Practice 7　　Average household debt in the United States is currently 130 percent of average household income. The U. S. household savings rate is close to zero. Consumer confidence has plummeted with the value of 401(k) plans and retirement nest eggs. Car sales are at a fifteen-year low. And credit card defaults look like the next shoe to drop as cash-strapped Americans have run up credit card debt to postpone the day of reckoning.　　Too many Americans have been expressing the Dream through the acquisition of stuff. Americans need a refresher course on the American dream. The Constitution speaks of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, not an automatic chicken in every pot. The American Dream embraced by immigrants over the past two centuries has been the opportunity to set one’s own goals and pursue them honestly to the limits of one’s ambition and ability. Too many Americans have been expressing the Dream through the acquisition of stuff. Others see the Dream as raising a family in a land that delivers Franklin Roosevelt’s four freedoms. Still others dream of their children accessing the highest possible level of education, living healthy lives, being good citizens in their communities.