American Dream

You've watched the American Dream come true. That someone who isn't rich, isn't well connected, and belongs to what the Canadians call "visible minorities" can make it to the top because he is smart and hard-working, that is exactly what America is all about. That is the dream it has inspired in immigrants for the last 200 years, even earlier, from the Pilgrims who founded Jamestown in Virginia in 1620 to the Mexicans that keep crossing the long border under more and more difficult circumstances to mow the lawns in American suburbia, the Indian software engineers that come on H1B1 visas to write the code for google and facebook in Silicon Valley. They all come for 'the pursuit of happiness' , for the promise that 'all men are created equal', for the promise of democracy and progress.  He starts and ends his speech on that note, an affirmation of the American dream: 

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

Today is a day we can all share this dream. If dreams come true, it's not always in the way we expect it, and, of course, not all dreams come true. But without dreams, the present looks grey and the future empty. 

Let's celebrate today and get to work again tomorrow. Obama and his team will have to do the same!