Do you have $10 million dollars that you want to throw into your campaign coffers in your bid for the U.S. Senate? Do you have $10 for lunch? Do you have $100 in your savings account? Do you have a savings account?
This is another installment of my continuing rant about the disconnect between the American dream and the American reality. In our educational experience, most of us were taught that hard work will lead to prosperity and wealth. That principle applies regardless of how much we start out with. You hear countless stories about all the self made billionaires out there who started with a suitcase full of dirty socks, a can of tomatoes, and three saltine crackers, and built a soup empire vast enough to end world hunger.
Most of the people who heard these types of stories with me in public schools went on to become forklift drivers, insurances brokers, salespeople, bricklayers, and some of them even started a technology company in the late 1990's. They worked hard, some were able to buy homes and others even have some degree of financial stability.
Most of the extremely wealthy out there started with considerably more. I am not going to list any people, but it is a fun research exercise. Wikipedia your favorite rich person and read about his/her early life. It is extremely illuminating.
Then there's our favorite former Secretary of State of Florida, (perhaps because she is the only we know), who is able to dump $10,000,000.00 of her own money into your campaign for U.S. Senate. This coming shortly after allegations that she took funds illegally from defense contractors associated with the fallen "Duke"-stir.
You cannot be a citizen of this country or a member of this culture very long without realizing the perception of the ultimate "goodness" of the United States. Its history has been crafted to conform to a narrative that good people are always rewarded; that people whose actions are questionable will be punished; that the founders of this country had the best interests of the people in mind without any other motives. Further, the politicians of our day assume the mantle of the great revered founding fathers; just as they were nearly divine in nature, so are our present day leaders. The "goodness" with which the founding fathers endowed this country will never expire because it is drawn with the authority, and blessing, of God. Therefore, it cannot be flawed. However, most people probably realize that our history is not a story from the Bible.
I volunteer at a few legal clinics in Seattle. During these clinics, people who have run into legal issues can speak with a lawyer. They have about 20 minutes to talk without charge. The one thing that is common to each person with whom I have ever spoken is that they believe that in a just legal system, of a righteous country, within a divinely inspired-world, bad things cannot happen to good people who work hard for a living.
There certainly is a disconnect, and the same group of people consistently end up on the same side of the social dynamic.
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