Every nation has an agreed upon legend that it uses to project an image of greatness upon the world. From the romantic, libertine ideals of the French to the refined elegance of the British commonwealth, these idealistic values highlight the complexities of an often-exaggerated origin story—one that its citizens can find meaning in and use as a cultural standard of acceptability. Tales of great heroism, resilience in the face of tragedy, collective sacrifice, and an abundant harvest for all to share. These great legends have been imbued, over time, with a deep sense of patriotism. Among them, the myth of the American Dream stands out as the most infamous.
The American Dream is an extremely attractive one. In its most basic form, it is the belief that any person, regardless of their circumstances, can achieve success and greatness through hard work and perseverance. Americans need only recall historical events such as the Boston Tea Party, where early Americans protested taxation and struggled against the forces of the British imperial powers that subjugated them. Or the California Gold Rush, which prompted hundreds of thousands of settlers to set their sights westward for the promise of literally striking gold, and thereby achieving long-lasting wealth and prosperity. One is a celebration of freedom from tyranny, while the other is a story of rugged individualism—though neither could be any further from the truth.
The true story of America is a tale of colonialism, genocide, and the exploitation of native populations and resources. And yet, modern Americans have not deviated from the early teachings. If overwork, rampant consumerism, and an over-reliance on credit are any indication, many Americans seem to truly believe that they are just one big break from striking it big and becoming filthy rich. And this belief, whether conscious or not, is the primary vehicle by which Americans keep themselves from achieving true, collective prosperity.
Polarization and Bigotry
The American political system depends on the successful application of in-group/out-group dynamics. This plays into humans’ basic evolutionary drive towards tribalism, where harsh living conditions dictated that tribes and communal groups competed with outsiders for scarce resources. Or otherwise banded together to take down a common enemy (e.g. while stalking and hunting a wild beast for food or fur.)
This Us vs. Them mindset, it turns out, is a useful tool in times of scarcity, and is born of a desperate and primal need for survival. It can be (and has been) invoked to produce a desired result for social control.
A benign use of Us vs. Them is the spirit of competition that propels sports teams to win championship games. For example, the New-Zealand-based All Blacks rugby team performs a powerful Haka dance at the start of each game, signaling a profound respect to their cultural heritage, and a firm commitment to defeating their opponents. Daily, groves of adoring sports fans cheer on their favorite teams; adorning their bodies with team-specific colors and paraphernalia, and lining stadiums and arenas for a chance to witness the action up close.
It is a truly transcendent experience to find oneself among a crowd of hopeful spectators all chanting in cheerful unison as they root root root for the home team heroes. And a truly terrifying experience to find oneself caught up in the chaotic aftermath of an emotionally-charged game, watching helplessly as supporters from the opposing teams descend upon the streets, their mounting hatred for one another escalating into mob violence.
And yet it is that very penchant for polarization that powers the American nation. The current political system depends on it. We poor humans are co-regulating animals, requiring an object or a target for our uncomfortable feelings. Some place to channel all that anger and despair. And this is why it has long been a tool for sociopolitical control here in the United States.
It’s incredibly primitive when you think about it. When toddlers begin their process of self-awareness and individuate from their parents, they begin to realize that they are their own unique personality, with their own unique set of thoughts and beliefs. They realize that another person cannot know for sure what they are thinking, and that their parental figures cannot know everything nor prove everything. Thus, the child is free to say or do something outwardly that contradicts his or her inner feelings and intentions.
Consider this anecdote about a three-year-old boy named TJ. TJ knows that he is not allowed to eat sweets before dinner, and certainly not without express permission from one of his parents. One day, TJ’s mother bakes a fresh batch of yummy-smelling chocolate chip cookies and leaves them on a cooling rack while she goes to do something in another room. Chocolate chip cookies being TJ’s absolute favorite dessert, he cannot help but to indulge himself. He climbs up to the counter using a dining room chair and hurriedly eats two of his mother’s warm, freshly-baked cookies. He knows that he has broken the rules, and that he will be punished if found out. So, when his mother returns from the other room and asks him why there are cookie crumbs all over the kitchen floor, TJ blames the transgression on his imaginary friend Bobby.
