The American dream only four decades ago was a good job, a comfortable home, and a nice car. Today, the American dream demands guaranteed employment, a retirement plan, a home, two or three cars, a vacation home, summer cottage, lake house, travel trailer, or motor home, insurance that covers everything and every possible situation, and a college education for all of the children. The possession of material things and a guaranteed future that allows us to use those things has become the standard by which we judge success.
The initial purpose of material things was to make our lives easier and more comfortable. However, over the years they have begun to take control of us, rather than our controlling them.
The affluence of the American way of life has mixed blessings. On the one hand, our prosperity has made life much easier and money more available. On the other, things purchased by this affluence require a great deal of our time and attention. In fact, the urgency of our materialistic lifestyle becomes a tyranny that demands and consumes most of our energy.
Industrialization provided a higher standard of living with a shorter workweek. In the early 1900s, it took every family member working 60 hours per week, many times seven days a week, just to make ends meet. By the mid-twentieth century, the average workweek was 48 hours, and in most families the husband was the primary wage earner. Now, in more than 70 percent of American families two incomes are necessary to support the family's materialistic lifestyle.
Yet most America's consider the pursuit of these material things to be normal and acceptable. Nevertheless, most are not content with their lives. So, in essence, rather than providing more contentment, abundance has produced less contentment and we still live a life of want, even with all that we own.
