America Incorporated and the Power of Myth

Last February during the Olympics, Cadillac carmakers aired a commercial that generated considerable debate.  The commercial features actor Neal McDonough asking the question “Why do we [Americans] work so hard?” while he stands in front of his pool and then walks into his beautiful home, complete with wife and two kids, and finally to his driveway where he drives off in his $75,000 electric Cadillac.  The narrative he gives can be summarized as this: Americans are driven to work hard; it’s in their DNA and that’s why we can live the lifestyle presented in this commercial.  (See the commercial here.)

I shared this commercial with some of my fellow adjuncts before showing it to my American literature students.  One of the adjuncts seemed upset that I talked about the term “American Dream” in a derogatory sense.  A few weeks later, out of the blue, this same person asked me if I knew who Dr. Ben Carson is.  I acknowledged my ignorance, and another adjunct, who nodded in awareness of the narrative of Ben Carson’s life, quickly brought the story up on her computer --  An African-American born to a single mother who was illiterate, he grew up to become a renowned neurosurgeon.[1]  I can be a little slow at times in understanding what’s going on around me, particularly when it requires me to sort through people’s motives.  It wasn’t until I was driving home from work later that day that I realized my co-worker was playing his trump card in response to my suggestion a few weeks before that the idea of the American Dream is problematic.  My only response to him was, “Well, if there’s a down side to the Ben Carson story, it’s that it is such an exception.”  Why aren’t more African Americans able to rise up from poverty, or why are so many African Americans in poverty to begin with?  The single success story is used to deflect from the underlying social problems that keep most people from realizing their potential.

So, back to the commercial that initiated all of this good dialogue.  It presents the myth of the American Dream and in spite of Cadillac spokesman, Craig Bierley’s statement defending the commercial by suggesting it wasn’t about the “stuff,” the content of the commercial puts the “stuff” front and center.  The American Dream is an idea that has morphed over time since the term was first coined in 1931 by historian, James Truslow Adams, but how does it operate in the American consciousness today?  Adams coined the term following the stock market crash of 1929 while the country was in the throes of the Great Depression.  Linked to the Declaration of Independence idea of “certain inalienable Rights” such as “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” the American Dream today seems much more focused on the accumulation of wealth.  It is referenced by politicians of both parties to the degree of meaningless rhetoric, which, in itself, should make us suspicious. 

At a time when the wealth disparity in America is rivaling the era of the robber barons of the last three decades of the nineteenth century, the words “American Dream” are nostalgically uttered more frequently in the media than I can remember in my lifetime.  What are Americans pining for?  A lost way of life?  No, because the American Dream is just that—a dream that a few select people have stumbled upon (some by hard work and chance [like Ben Carson] but most through privilege and/or cunning) but it is not a reality for the majority of Americans and especially those minorities who have not had the benefit of privilege.  Instead, it operates as the carrot on a stick, keeping average working Americans distracted from the harsh realities of corporate America.  If only I work a little harder or save a little more, everything will fall into place – this is the thinking that goads us on while we never question the structures that are in place to keep this status quo from changing. 

This idealistic dream is useful to the systems of power, whether governmental or corporate, but most often both and in league with one another.  Looking at the history of labor and capital in America, it is clear that the government has worked in favor of corporations the majority of the time.  When there have been legislative reforms in favor of labor, they have been systematically eroded over time by the relentless forces of the moneyed.  As wage labor became the norm with rapid industrial advancements, employers increasingly treated workers as part of the machinery of their industry.  With greater numbers of unskilled laborers, employer’s replacement costs decreased and efficiency and maximum profit took precedence over worker conditions.   Worker’s requests for humane conditions, like the eight-hour work day, only came about with much effort and strikes on the part of organized labor.  It also came at the cost of human lives, as government in league with corporations attempted to halt such activities with military might.

Government, increasingly influenced by corporate interests, turned its back on addressing real issues in favor of demanding party loyalty through spectacle and militaristic fervor at the turn of the twentieth century.   The entrenchment of the two-party system of politics ensured a divisive battlefield that enabled each party to focus mainly on branding rather than substance.  They were learning from their corporate counterpart.

Large corporate interests make it possible for politicians to get re-elected without necessarily addressing the issues that concern their constituents.  Through several Supreme Court rulings over the last fifty years culminating with the ruling on Citizens United vs. The Federal Election Commission, the Supreme Court has determined that corporations are people and that spending money is equivalent to free speech, which, if carried out over time, will result in a plutocracy rather than a republic.

So, it’s no wonder politicians and corporations reference this term -- The American Dream -- that has mythic power in the American consciousness.  It has the effect of keeping average Americans focused mainly on work and individual achievement and not on how our lives are interconnected or the importance of looking out for one another.   The infrequent “success story” is the promise that everyone can achieve if they just take that second or third job, while big-money corporations hi-jack what is supposed to be our democratic system of government.

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[1] It wasn’t until I got home and did my own research that I became aware of all the political and religious associations connected with the Ben Carson story, all of which my co-worker neglected to include.