American Dream Fantasy

To say I started off the day today in a foul mood wouldn't be accurate. I was feeling fairly good thinking about what should have been a pleasant work day. However, in general lately I've been in a bit of a funk. You see, I've come to realize the whole American Dream of home ownership is a facade--a lie. You never really own your own home. We've been working hard to pay down our mortgage, and with it in reach, thought we could relax, but when we looked harder it seems that the yearly real estate taxes in total will still amount to about $500 a month. The government owns the property, not us, not ever. I know it should be obvious, but when you spend the better part of your life paying a mortgage, even though you know the tax and insurance escrow is there, it is just lumped in with 'mortgage' and it's sort of a matter of 'out of sight, out of mind'. Since the vast majority of people never pay off their homes, they never really feel the impact of that government levy. They are lulled into the belief that the American Dream exists when in reality, it is just a fantasy.