The term "American dream" was coined 1931 by J.T. Adams (1878-1949), U.S. writer and historian, in "Epic of America." I found a copy of it in a used book store a few years ago for just a couple of dollars. A new paperback edition (click) has recently been published. [The American Dream is] "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position."

I've been asked to blog about tonight's Presidential debate. The comments I make will be my own, I do not speak for our Small Business Chamber, which takes no position on issues or candidates.

You can watch my comments about the debate tonight just click on the link below: http://live.denverpost.com/Event/University_of_Denver_Debate_2012_First_Presidential_Debate_Community_Bloggers

I'll be scoring each of the 6 debate rounds tonight using the PERMA system described by Martin Seligman in his recent book Flourish (click here).  P is Positive Affect; E is Engagement (or flow); R is Relationships; M is Meaning (the big picture); and A is Accomplishment.

I'll also be looking for acknowledgement from each debater that it is not nearly so important who gets elected President as that it is vital that we have strong grassroots, a continual replenishing of new voters who take their job seriously, new volunteers, and new candidates for local office. A home run for me would be recognition of our Wonderful Colorado Caucus, our grassroots system for nominating to the primary ballot, the best chance the common person has for serving in elected public office. For more about our Colorado Caucus see http://www.COCaucus.org