Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt was elected this month to succeed Colorado Governor Jared Polis as the new chair of the National Governors Association.
The NGA.
He has promised to “re-ignite the American Dream”… according to a story by journalist Janelle Stecklein, writing for the Oklahoma Voice this week.
I’ve never been to Oklahoma, but it appears that maybe folks there need to have their American Dream re-ignited. And in other places, too, presumably.
Governor Stitt was quoted in Ms. Stecklein’s article.
“The beautiful thing about the American Dream is that there are as many dreams as there are people,” Stitt said. “In a time where all we hear is about how divided we are, let’s remind them that we agree on this: the American Dream doesn’t need to be re-imagined, it needs to be re-ignited. Governors are in a unique position to lead this charge. I’m grateful for the trust of my fellow Governors as we start this journey together.”
Not re-imagined, but re-ignited. We’ve done enough imagining. Time for some good old fashioned igniting.
Governor Stitt said, during his one-year term as NGA chair, he’ll prioritize creating economic opportunities, on-the-job educational experiences for youth, and a focus on artificial intelligence.
Personally, I think the American Dream needs to be re-imagined, instead of re-ignited, but I’m willing to be proved wrong, and if Governor Stitt is going to be the person to prove me wrong, more power to him.
I do agree, meanwhile, that there are probably as many dreams as there are people, as he suggested. I also think dogs and cats have dreams. When he’s asleep, my cat Roscoe often acts like he’s dreaming.
And of course, I have dreams of my own. Pretty much every morning, I wake up and realize that I’ve been dreaming, and the woman who was holding my hand a moment earlier, doesn’t actually exist. Which is just as well, because I didn’t even know her name. Or else I forgot it immediately upon waking up.
Strangely enough, it’s a different woman each morning, and I have to wonder about my sense of loyalty.
As far as I can tell, the women in my dreams are nearly always Americans. At least they talk like Americans, and act like Americans.
I don’t think that’s the kind of American Dream that Governor Stitt is referring to, however. He strikes me as a happily married man. (If such a thing still exists.) I suspect he’s talking about the Dream of having a corporate job and a cozy home in the suburbs with a white picket fence, and enough money to put your kids through college so they will feel guilty enough to take care of you in your old age. Or at the very least, visit you in the nursing home.
Not only is the American Dream different for every person — think! That’s 320 million different dreams! — but also your dream changes as you mature. When you get to be my age, you have no interest in a corporate job or a cozy home in the suburbs, even if it has a white picket fence. But you still want your kids to feel guilty.
My American Dream, which could possibly be re-ignited given the right kind of flame, is a baby-blue 1967 Ford Mustang in perfect condition.
But I understand Governor Stitt has only a one-year term as chair of the NGA. I wish him all kinds of luck if he wants to re-ignite my dream of owning a Mustang. One year isn’t much time, considering how long I’ve been waiting already.
Actually, I would probably settle for remembering the woman’s name after I wake up.
And everyone has a different dream, of course. Some people believe the ‘American Dream’ has nothing to do with personal economic success, but instead, that it’s all about a country where we care about one another, and about the poor, and about justice for all, and liberty.
But that’s just a dream.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all. You can read more stories on his Substack account.