4 Myths and America Today

In Robert Reich’s article entitled “Four Morality Tales,” he addresses four different myths which are commonly assumed within American culture. He then addresses the history and significance of each myth, and then goes through the 1900s and explains how these myths have evolved and come together over time. He then walks through each myth and addresses how each individual myth has an idea of an “us” and a “them” which are going to be inevitable. I thought it would be interesting to provide each myth, and walk through how I think each applies in the current day of 2011. Keep in mind, when I give these examples, I am not giving my personal opinions, but instead what I think the majority of Americans actually think.
The first myth Reich explained was “The Mob at the Gates.” This basically describes the “dark forces” that we as Americans are scared of. There is always a particular group of people that we as Americans assign this role to. It’s almost as if America needs an enemy. It has been England, Native Americans, Nazis, and Communists. Right now, I think that the mob at the gates is the idea of terrorists, especially Middle-Eastern Muslims. 9/11 Changed this drastically. Because of the Muslim extremists that committed these horrendous acts, many Americans make huge generalizations about Muslims in general. Also, the media has grabbed hold of what happened on 9/11 and used it to justify prejudices against Muslims, as well as the wars the U.S. is currently engaged in. Americans today are more scared of a terrorist attack than they are of any other outside threat, and they are therefore the “Mob At The Gates” in 2011.
The second myth identified was the myth of the “Self-Made Man.” This is the idea that anyone who works and tries hard enough can make it in America. Right now, this myth is under harsh criticism from both sides of the political spectrum. With jobs and the economy at a low, people are doubting how much opportunity there is out there to be a self-made man. It is very common to graduate college without a job. Graduate school is becoming more and more a necessity in order to work one’s way up the occupational ladder. This myth currently ties a lot into the latter two myths.
The third myth was the myth of “The Benevolent Community” which is basically saying that Americans look out for each other, especially during times of hardship. He shows how this attitude was derived from several religious principles that talk about doing for others. Personally, I think America has become so cut-throat capitalistic that many have forgotten this principle all together. It has become more about winning as an individual. This happens both politically and fiscally. Instead of working together to achieve common goals, politicians point fingers and try to call each other out to prove points. Meanwhile, America’s economy is starving and young kids are jobless right out of college. We have billionaires with so much money that they don’t know what to do with, and in the same city have people that cannot get a job and have no food to eat. I don’t know where the benevolent community is, but I don’t see it nearly as much as I think we should.
The fourth and final myth is the myth of “Rot at the Top.” This is basically the myth that with power comes corruption. Both sides are politically trying to argue their own version of this right now. Obama is attempting to close tax loopholes for the wealthiest Americans who can afford to pay their fair share of taxes. He is attempting to display that the heads of multi-billion dollar corporations are paying less taxes than middle class Americans. This is Obama’s definition of how the wealthy elite are malevolent for society. Obama argues that unions are good, because they were created so the middle and lower class can be sure they are not mistreated. Meanwhile, The Republicans are arguing that Obama is the definition of corruption at the top. They are arguing that he is attempting to promote “class warfare” and that he has an agenda to gain power. They dislike unions because they think that it is a way for “lazy” people to unfairly control their wages if they don’t think they’re getting paid enough (I think?).
Our country is so divided right now and I could go on forever about these myths and the depth of each. I’ll save everyone the time. Hopefully our leaders will learn to be big boys and girls, work together, and will achieve great things, like this country is extremely capable of doing.