; it doesn’t give you the right to a house or car or cellphone for that matter. Look at underdeveloped countries. They have to struggle just for food and water but, here in America, we have the audacity to think that everyone deserves an iPhone.  

This complacency with the way things are, and a belief that we will continue to have a high standard of living just by breathing and being US citizens, is not a sudden mood swing that has gripped the nation’s youth. It has been instilled in us from birth. We are the generation of the participation trophy. We lost our little league game and still got trophies for trying.

We are not all going to be professional athletes. We are not all going to be doctors and lawyers. Everyone isn’t smart enough to be a rocket scientist. Everyone doesn’t have the talent to make it to the National Football League. That, however, didn’t stop our parents and the media from telling us to go for our dreams. I’m not suggesting that we crush our children’s dreams, but I am suggesting that we instill reality into our kids. Only a select few are able to achieve childhood dreams and it’s a major disappointment to the rest of our generation when we enter college and the workforce to find that we all don’t own big houses and drive sports cars. 

We should wake up and live in reality. However, we are lulled back to sleep by politicians and the media. They play in to the American lie because it directly benefits them. They tell us that it’s okay; we do deserve more money and nicer things. Then, we give them our votes, because we want government benefits whether we need them or not. They are our tiny little trophies for playing the game of life. They make us feel better when we see other kids win the game and get real trophies.  

Because the government, essentially, pays us for our votes, we send the same incumbents back to Washington every year. It’s a vicious cycle, and it slowly takes away the will of the American voter. Voting out the politicians that hand us our reading awards and 20th place trophies, would be a step back into the reality we are trying to escape. That’s why we can sit still when the IRS targets political adversaries, when our veterans are mistreated, or when the President, after killing Bin Laden, decides to release captured terrorists. Refusing to negotiate with terrorists was the only rule that the government still refused to break; now it lies shattered.  We completely ignored Benghazi. There was footage of an American embassy being attacked, playing in the White House, and we didn’t send help. How have we completely overlooked that as a nation? How can we believe that our almost nonexistent border with Mexico isn’t a risk for terrorists to enter our country?

It’s because we have been sleeping, dreaming the American Dream; but it’s not the American dream. It’s the American lie, and it’s time to wake up. We have a habit of dismissing politics as a problem for older generations to handle, but the weight lies on our shoulders. Most of us are going to live here for the rest of our lives, and we are going to have to deal with the repercussions of our government’s current actions.

It’s time to wake up. I don’t care if you think politics is boring or difficult to understand; it isn't going to just go away. Wake up! It’s our turn to carry the world on our shoulders, and we can’t afford to stumble. 

If you believe in this message and think it’s time to end the insanity, share it for those held spellbound by the American lie. #wakeupAmerica.