My husband's grandparents and great grandparents worked hard and invested smart. They believed in this great land of ours, and the leaders chosen to run it. They did their part to bolster and support the economy, the war effort, the stock market, the infrastructure, and the education system. They bought stock in start-up companies, now Wall Street market leaders. They made careful provisions to leave these stock to successive generations of their grandchildren, my husband included.
Among the stock was GMC heritage stock, so called because it was so old. We continued to nurture the stock even in bad times, even when it no longer paid dividends, just like the original investors had. We believed in them and their wishes, and we believed in our country.
Last summer, GMC was turned over to the government, for all intents and purposes. I have never heard a word mentioned about what happened to the stock held by families like ours. Well, it is gone.
It was just simply dissolved, eradicated, disappeared. No hope for reclaiming it later. It is gone. We no longer have it. After a century of loyal investment, we are no longer owners of GMC stock. Stocks have been issued to employees, in a true socialistic fashion. But, the original investors? No kiss, no promise, no thank you, just worthless paper in our safe.
For the first time in a century, we can not give that stock to our children. It cannot help a child through college or medical school. It cannot help build a home, a business, a dream. Heritage stock embodied the American dream, and it, like the American dream for many of us, is gone.
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