America media weaves a powerful, culture-shaping story that distorts ideas of wealth and poverty. This story acts as both a carrot and a stick. Wealth leads us along and if we get sidetracked, poverty is there to stab us in the back.
I know it’s not a uniquely American problem. But perhaps here it is seen most vividly.
Poverty. Because we’re isolated from the rest of the world (a small percentage of Americans have passports, a smaller percentage of Americans use their passports, and those who do travel often just stick to touristy areas), we rely on media to show us what life is like around the world. The media tends to highlight violence and poverty, skewing Americans’ perception.
America has poverty too, but most don’t see it. Most Americans live in suburbs and spend little time in the inner city or rural small towns. When they do go to those areas, they only experience them from their cars. America is designed so that the most practical way (and oftentimes the only way) to go anywhere is by car. A car acts to insulate its occupants from the weather, the people, and the neighborhoods it passes through.
“I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free.” Does having crushing student debt, house debt, car debt, and medical debt sound like freedom to you?
We aren’t getting a clear picture of poverty. Wealth is also poorly understood.
We have the richest billionaires: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, etc. Their stories of innovating and growing their wealth are told and retold, serving as our nation’s dominant mythology. “And you can get there too if you only work harder.” We emulate them the best we can, with subdivisions full of copy-and-past McMansions.
American media is widely exported causing Hollywood celebrities and American sports figures to be known around the world.
Even YouTube, Reddit, and Tiktok are America-centric.
We are the land of mega churches that preach a super-sized prosperity gospel, tying wealth and spirituality together inseparably.
Since we don’t know what poverty looks like we have an oversized fear of it. And when extreme wealth is constantly dangled right in front of us, we crave it like late-night guilty pleasures at the Wendy’s drive through.
This skewed view of the world, pumped out by American media, is intentional. It keeps us obedient and works us to death.
If we were better informed, we would know when we have enough. We wouldn’t tolerate those who take too much. We would know that $1 billion in the bank feels essentially the same as $100 million. And we’d know that making $75,000 per year feels wildly better than making $30,000 per year. We’d do more for those making ends meet and stop worshipping those that “need” multiple private jets.
I don’t know what it will take to shake some sense into us. We keep voting for the people who are enriching the rich and punishing the poor. I’m blaming both political parties, but one is worse than the other. Instead, we need to take care of the many, the workers. We need to build up the poorest among us with better healthcare, housing, education, and transportation. We can look to European countries that have universal healthcare, free college tuition, robust social safety nets, and nationwide rail networks. They always rank higher than Americans on The World Happiness Report and they live longer than us too.
House to Home
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