CNN’s Jack Cafferty has an interesting question for viewers of his show today, and invites readers to contribute to the discussion. How is the American Dream changing?

We’re in the midst of a recession not seen since the great depression. Millions of Americans are out of work, unemployment has soared to 9.4 percent. Millions of good paying jobs have been have been shipped overseas never to return. And the manufacturing base that was once the engine of our economy is on life support. We simply don’t make “things” anymore.

We are in debt up to our eyeballs to China and other foreign countries as we increasingly look to them to finance out deficit spending. And through it all have you noticed? There’s no talk in Washington of cutting expenses or reducing the size of government.

There are unfunded liabilities in the tens of trillions of dollars for Medicare and Social Security; and no plan for how to pay for health care reform. Add in the drain of millions of illegal aliens and the fact that many states are bankrupt. We’re in serious trouble here.

Here’s my question to you: How is the American dream changing?

Good question, Jack, and I’d like to invite readers to contribute their own thoughts for an upcoming piece I’m working on. Of course, I’ll volunteer a few initial thoughts of my own.

I’m probably older than quite a few of the readers here, but not as old as the dreamers of my father’s generation. The American Dream has most certainly changed, and like many an old fogey I would say not for the better. The biggest area of change seems to be in the scope of our expectations, not only of what we believe we will get, but of what we’ll have to put out to get it.

I’m old enough to remember the era of small, family owned businesses. In the town where I grew up there were quite a few, including two local butchers. The family name was tied to the butchering, preparation and serving of quality meat. The sons had an expectation of inheriting the business, running it, and passing it on to their children. They’re both gone now, of course. The same applied to several barber shops in the area.

For those not involved in a family which owned and operated a successful business, there were still traditions involving work. General Electric had three plants operating near my home, and many families grew around fathers who worked there for their entire lives, built a retirement plan, and knew their children would be able to get good jobs there as well. Today, corporate culture treats employees as a necessary evil to be trimmed at every opportunity and costs per employee must be kept to a minimum. That is no longer the American dream.

But we, as workers, seem to have evolved a very different set of sensibilities as well. There was a time when you expected to work hard, frequently get dirty, but earn your way so you could buy a home, raise a family and hopefully retire to do some fishing.

Today’s environment is geared toward a throwaway, high tech and/or Wall St. culture where we should all wind up with an office job where a fingernail never gets broken and we amass great wealth in investments where our money does more work than we do and we vacation in the islands. The collapse of Wall St. should have been a wake-up call to all of us on that score.

I think we have had such a good ride in America on the backs of the Greatest Generation and what they wanted for us that our grasp has exceeded our reach by a large margin. And the current dismal conditions may be a much needed wake-up call for those coming up now. You may not be a tech bubble millionaire who will never have to turn a wrench and makes millions flipping real estate. You may have to work for your supper and save your money. But if you make a good life for you and your family, have the occasional vacation to go camping, and wind up happy with what you’ve done for your life, you’ve done a good job.

So… what is the American Dream today? Has it changed? Or, as the Tubes once famously asked… what do you want from life? To kidnap an heiress or threaten her with a knife? (Watch that video if you’ve never heard the tune.) Let us know. What DO you want from life?

EDIT: Apparently some of you have never heard of The Tubes. Here are the lyrics. Read along and listen to the song. It’s particularly applicable in our modern era.

What do you want from life
To kidnap an heiress
or threaten her with a knife
What do you want from life
To get cable TV
and watch it every night

There you sit
a lump in your chair
Where do you sleep
and what do you wear
when you’re sleeping

What do you want from life
An Indian guru
to show you the inner light
What do you want from life
a meaningless love affair
with a girl that you met tonight

How can you tell when you’re doin’ alright
Does your bank account swell
While you’re dreaming at night
How do know when you’re really in love
Do violins play when you’re touching the one
That you’re loving

What do you want from life
Someone to love
and somebody that you can trust
What do you want from life
To try and be happy
while you do the nasty things you must

Well, you can’t have that, but if you’re an American citizen you are entitled to:
a heated kidney shaped pool,
a microwave oven–don’t watch the food cook,
a Dyna-Gym–I’ll personally demonstrate it in the privacy of your own home,
a king-size Titanic unsinkable Molly Brown waterbed with polybendum,
a foolproof plan and an airtight alibi,
real simulated Indian jewelry,
a Gucci shoetree,
a year’s supply of antibiotics,
a personally autographed picture of Randy Mantooth
and Bob Dylan’s new unlisted phone number,
a beautifully restored 3rd Reich swizzle stick,
Rosemary’s baby,
a dream date in kneepads with Paul Williams,
a new Matador, a new mastodon,
a Maverick, a Mustang, a Montego,
a Merc Montclair, a Mark IV, a meteor,
a Mercedes, an MG, or a Malibu,
a Mort Moriarty, a Maserati, a Mac truck,
a Mazda, a new Monza, or a moped,
a Winnebago–Hell, a herd of Winnebago’s we’re giving ’em away,
or how about a McCulloch chainsaw,
a Las Vegas wedding,
a Mexican divorce,
a solid gold Kama Sutra coffee pot,
or a baby’s arm holding an apple?