This is the basic process of scapegoating. While this is a childish example, scapegoating can be made far more sinister by the process of dehumanizing the chosen target, setting the stage for greater polarization.
The American political system is dominated by two opposing parties, constantly at one another’s throats. Aligning with one or the other is much like selecting a favorite sports team. If you are native to a particular locale and surrounded by loved ones who share similar lifestyles, values, and personality characteristics, the odds of you ever deviating from the norm are incredibly low. Much like your favorite sports teams, America’s top political parties are associated with team-specific colors and symbolic animal mascots.
Many Americans today will agree that the social systems we have in place are deeply flawed. Rising healthcare costs, high unemployment, stagnant wages, inflation, exorbitant cost of higher education, flaws and loopholes in the judicial system, government corruption, foreign wars, criminal activity and mass violence…These are the issues that most, if not all Americans are concerned with. Sadly, the United States may never truly be united on these issues because year after year, each party attempts to gain social favor by dehumanizing their political opponents to such a degree that supporting the other side in any way sounds downright treasonous.
Yes, the two dominant political factions are like neighboring tribes at war. Because there exist only two—well, only two with the social currency and financial support to be considered politically viable. Each party defines themselves based on what they are not. It’s the quickest, most efficient way to gain supporters. Americans have found themselves voting for the lesser of two evils for a long while now. And the silent majority gets completely eclipsed in the process.
Us vs Them is an incredibly effective tool because it allows Americans to keep buying into the lore of the American Dream. And just when it starts to become clear that it is nothing more than a mere pipe dream, we are given a convenient outlet for our righteous indignation. In other words, someone—anyone—to blame other than the system itself.
People are much simpler to deal with. You can shame, blame, or otherwise coerce them into submission. You can unify them against a common enemy and keep them bickering and distracted and punching down at every chance they get. You can do everything in your power to ensure they never start to question the absurdity of their situation and who stands to benefit the most from the status quo.
It should be given that the hallmark of any good system is that it operates in a way that benefits the overwhelming majority of all those who participate in it. If this is not the case, then it is not a system worth investing in. Or at the very least, it must be improved. This realization is an immediate call to action. These systems, now structurally unsound, have been long agreed upon. And this is precisely why improving them is so hard to do.
In order to improve a longstanding system, you have to do either one of two things:
- Become an authority figure that acts on behalf of the people to change the system from within. Or,
- Act in concert with the majority whose support powers the system, encouraging them to oppose it by strategically revoking their support.
Both approaches, while commendable in their own right, are equally risky. And with a relatively low success rate, it is safe to conclude that all access to the mythical American Dream will remain unattainable for the vast majority of Americans.
The Myth of Hard Work Leading to Success
American ideals were built on the age-old belief that one must pull themselves up by their bootstraps to get ahead in this life. What a comical image that evokes; the true picture of futility. And yet it is a serious, basic tenet of the American Dream. Just work hard. Just put your head down and work hard and you will get ahead. Is this what the kids these days are referring to as the grindset?
Anyway, just how many times have Americans heard this saying? Pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get to work. It is etched into the cultural psyche of the nation. Millennials are especially prone to hearing this admonishment from elders, being the first generation of Americans who have fared economically worse than their parents. Quick reminder that the oldest millennials are now in their early 40s, many of them still unable to afford homes or to provide for a family.
The reality of modern living has prompted a clear reshuffling of the goal posts. These days it’s equally as common to hear some repetition of the phrase, “Work smarter, not harder!” And the irony is that working smarter implies that success is built on more than just the ability to pull oneself up by the bootstraps. Better yet, success is not built on one’s own at all!
It’s part of the reason why professional networking events exist—to bring together groups of people who don’t know each other, but who want to leverage their personality to parlay the concept of social belonging into the possibility of gainful employment. It’s truly working smart when you surround yourself with a group of like-minded individuals who are just as motivated and as passionate as you are about having a roof over their head and not starving.
It’s plain to see that from an objective view, the hardest working Americans are among the lowest paid in society, from migrant laborers to retail and service workers, to caregivers, dishwashers, and custodial staff. Having connections and the right amount of luck are equally as important (if not more important) than having a strong work ethic. And this is precisely why the personality hire exists as a dominant trope in the American workplace.
