Will the Real USA Please Stand Up?

[Clara T]

Will the Real USA Please Stand Up?
by Daniel Vallin
www.dissidentvoice.org
December 29, 2005


It is amazing the power of mythology over logic -- mythology which people can accept and believe regardless of all facts and evidence to the contrary, mythology about who they are, where they live, what their history is. It seems to me that no industrial nation suffers more under the weight of its own myths than the United States. I remember as a child how in school each morning we would have to repeat a pledge to the American flag, and we heard again and again how great, wealthy, and democratic the United States is. These things were told as eternal truths, and never questioned, while we simultaneously learned about the scientific method and the importance of factual assessment and logical analysis. I would like to expose some of these myths in simple terms.

<snip>

While the United States is certainly among the richest nations on earth, in terms of material wealth, the standard of living is not amongst the top. The richest countries in terms of per capita income are Luxembourg and Norway. In terms of natural resources, Russia is the undisputed champion. In terms of the quality of life, we must also consider the following facts about the United States. Its citizens are the only Western people who are not guaranteed some sort of health coverage. In fact, more than 45 million Americans have no health insurance, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (see also Washington Post, 27 Aug 2004, p. A01). Not surprisingly, then, the United States has the highest infant mortality rate of any Western country, ranking 28th in the world. Similarly, it has the lowest life expectancy of any Western country, ranking 24th in the world, according to the World Health Organization. The United States has the highest percentage of its population living in poverty (of industrialized nations), according to the United Nations Human Development Index. The U.S. Census Bureau has reported that in 2003, the percentage of Americans living in poverty rose to 13.5%. That’s 35 million people living in poverty in the country the Americans call the world’s richest! Low life expectancy, high infant mortality, tens of millions living in poverty and without health insurance. These are not exactly the hallmarks of a wealthy nation. Such is the power of myth.

<snip>

When I mention that the United States has the largest prison population of any country (see International Centre for Prison Studies at King's College London), that it is the only remaining industrial power where the death penalty is accepted (if not to say celebrated, at least by a certain segment of the population), no American seems to find this evidence that the United States is not a particularly progressive thinking country.  
All of these myths add up to a country with serious self-image problems, a country suffering from self-delusion. There can be no improvement without first the recognition of the real situation, no moving forward without first an honest assessment of the facts of the matter.

It seems to me that Americans have a very selective perception, a self-perception that is harmful to themselves and the rest of the world. In his eulogy for Rosa Parks, the Reverend Al Sharpton admonished the mourners that it isn’t enough to call it like you see it: “a mirror isn’t just to reflect what you see, a mirror is to correct what you see!” In the interest of both reflection and correction, I think it is now time to start debunking the myths.

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Dec05/Vallin1229.htm

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. More myths

include Manifest Destiny, which was the excuse used to subjugate the Native peoples and destroy their culture. It shocked me when I found out Native Americans weren't allowed to practice their relgion until the 1970s. It includes the myth that all it takes is "hard work" to get ahead and that if you have brains, you have an equal chance. We know that isn't the case-look at the way the educational system is stacked against the poor.

[Clara T]

3. And the myth of "choice" in America

Free choice is having the freedom to choose.
In the United States, there is no such freedom. So lets re-frame it from that very aspect and build off the truth.
To make the freedom to choose an actual freedom; the entire system must be overhauled and likely torn up. This starts with boycotts-and nationwide strikes. Do not pretend you have the freedom to choose until; that freedom is actually physically guaranteed.

Individual choice is often used an excuse to dismiss institutional and cultural choices and realities...that's what the Right Wing has been doing for 25+ years.
So even telling a kid from the hood to stay away from a particular lifestyle may do little to stop some cops from shooting him 41 times for reaching for his wallet because of what he symbolizes in american culture. And let's face it: if america wanted equal opportunity for all there would be equal opportunity for all. Regardless of what choices people make, there is only so much room at the top, and increasingly a lot less in the middle.

