George Carlin on "the American Dream"

George Carlin on "the American Dream"

Analysis: Debunking the American Dream (a fragment)
Written by Mac Diva

(...) The American Dream mythology uses race as an explanation for the declining fortunes of middle-class, working-class and poor whites. People, especially politicians, have used race to shift the blame onto blacks or Latinos, or "illegal" immigrants. As beneficiaries of government largesse, these individuals have somehow hijacked the American Dream. But the story doesn't end there. Having less government means eliminating aid to the undeserving poor (read lazy, primarily people of color). This will reduce the tax-burden on the middleclass and other hard-working (read white) people, allowing them their birthright--getting rich. Thus the truth about our social and economic realities is disguised through a highly racialized account of the American Dream.

That mythology does two things, in my opinion:

1) Provides scapegoats, the poor and/or minority, for the declining economic fortunes of the middle-class, and

2) Convinces strivers who don't succeed against the odds there is something wrong with them, not the system.