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The Spiritual Crisis of the Modern Economy

The Atlantic had an excellent piece this week about the crisis of white, working class America this week.  Over the last couple of years the crisis in the “flyover” states has gotten more and more attention as sociologists note increase in suicides, heroin addiction and other signals of cultural disease.

This Atlantic piece focuses on class, status and self-regard.

The modern economy privileges the well-educated and highly-skilled, while giving them an excuse to denigrate the people at the bottom (both white and nonwhite) as lazy, untalented, uneducated, and unsophisticated. In a society focused on meritocratic, materialistic success, many well-off Americans from across the political spectrum scorn the white working class in particular for holding onto religious superstitions and politically incorrect views, and pity them for working lousy jobs at dollar stores and fast-food restaurants that the better-off rarely set foot in. And when other sources of meaning are hard to come by, those who struggle in the modern economy can lose their sense of self-worth.

Deep in American mythology is the subtle interplay of the values of equality and meritocracy. The dream of America is that we are all supposed to have an equal shot at the American dream. The difference in outcome is supposed to be the effort we produce. This narrative is really a morality play of sorts. Work hard and you will get ahead. Be lazy, and you will be hungry and deserve it.

The Mythical American Dream

The difference between the truth and the mythology of this American story has always been complex. There certainly are those who, by virtue of their smarts, their efforts and their good fortune have made the most of this nation. I think part of the reason Barack Obama was able to win where Hillary was not was because he was such a figure. Raised by a white, single mother with her parents he managed to get an education at Oxy in So Cal and Harvard and become president of the US. The author of Hillbilly Elegy JD Vance is another such figure. He, a white son of hillbilly stock and a terribly dysfunctional upbringing through the help of his grandmother made it through Yale law school and is now the author of a successful book.

If we are judging from outcomes, however, most of us know equally “deserving” persons who were never able to overcome obstacles and despite hard work and determination struggled all their lives without much recognition nor visible evidence of “success”.

Even these “rags to riches” stories, however, don’t really break “the game”. The rewards offered by the American dream are all the rewards of this world: status, recognition, influence, wealth, power. These are, in our secular age, the only game in town.

Lest we imagine that this is our thing, or a new thing, we should realize that this is essentially the definition of “the world” that is one of our three enemies in Scripture.

In hearing this most Americans will nod their head in agreement and says “yes, hierarchy is bad, equality is good” but that’s a gloss. It isn’t equality that we are after, not in the sense we imagine. If I were to mention Chairman Mao and his cultural revolution. We’d say “no not that kind of equality. We want equality of opportunity and a meritocracy of effort”.

Right. That is what we believe.

The American Dream meets Psychology and Eugenics

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