The Unsettling Similarities Between Credit Card Companies and Test Publishers

I am still thinking about my credit score woes and how capitalism/materialism just isn’t working for me, and the American dream. 

After all, isn’t it a dream that is supposed to be held by all Americans? We know that not all Americans, myself included, want to compete and win. We don’t want to start from scratch, with little money in our pockets, and claw our way to the top, building a small family business into an empire. I've talked about this before but it isn't out of my system. 

That is what I understand the American dream to be – you achieve it if you are good at capitalism. Correct me if I’m wrong. (The American dream also seems to apply more to people coming into our country from other countries. For them, many aspects of the dream do still apply. I would argue, however, that it isn’t an American dream but a dream of someone from whatever country they are from – Mary from Ireland’s dream of her better life in America, for example.)

My American dream is a simple one, and it doesn’t hinge on being American so you could just take that word off -- to have a great life with the ability to raise my family, pursue my interests, learn over my lifetime, be happy, and be kind to others – without having to worry that if I get ill or injured or lose my job, everything I have will be lost in moments. That last part is the most important, I hate to say.

I don’t want to work all my life at a job just because it pays enough to buy several cars and a big house -- and the insurance attached to them. I’m seriously downsizing my life; I’m tired of owning things. 

I don’t want to be forced to insure everything I own because I’m afraid of losing it. I’m tired of paying so much for insurance – health, car, home, whatever. Think about how much money we throw at insurance companies. And what do we get for it? 

I don’t want to work toward retirement, which is all about being able to afford to live after the age of 65 -- I want to “work” till I die because I love what I do (at this moment, I’m not quite sure what I do but I love it. Of course, I couldn’t do it if my parents hadn’t left me a little money when they passed. Ironic. Thanks, Mom and Dad. Love you.)

I know that I am not the only one who is tired of capitalism/materialism. Many are now carpooling, using public transportation, organic farming, getting rid of the excess, and downsizing to tiny house or RV living. The “slow” movement looks at a simpler life, where we take time to learn and to appreciate what we have. What's the rush?

We are starting to see families and communities pulling together to build up local business (interestingly, all of this occurring as we work at the same time to build a global community). We are looking to the past in a positive way, to find those things we did well back then and do them again.

And guess what? New Mexico is the perfect place for all of these things to happen. We are an amazing state! Seriously. A lot has happened here, or is happening, that we should celebrate – the New Deal WPA history of Bosque Farms and other NM communities, the Route 66 revival, and many others -- and there is so much we could be working on together to make New Mexico an even better place to call home.  

We don’t need to get laws passed to make sure our kids learn. We don’t need to pass standardized tests to prove we’re smart. Test publishers are making the rules regarding our kids’ learning, and we don’t have to listen to them. They don't know what they’re talking about. 

We don’t need to follow standards set up by credit card companies that say we must keep six credit cards open, pay a mortgage, “own” three cars, and be barely able to pay our bills each month to show we are credit worthy.

We need to trust in ourselves more and quit listening to what test publishers say our children need to know, quit believing credit card companies that tell us it’s good to be in debt, quit hoping that our legislators will do something meaningful to lighten our load, and just do it ourselves.

All we have to do, at least as far as our kids’ learning is concerned, is register each and every one of our school-aged kids as a home schooler and then “hire” neighborhood teachers. Then we build a system in which parents, teachers, and students are key players. The home school umbrella is a big one. There's a lot of room for interpretation and creativity. 

That isn’t the only option; I’m just throwing it out there. I suggest we take the slow movement to heart and build a learning system around the idea that family and community are important and great things can be achieved if we just slow down and do them right.

Let’s do this! Who’s with me? Really! I need to hear back, even if you just “Like” this post. Comments are even better. Just sayin’…

I’m getting settled in my new home, and fall approaches, my favorite season. It’s a good time to travel. I plan to do some road trips, maybe starting with Silver City. It seems to be a musical city, supporting a culture similar to Austin, TX, but even better, I bet, with a New Mexico twist. So I’m going to find out and learn something new. If anyone from Silver City is reading this, let me know if there’s something in particular I should learn more about – music related or otherwise.