What we have at present is inequality, by design. How are kids from poorly funded schools supposed to "compete" with kids from places like beverly hills? Sure, some (the exceptions) will be able to compete, but many, perhaps most, won't. We, our society, places tremendous burdens on and has trememdous expectations of those at the bottom of the barrel. meanwhile people like Bush barely pass at places like Harvard and Yale, and then are handed everything to them, including the office of president. and to add insult to injury, the irony of someone like him whining about "quotas" barely get a mention in our so-called press.

"Choice" is a smokescreen for greed and selfishness and for disguising built-in and inescapable inequalities and for defending those who leverage advantages of birth to amass wealth and power and a justification for barbarity and cruelty.

To one degree or another all of our "choices" are very tightly restricted, and those restrictions serve to buttress and defend wealth and power in the hands of the few, often immorally and illegally obtained.
Sure we have a choice. Grovel and suffer, keep silent and invisible - or else. Some choice.

So everyone should focus on less excuses about choice, and simply engage in strikes & mass boycotts like has been causing companies such as Walmart to cave. It works, and its the way to change.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. Right on!

Your reply deserves its own thread so I could nominate it! You are right about strikes and boycotts. That's the way change is done.

[Clara T]

10. I have thought extensively about this

myth of "choice" and have written pages on it as an exercise for myself as I've tried to figure out why so many people are using this phrase these days. It drives me crazy to hear this, especially from people who should know better but are possibly too comfortable in their liberal easy chairs and wish to ascribe this ephemeral "choice" mythology to the unfortunate situation that others find themselves in.

Rather than look into the legacy of colonialism or the inheritance of white privilege or the impact of monstrous but invisible institutions it's just "choice" that keeps people in the reservation from pulling themselves up. Of course that is nonsense but it sure is easy to edit history with a single word.

Alot of propaganda goes into this and ultimately this garbage gets internalized by individuals as well as the collective psyche of a society.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

2. Good article, Clara

[Dr.Phool]

5. Excellent K&R

It's time to take off the rose colored glasses.

In 2006 we must vow to bring America back!

[Clara T]

11. What do you mean

by bring America Back? I have heard this phrase often and it seems to ignore the real history of America.

Bring America back to what? To when?
Is it possible this is waxing nostalgic for something that never was? That too is a profound aspect of this mythology.

[Dr.Phool]

13. The way things are going right now

I'm almost nostalgic (almost) for the Nixon era. You're correct in your assertion that America never was all she was cracked up to be. If anyone doubts it, try reading Howard Zinn's "A people's History of the United States, 1492-present".

Maybe I should have said to bring America back to what she should, and could have been.

[dennisnyc]

15. very true. "Take Back America" is also used by the rw to mean

a return to a mythic harmonious white hegemony.

When i hear a progressive use it I think of the time when socialist were really organized and threatening the elite. Also, Granny D recently wrote for Common Dreams about fullfilling the dream of america. her essay is pretty clear. The dec of independance and the constitution CAN be read in a way to promote human life...

[ixion]

6. selective perception = delusions of grandeur

and/or paranoid dementia.

I would say collectively we suffer from both these days. :-(

[Oceansaway]

7. K & R...n/t

[Benhurst]

8. Great find. Thanks for posting. Recommended. NT

[patdem]

9. I woke up this morning thinking about America and how we are all like

a pack of toddlers. I saw our boarders as more of a playpen type boarder. We are all 'gimmy, I want, that's MINE' like a bunch of toddlers. We have been protected by our playpen these oh so many years and we are just NOW, because of 9/11, beginning to look around and realize we are not THE best and THE brightest. We are just now STARTING to think that maybe we should NOT foul our selves just cause we wanna. This fits perfectly into my vision this AM. Thanks for posting!

[libodem]

12. bookmarked

this should be in a letter to the editor in every newspaper across the country!

[stellanoir]

14. long past that time

[EuroObserver]

16. Not very democratic either:

How much does it cost for any given candidate to be even considered to have a chance to gain 'high office'?

How many 'parties' in feasible play in any given contest (honourable 'independents' apart, that is?

Two-party dictatorship, say some.

[GL1]

17. America is the land of the spoiled rich kids

Compared to a (mostly) global culture of thrift, America is fat, satisfied and greedy for more. Of course there are exceptions, but there is a large population that was born with everything, and expect everything.

I hope it continues, but if not, then there is a long way to fall.