year of a million dreams

This year has been Disneyland's "Year of a million dreams." Word on the street is they are going to continue it for another year, but I have yet to confirm that. I have been thinking a lot about the many privileges I have and the level of excess in our nation. Last night, we watched the fireworks show, which was beautiful, but I couldn't help but think, "How much money was spent on this?" I often have trouble really enjoying things because I get concerned with what is being wasted, thrown away, or spent that could be invested differently. As I stood there, I thought, this easily cost $10,000, if not $20,000 or $30,000. And being a former math nerd, I kept doing the math--well, this is their Christmas show, so that's a month and a half of spending...45 days, let's say. If we go with a base cost...that's $450,000. That's almost half a million dollars. Holy cow!! I wondered what would happen if they spent that on feeding starving children or something less empty. Not that I don't enjoy fireworks, but it's hard to think of how much good could be done with such a grand amount of money. So, I'm thinking Disney is hardly going to listen to me or cancel their fireworks shows for the season, but I thought, if I were granted my Disney dream, it would be to have the money spent on the fireworks for a night donated to charity. That's my dream for the year of a million dreams.