In which I suggest that the American Dream is propaganda.

I spend a lot of time on Twitter, and I’m following more and more political feeds (as a result of my fascination with Anonymous). I now even see tweets I disagree with, because my timeline’s not as curated as it once was.

And so this[*] bullshit happened the other day:

And it got me thinking.

“The poor” are all lazy, entitled creeps who want to take our wealth from us, right? We seem to think so, even if there really isn’t much evidence to support it. The idea’s so embedded in our cultural consciousness that even I used to believe it, to the point of being frightened of the poor: the most helpless, disenfranchised, and powerless sector of America.

Jeez. I’m not like that. I pride myself on my compassion. Where did this heartless idea really come from?

And then I realized: it came from our pride and joy, our rallying point, our deepest belief. It came from the American Dream.

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The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success.

Everyone believes that America is the land of opportunity and that if they just apply themselves, they could be a business owner, or an astronaut, or Donald Trump. We pride ourselves on our national stick-to-it-iveness, our ingenuity, and our classlessness. Anyone could be President!

Except it isn’t true that anyone can become the President. To be considered for that vaunted position, one must have come from top-echelon families, schools, and businesses.

It simply isn’t true that if you just work hard enough, you can have anything you want. While a good worth ethic is definitely a fine quality, it isn’t enough to overcome chance, circumstance, and bad luck.

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There’s a homeless guy who comes every month into the agency where I volunteer for a food bank card. He’s not eligible for food stamps. He has a PhD. He went to an Ivy League school. He’s polite, observant, and well-spoken.

He became homeless after the beginning of the recession, because he had no family to take him in when he was downsized and could no longer pay his mortgage. After he wore out his welcome with friends, he moved into his old pickup with his dog.

When I met him, it was winter, with sub-zero temperatures at night, and he’d come in to ask for a blanket. He’s sober and drug-free.

He’s been homeless for years, because once you become homeless you tend to stay that way.

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Our 50’s-style wide-eyed belief in the American Dream is poisoning our culture. If you really think that only effort is required to make it, then you also believe the reverse corollary: that anyone who has failed to rise economically is intrinsically inferior to those who have succeeded.

This type of thinking is dangerous to the culture as a whole. It dehumanizes people merely for being victims of circumstance. It makes us think that we’re not like the needy; that they’re somehow fundamentally different than us. It divides us, and it gives us a patriotic reason to look with disgust and distaste upon other human beings.

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Yes, of course some people are assholes by nature, and they don’t want to work, and they’re incapable of feeling shame: I don’t argue that. But let me tell you that the vast majority of the people who come to Helpline are ashamed that they’re there.

How would you feel, if you had to go to a charitable agency to get a warm blanket, or some food, or beg for a bus pass so you could get to your part-time, minimum wage job?

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I not only work with the poor, I am poor.

Without family, I’d have slipped right down the slope from divorced (I left him because he was an addict) to laid off (I had a good job, but the company closed my office because of the recession), to couch surfing (I would have gone to a city to look for work) to living in my truck when I couldn’t find any (because the technical specialty I’m trained in is rapidly disappearing).

I understand intimately that intelligence, a good work ethic, and a good attitude are not everything that’s required to survive: luck is an inescapable component of the equation. Those of you who still have well-paying jobs are, for the most part, simply luckier than I was.

I don’t want your money. I don’t want your things. The people I serve at my volunteer job want what you want: a good job, the ability to make a difference, happiness. They don’t want hand-outs; they want their dignity back.

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We think we’re the land of opportunity, but that’s only to a point. We’d never elect a Russian immigrant to high office. He can start a modest business and enjoy modest success, but he can’t run the country.

In other words, the opportunity only goes to a point. Take advantage of it and we call you clever. Be in the wrong place at the wrong time (open a small grocery a year before Walmart builds a Supercenter in your neighborhood, for example, and lose all) and end up destitute, and we begrudge you social services.

Land of opportunity… unless you’re unlucky. Then we hate you, because you’ve failed. This is the legacy of our American Dream.

[*] I’m not even going to go into how Internet connectivity is imperative, especially for the poor, because that’s a whole ‘nother rant.