No matter what your professional strategy, at the end of the day, people gotta eat. It’s as simple as that. No use overcomplicating this basic truth. The American people are controlled by the things they can’t afford to say no to. For example, low wage earners and all those without the advantage of robust social connections find it hard to advocate for themselves in the workplace. The vast majority are simply unable to resist their own exploitation.
When you have to feed, clothe, and shelter loved ones, low wages are better than no wages. Those who oversee fiscal operations already know that. This is why, slowly over time, the messaging of hard work has changed into one of clever schemes and machinations. Make people like you, surround yourself with those you can benefit from, and most importantly, project an image that shows key decision-makers that you are in some way above the standard living conditions of the average mass of red-blooded Americans.
If at this point it’s beginning to sound a bit grandiose or Machiavellian, it’s because it is. And it’s by design. This is the truly dark underbelly of the American Dream. This brings us to the final talking point.
Celebrity and the Power of Positive Belief
Americans have been indoctrinated, from early childhood through to adulthood, with positive catch phrases like Fake it ‘til you make it! Or, You can do anything you set your mind to! These upbeat colloquialisms tow a very fine line between timeless, helpful nuggets of wisdom and naively insensitive gobbledygook.
God bless the child who is sure that simply wanting something badly enough and working hard to achieve it is enough to make it a reality. We must preserve, for as long as humanly possible, their pure-hearted idealism. You see, that’s the kind of spunk and main character energy that such things as American Dreams were made of.
We must shield these precious ones from the desperate droves of hardworking, belief-wielding Americans whose sincere hopes of ever escaping the forced system of low wage imprisonment never amount to much of anything at all. We must not let them find out just how insidious the system of wealth inequality is in this great nation. How your zip code and who your relatives are and what technologies you are exposed to and what color your skin is and how physically attractive you are and how badly people want to be friends with you and how poor access to educational and professional opportunities can adversely impact your life trajectory—despite all your hard-earned efforts!
We must not tell them. Because in spite of all this, a beautiful flower may still grow from a seemingly barren crack in a random sidewalk smack dab in the middle of the ghetto.
Have you ever met someone like this? A diamond in the rough? These people are simply magnetic and truly inspiring. How can we not revere them? Against all odds, back against the ropes, they manage to triumph over this game called life. And the best of them can touch the hearts of millions. They represent the archetypical star—reminding us of that magical power of belief that the American Dream was founded upon.
As for the worst of them…Well, they have had to fight tooth and nail for every scrap they were given. And this has left them bitter and hardened, their hearts calcified forever more by what they’ve endured. They’ve sworn their allegiance to their own subjective (yet all too common) logic: the idea that If I can do it, anyone should be able to. This is the only thing they can trust. Not the lived experience of others, not the statistical unlikelihood, and certainly not the whining and complaining of people whose seemingly inherent inferiority prevents them from developing the necessary strength of character to succeed.
And herein lies the magical power of positive belief that continues to perpetuate the lie of the American Dream. Everywhere you look, Americans find themselves positively enthralled by the allure of a great rags-to-riches story. We are fascinated by celebrity. These demi-gods walk among us as living, breathing representations of triumph over cruel systems of oppression.
Well…not really as victors over the system, so much as top bosses and agents of the system itself. “See?!” they seem to call out to us, “there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the systems we’ve created. Look at me. I turned out just fine.”
Phew! Thank God! What a relief!
America is a truly unique and uncanny place. Nowhere else in the world could a popular reality television star win a presidential election by majority vote. And this is why celebrity worship is a distinctly American phenomenon that has very rapidly spread out on a global scale. Americans worship celebrities even to the point of complete idolization. Because we need to know how Drake started from the bottom and made it here. How 50 triumphed over the many men who wished death upon him. How Kim’s butt made her a billionaire. How Queen Bee and her girls came to run the world. And How Michelle keeps managing to go high time and time again.
We are living through a pivotal moment in U.S. history. Technological advancements have led to the quick and widespread dissemination of information. Unlike ever before, people are able to share their sentiments about important issues and gain a large audience of community feedback in real time. Here on the precipice of a cultural reckoning, now is the time for the little dreamer in all of us to reimagine our collective future, striving to etch out more and more pathways towards that true north guiding star: the ever-elusive American Dream.
The Color Cubicle 