Individualism and self reliance.
Two of the great myths of the American experience.
And, two of the value cornerstones that continue to enable the decade-long assault on the social safety net. America's middle class, secure in its cul-de-sac new builds, demands a bootstrap mentality from the poor, elderly, sick and challenged.
If I could do it, we ask, why can't you?
What began with the dismantling of welfare (a policy that decreased both welfare rolls and quality of life and opportunity for struggling families who now live in a constant state of crisis) has found its latest new frontier at Bush's "ownership society," a concept of individual wealth creation that turns a blind eye to the working poor and favors lifestyles grown in the suburbs.
The ideas of individualism and self reliance that fuel these politics are ideas born of ego. If a single change could account for my own political swing, it would be the realization that those concepts of independence are paper dragons, absurdly created by the very support systems that make our individual successes possible.
Tell me you were the first one in your family who went to college; that you worked your way through school; that you worked three jobs to make a way for your family; that you saved for a decade to buy a first modest home; that you worked your way up from mailroom clerk to corner-office executive ... I know you had more help than you think. A parent who showed you dedication by example, a mentor who helped you cut the path; a boss who took a chance on a gut feeling; a client who gave you a shot ... the possibilities are endless. Even an uncommon intellect or talent are gifts that others can't access...
Still, Americans want to believe we are self made. If we go to work every day, why can't the welfare mom? Nevermind that she grew up in a broken home herself, holds a GED, lives a chaotic day-to-day existence and raises three kids with no support from the father. Get a job. $8 at McDonalds. Before child care.
Social Security's foundation in the New Deal seems to be securing it a similar fate. We can't afford it; it's doomed, the president says. So, forget the poor elderly it was created to protect. Forget the still struggling elderly who are faced with everything from skyrocketing healthcare costs to failing corporate pension systems to families too busy to come to their aid.
Perhaps it's the ubiquity of mega-malls, the all-too-obvious division of American cities into haves and have nots, or the simple political power of the affluent. Somehow, we've turned our conflicted value of self reliance into a callousness that ignores the struggle of our weakest citizens, that nearly shows disgust toward struggle, need and misery.
How did we get to this place? When did we lose the value of the safety net?
If Democratic leaders are to counter these Republican proposals, they will be charged with creating a 21st-century social safety net that gives people time and resources to adjust to change and provides protection against crises beyond their control. Despite the crash of the bull market five years ago, politicians are still banking on that promise of investment potential, even as companies are dumping "defined benefit" pensions based on salaries and replacing them with plans that force employees to bear the risk of investing successfully. Letting (forcing?) tens of millions of unsophisticated investors risk Social Security money in the stock market strikes me as a nightmare guaranteed to bring about either greater public burdens or the impoverishment and homelessness of many elderly in the generations to come.
Roosevelt's vision of Social Security was designed as a program for mitigating the potential for economic disaster in old age. That danger is certainly still present - for those without the resources to save, America's truly working poor, and those middle class families who face uncommon crises - from severe illness to failed investment to theft. Perhaps our greatest error was treating it like an entitlement. The result? A renewed middle class revolt against the social safety net. A troubling ethos that demands the impossible from citizens who have likely known generations of struggle. A nation that steels itself against empathy with false ideals.
Providing for the most vulnerable. Rewarding a life of work. Those should be American values.
