As Congress wrestled with the massive bailout tied to America’s financial crisis, news reports have swirled around Wall Street fatcats and the impact on Main Street.

Amid all of the finger-pointing about how it came to this, there are interesting questions about values and priorities of American society that warrant answers, or at least intelligent debate.

The run-up was driven by the housing market. Loans were made to people undeserving of credit, or the amount of credit offered, and creative ways were found to package risky mortgages to sell as high-stakes investments.

Stepping away from this complicated situation, should we look in the mirror and consider how, as a society, we set the perfect stage for this moment?

Should any of us be asked to define the ‘American dream,’ the response likely includes a good job, a family with two-and-a-half kids, and, certainly, owning a home. It’s the fairly standard answer, and for a majority, the strive to define home ownership as a basic right has led to many policy and financial decisions to make that right accessible.

Perhaps 100 years ago, the American dream might have been articulated by newcomers to Lewiston-Auburn as a chance to provide for their families, and having freedoms and opportunities unavailable in their native country.

These newcomers lived in downtown meticulous downtown dwellings. They watched after their children, worked hard to feed them, and reminded them that hard work and perseverance could open doors their parents never could.

When did the American dream of hard work and economic opportunity get replaced with a sense of entitlement that would lead many to believe home ownership is almost as basic a right as free speech?

While growing up in New Auburn, I had the unique opportunity to be raised in the same apartment that my father was raised in. To my family, we had a roof over our head, food to eat, bills were paid, and playgrounds and ballfields were within walking distance.

Not all people saw this as acceptable, though. In school, I can recall times when I was mocked as poor for living in an apartment. Nevertheless, my parents continued worked hard, saved and when I reached high school, they were able to buy their first home.

My childhood was never affected by living an apartment and my drive to stay in New Auburn was fueled by the sense of community I felt growing up. Yet by today’s standard of the American Dream, I should have lived in a house and my parents should have stretched their means to reach this social standard.

Lewiston and Auburn operate programs, like many cities, to promote homeownership among low-income families. In one program, the minimum income requirement is about $25,000, and applicants must demonstrate they have at least $500 in their savings account. The fact that someone earning barely $12-an-hour is positioned to own a home is frightening, given the drastic rise in prices for everything from gasoline to food.

By pushing people aggressively to reach for home ownership perhaps beyond their means, do we force needs for other subsidies? While some wish to advocate for public transportation with $4 a gallon gas, can you really deliver it if we spread people into the countryside through their home ownership?

With the cost of heating oil, the need for increased funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program is an major issue. Is this exacerbated from those of limited means getting into homes and being shocked when heating oil doubles, which they never budgeted for?

While many of us prefer to blame fatcats at investment and financial firms for our economic failings, it might be better to reassess our American priorities.

Perhaps there can be a new “American dream,” in light of this financial crisis, that encourages us to pursue hard work and future economic opportunity over the fairy tale that home ownership is, or should be, in reach of everyone.

Jonathan LaBonte of New Auburn is a columnist for the Sun Journal. E-mail: [email protected].