Robert Reich writes that there are four great American myths:
The first tale: The Triumphant Individual.
It’s the little guy or gal who works hard, takes risks, believes in him or herself, and eventually gains wealth, fame and honor. The tale is epitomized in the life of Abe Lincoln, born in a log cabin, who believed that “the value of life is to improve one’s condition.” The moral: with enough effort and courage, anyone can make it in America.
The second tale: The Benevolent Community
This is the story of neighbors and friends who pitch in for the common good. It goes back to John Winthrop’s A Model of Christian Charity, delivered onboard a ship in Salem Harbor in 1630. Similar ideals of community were found among the abolitionists, suffragettes and civil rights activists of the 1950s and 1960s. The moral: we all do better by caring for one another.
The third tale: The Mob at the Gates
This is the story of threatening forces beyond our borders. Daniel Boone fought Indians, described then in racist terms as “savages.” Davy Crockett battled Mexicans. Much the same tale gave force to cold war tales during the 1950s of international communist plots to undermine American democracy. The moral: we must be vigilant against external threats.
The fourth and final tale: The Rot at the Top.
This one is about the malevolence of powerful elites – their corruption and irresponsibility, and tendency to conspire against the rest of us.
This tale has given force to the populist movements of American history, from William Jennings Bryan’s prairie populism of the 1890s through Bernie Sanders’ progressive populist campaign in 2016, as well as Trump’s authoritarian version.
Trump wants us to believe that today’s Rot at the Top are cultural elites, the media and “deep state” bureaucrats.But the real Rot at the Top consists of concentrated wealth and power to a degree this nation hasn’t witnessed since the late 19th century. Billionaires, powerful corporations, and Wall Street have gained control over much of our economy and political system.
These myths continue to survive. But Trump has turned each myth inside out. For Trump, the triumphant individual is the mob boss. For him, the benevolent community has become the mean spirited community which shares mutual hatreds.
The Mob at the Gates has become those who are memorialised on the base of the Statue of Liberty -- "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."
And, indeed, with Trump, the rot starts with him.
Myths can be and are manipulated all the time. The problem arises when a nation confuses myth with reality -- and when crime becomes the nation's business.
Image: Children's Friend
4 comments:
What good is a myth if we don't confuse it with reality? My personal favourite is that of the rugged individualist: one that might best be received, to say nothing of the most receptive recipients, when conveyed by a closeted male given to a preference for young boys.
I prefer this guy’s take on it:
“Then the bank man took down a pen made of pure gold, and flowing with pure ink, and he wrote on a piece of paper, ‘St. Peter’; and he asked the little boy what it stood for, and he said ‘Salt Peter.’ Then the bank man said it meant ‘Saint Peter.’ The little boy said: ‘Oh!’
“Then the bank man took the little boy to his bosom, and the little boy said, ‘Oh!’ again, for he squeezed him. Then the bank man took the little boy into partnership, and gave him half the profits and all the capital, and he married the bank man’s daughter, and now all he has is all his, and all his own too.”
- Mark Twain
I wonder if the Great One knows.
I doubt that The Great One has ever read anything by Mark Twain, John.
I wonder how many lies, that the mob in Washington, is telling to the American people,can be traced back to myth. One can make a case that Americans believe the lies their government is telling them, because they believe the myths that those lies are based on.
Thanks for posting what Robert Reich had to say About American myths. This is a really interesting topic.
It's my impression, Pam, that Americans know their myths, but they don't know their history.
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