Tikkun Magazine, November/December 2008 

A Letter to the Editor responds to the Contrarian's editorial in the September/October issue of Tikkun:

By Robert Hochwalt

I too consider myself a contrarian but do not find inspiration in my fellow contrarian's views as expressed in "To McCain: Advance the American Dream" by George Vradenburg (September/October 2008). As a member of the Network of Spiritual Progressives, I believe that at the heart of America's failure to create a just, peaceful, compassionate society is not having a vibrant, real spiritual center.

We must have a fresh vision of the American Dream: one that does not emphasize competition, gaining more material goods, or keeping our noses to the grindstone. As a result of past emphasis on the American Dream, we have an American "civilization" that has no equal in world history to its development and institutionalization of materialism, commercialism, and consumerism.

Mr. Vradenburg speaks of a better educational system that emphasizes "workforce readiness, job training, and vocational education specifically geared for the twenty-first-century economy, including clear, demand-driven career pathways to higher-paying jobs."

What about learning to think? Learning to cooperate with others? To share? To have some sense of history and the world's great cultural and spiritual heritages? We need to think globally, not nationally. To become part of the world population. To erase boundaries. It should not be our goal to be "top dog." This is not productive, realistic, or future-oriented.

As for free-market globalization, it has done more harm than good because it has been imposed, looking at the financial bottom line rather than at the good of the people involved and their needs and their desires.

Generally speaking, we should shelve the American Dream as it is discussed in this article. It's part of the past. Let's think with a "beginner's mind."

ROBERT HOCHWALT

North Canton, OH