My American Dream and How It Ended (ePub)

By the end of the 1960s, the American Dream as people of my generation -- the generation that grew up in the 1940s and 1950s -- knew it, had collapsed. For some, the chaotic and disheartening events of the 1960s led to profound changes in their outlook on life. In my case, the sixties ended with my family and I leaving the United States and moving to Israel. My generations early lives had been lived in a post World War II world that, while dynamic and changing, nevertheless retained America's traditional values and beliefs. The book describes a boyhood spent on the playground and dreams of being a sports hero. It tells the story of long train trips across the country from Los Angeles to Cleveland. The book delves into the life of a fully assimilated Jewish family and my quest to establish my Jewish identity. Despite the turmoil around me, I lived a traditional American life in the 1960s. I married and raised a family, earned a Phd and became a college professor, and stayed clear of the newly emerging drug culture and social protest. I kept inside the pain I felt when, one by one, the leaders I had believed in were assassinated. In the end, though, the unobservable but profound changes that were occurring within me, led to the decision to leave the United States. The last section of the book describes the very different world I and my family found in Israel.