(Cross posted at Gather.com)

We hear a lot of stories in the news about the budget deficit, or the trade deficit. If we are reading alternative news sources, we may hear about the deficit of compassion in helping with the reconstruction of the gulf coast, or we may hear something about imbalances in our use of energy and the excessive amount of carbon dioxide we are pushing into the air. Yet on this day where we commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr., a different deficit becomes apparent. We have a dream deficit.

As the final keynote speaker at the National Conference on Media Reform noted, Dr. King is remember not for saying, “I have a complaint” or “I have a long list of things that are really upsetting me”. No, Dr. King is remembered for talking about his dream.

Where are our dreams for a better America, for a country that leads the world with innovative ideas and compassion instead of pre-emptive wars? Where are our dreams for what a rebuilt gulf coast could look like? Where are our dreams for a new media landscape that encourages critical thinking and civic participation?

Okay, Aldon, what is your dream, you might ask. Well, let me start off by being a bit meta. My dream is that we as individuals and we as a nation relearn how do dream, how to have hope and how to return this country to the land of dreams, the land of opportunity.