Living the American Dream.

Ever since I arrived to northern Virginia almost six years ago I have been living my American Dream. The American Dream means different things to different people. Many seek wealth, success or fame. Others pursue intellectual enjoyment or physical pleasures, Some would be content with what Andy Warhol referred to as those 15 minutes of notoriety everyone enjoys at some point in time in their lives.
My American Dream is being able to live as a good citizen. As a senior Venezuelan I lived for many years in my home country trying very hard to be a good citizen: pay taxes, abide by the laws and regulations of the nation, to cooperate with my neighbors in the improvement of the community, pay my bills, do all of the things that characterize a civilized member of society. It proved difficult and frustrating. Particularly during the last ten years my country has gone into a semi-anarchic state, not too far from what the early Greeks called anomie, a social lack of common norms and moral guidance. As a result, daily life has been reduced, for most citizens, to an exercise in survival and dreams for the future have had to be postponed. At my age I have no longer a place in the Venezuela of the future.
This is why I came to the United States, looking for quality of life and I found it, together with my immediate familiy, who had already been living in this country for many years. My wife and I have become members of U.S. society, deriving pleasure from the things that millions of American take for granted. I go out for a morning walk and do not have to carry a stick to protect myself from stray dogs or potential muggers. As I walk by, birds keep their ground, knowing that I mean no harm. I return home to take a shower and when I turn on the faucet … there is water. I wait for the bus and I know that it will arrive within a reasonable time. Life in the U.S. is highly predictable, a wonderful quality rarely seen in today’s Venezuela.
I prepare my taxes, file them online, I pay and, sometimes, I even get a refund. Receiving a tax refund is a new source of pleasure for me. Almost every business or family transaction can be done by mail or through Internet. My letters always reach their destination. Going to the market is a pleasure trip, not a source of frustration. Vegetables and fruits can be, almost, a work of art.
The underlying foundation of U.S. society still is trust. I had an account in a Caracas bank for over 30 years and any deviation from the most routine transaction required proving my honesty anew. Here I walked into the bank at Disneyland hoping to cash a check from a New York bank. It took five minutes for the teller, dressed as Mickey Mouse, to cash it for me, no questions asked. He considered me to be honorable. A few weeks ago a state trooper stopped me in the highway and asked me if I had bought gas at a station some 20 miles back. I said yes and he said my credit card had not registered properly at the pump and that I had to go back and pay. I returned, I apologized and shook hands with the trooper and the attendant at the gas station. They never suggested that I had attempted a criminal act.
Driving allows me to exercise my good citizenship in full. I stop at red lights, signal the other drivers to go ahead and often wave at them. I especially enjoy stopping to let someone walk safely across the street. Being polite to others gives me the great feeling of belonging to a society that is moving forward with my help. The lines of W.H. Auden come to my mind: “… points of light flash out wherever the just exchange their messages…”
Living my dream does not demand great amounts of money or high social status. This is a society where the modest middle class can enjoy a high quality of life. Money is certainly as important in the U.S. as in any other country and, perhaps, undue attention is paid to notoriety, rather than true fame, but this society is decent and offers alternatives for a good life at modest or no cost: parks, museums, community events, sports, good television, excellent transport and road systems. Most everyone, hard hat or blue-collar workers, has access to the basic amenities of life: a home, a car, good food, and entertainment. Even at my age I have had opportunities to engage in remunerated work, although this is no longer easy. In Venezuela, however, it had already proved impossible.
Health care is good quality but , I must say, terribly expensive and usually lacks the intimate quality it can have in Venezuela, where most doctors are also personal friends. In the U.S., as well as in Venezuela, social solidarity and generosity have a strong and permanent presence.
Living my American Dream to the fullest I find it surprising to see how so many citizens of this wonderful nation can be afflicted by fear, frustration or unhappiness. It seems as if they had grown partially immune to their material and spiritual bonanza. I wish they fully realized how lucky they are.
In my country there is no day of thanksgiving as such but I have come to regard this typical U.S. holiday as full of meaning and I have made it mine. I give thanks, not only during that special day but everyday to being in the U.S., living my dream as a free and good citizen in a generous land.