This side of the inequality must be considered too

Actually, in the biggest way, I find those raised in American culture I be more complacent to authority. Generally, Americans seem more prone to blame things on factors out of their control.

The American attitude toward work is complicated. There are two main parts that come to mind.

First, there is what you point to. It’s not that Americans are against smart people. Quite the opposite. But in our social darwinian worldview someone is either smart or stupid. If you have to work hard in school, then you obviously aren’t smart, even if you get straight As.

We Americans admire the natural genius, the born gifted, those so superior they don’t even need to try. Even when such people work hard, it is simply an expression of their already existing talent and brilliance.

Those who are born into power and inherit wealth don’t even need to prove they are superior, for it is just assumed. Even when a brilliant CEO wrecks a company, he’ll still get a bonus just for his inherent superiority.

Take Bush jr for example who was a failed businessman multiple times over and evaded military service. Also, as I recall, he wasn’t a particularly good student. Yet despite all appearances of being an incompetent failure, he remained rich and powerful and was rewarded with political positions through family connections and cronyism. It should be pointed out that as president Bush jr took a record number of vacation days.

This leads to the second point. Part of the American obsession with work is that it is seen as punishment. That was one of the consequences of Original Sin, being evicted from the Garden of Eden and condemned to a life of labor and toil. In the Calvinist view, only an Elect will be saved from Eternal Damnation and the signs of the Elect are seen in this world.

In practical terms, this means those who struggle and suffer must deserve what they get. God has ordained it. And it would be sacrelige to try to alter what God ordained. This is the shriveled heart of social darwinian scientism. The class element of this is that everyone fears being part of the Eternally Damned, i.e., the inherently inferior and worthless. The American Dream that is dangled before the masses is that if they work had enough they might be allowed into the Elect. It’s why polls have shown many Americans don’t want to raise taxes on the rich with the expecation that they might one day be rich.

BTW Thomas Frank talked about Prosperity Gospel in his book about his home state, What’s the Matter with Kansas? Frank discussed its relationship to reactionary politics. It is part of the book that mostly got ignored.

Another author that explored a different variant of this is Barbara Ehrenreich in Bright-sided. She focuses more on the liberal aspect of positive thinking. Her book demonstrates the cruelty of this worldview where the individual gets ultimate blame for everything, even illnesses.

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