American Mythology

Human beings love a good myth and we Americans are no exception. We cherish predicting how man made global climate change or the return of Jesus Christ will bring about the eschaton. We cling to the belief that voting for the lesser of two evils will help us at last find the chimerical "public servant" who puts (our) principles before (his) money. We blame the wealthy capitalists for the plight of the indigent. We accept it as indisputable that we are all descended  from a single microbe. We love to pretend that women are slaves to their emotions when they are actually coldly calculating, assaying, comparing, and scheming. We say that soldiers die for freedom and not hegemony.

We blame "overpopulation" for a dearth of food and medicine. We say all men are equal. We say all men should be equal. We believe the constitution was written to keep government growth in check. We just know the police are the good guys. We preach about the dangers of marijuana and promote the consumption of whole wheat. We think the president is in charge. We are convinced that the velocity of money is the key to economic growth and that capital accumulation is destructive. We believe that our children need the flu vaccine.

People tell fantastical stories of ghosts, soul mates, and an afterlife. We do not for a second doubt that the history of American warfare is a history of good vs evil. Astrology is widely popular. So are credit cards. We think that it is better to buy local than to buy imports as a matter of principle. We say labor unions raised the standard of living for all working men. We believe that child labor is inherently immoral. We praise Lincoln for fighting a war to end slavery. But did he? Are any of these things true?

Did Ronald Reagan shrink the federal government? Or did it grow at a phenomenal rate after his election? Was it necessary to drop atom bombs on the Japanese in order to win the war? Or had they already been beaten? Is Israel an innocent victim of Palestinian terrorism? Or are they a brutal occupying force? Does the FDA really do more good than harm? Should the government really be in charge of the money supply? Is it really beneficial to the planet to separate plastics from paper in our garbage? Does it make sense to be against the death penalty while promoting abortion as a healthy solution for the problem of undesired offspring?

Is there really someone in the great somewhere who hears every word? And, furthermore, does that someone really give a damn?