Four American Myths

Some truths are unpleasant. Nevertheless the truth must not be denied. We may wish to believe in pleasant myths but letting go of false beliefs is actually good for us. Children grieve Santa Claus once they learn the truth, nevertheless they accept the truth because it is part of growing up. American adults need to grow up. We have allowed ourselves to believe in myths for far too long. No doubt some people will cling fiercely to the old myths but, we have far more to lose than our innocence by refusing to let go of them.

The first among these fables is the Horatio Alger myth. Horatio Alger was a popular American author in the nineteenth century. He was sort of an alternative to Charles Dickens. Dickens is famous for his novels and stories portraying the plight of the poor and downtrodden of England. Alger wrote stories for boys. These were intended inspire them to engage in hard work and demonstrate good morals. While hard work and good morals are laudable in and of themselves, Alger's stories put forth the idea that these attributes are inevitably rewarded with tangible and handsome rewards. For instance, the title character in one of Alger's books Mark The Match-Boy, winds up rich and successful and even marries his wealthy boss's daughter. This good fortune is subsequent to his heroic selflessness, good character and hard work. These attributes are noble. Another thing about them is that they are relatively commonplace. Most people do work hard, most people are honest and trustworthy and most people are altruistic. These meritorious characteristics are common among middle class, working class and poor Americans.  The only American demographic group among whom they are less than common is the rich. Despite over one hundred and fifty years of contrary evidence the Horatio Alger myth remains entrenched in the American gestalt.

The second American fable is that capitalism and democracy are synonymous that one is necessary to the other. This particular myth persists despite the indisputable evidence which directly contradicts it. Most Americans are employees. As employees the biggest portion of Americans daily lives are spent at work. Some are employees of government agencies or perhaps private non-profit corporations. The majority are probably employees of private capitalist or for profit companies and corporations. This means that most Americans spend the largest segment of their days under totally autocratic circumstances. This was not the vision of America's founders. They lived in a time of independent farmers (of course many of them were slave holders), craftsmen and merchants. Nobody is truly free if they are forced to sell themselves into bondage in order to survive. This used to be called indentured servitude. People would sell themselves into service for a specified period of time in order to gain a delayed reward which would allow them to go into business for themselves. In our capitalist system indentured servitude has been expanded into a life-time of work at the whim of others. Americans today work longer hours than citizens of any other developed country and our odds of cashing in our rewards and going into business for ourselves are lower than anywhere else. The life of most Americans is one of servitude from beginning to end.

The third American myth is that what is good for corporations is good for Americans. This myth includes the lie that rich people are "job creators." It may have been Dwight Eisenhower who originally said "What's good for General Motors is good for America." This fable persists, though it is no longer specifically tied to GM, it is generalized to capitalist entities in general. A company can create unsafe products and as long as the company is making money at it, the company is seen as benefiting America. Industries pollute the air and water, with the costs left to us, and because their balance sheets show a profit these industries are seen as good and essential. A capitalist entity does not even have to produce anything to be lionized. If the stock-market is going up the economy is said to be booming no matter how lousy the lives of most Americans are! The evidence is absolutely clear that what is good for American business is not necessarily good for Americans. Often what appears good for business is just what is good for the next quarterly report. What is good for us may not be good for business, at least not in the short run.

The final myth is a two part fable. The first part is that unregulated capitalism always yields the best most efficient results. The second part is that the so-called captains of industry are the best and brightest people in the country. Any objective view of the facts would expose the obvious fallaciousness of these myths. Consider for instance transportation in America versus transportation in other countries. Our system is dominated by market forces. Far from being the most efficient, smartest and safest system possible, American transportation is characterized by inefficiency, stupidity and danger.  Most of our bridges are ready to collapse. Our roads are clogged and going from place to place is one of the most death defying things an American can do. The whole system is ridiculous. Staying with transportation, the industry leaders have consistently made stupid short term decisions, craven decisions and decisions which have directly led to the deaths of thousands of Americans. Other industries have been no better whether we look at oil spills, bad drugs, or fraudulent financial institutions. Clearly a hands off approach to market forces is stupid. Capitalism has become a sort of secular religion. It is a false faith, and like Moses himself we should condemn the worship of the "Golden Calf" or what the faithful among capitalists call the "unseen hand of the market." These faiths no longer serve us if they ever did.

It is time to grow up! We need to take an adult approach toward running our society. We need to objectively determine the best strategies for reaching our common goals of a free just society which allows each of us an equal opportunity to pursue happiness. 

Russell