Making Success Possible Again

A Crisis of Meaning and Identity

Our country faces a crisis of confidence and an unspooling of meaning and identity, according to Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut. A recent article in the New York Times quotes the Senator saying,

The challenges America faces aren’t really logistical…. “They are metaphysical. And the sooner we understand the unspooling of identity and meaning that is happening in America today, the sooner we can come up with practical policies to address this crisis.

Calling the problem “metaphysical” places it outside of the realm of politics, but maybe the "metaphysical" label hides a more practical reality. Maybe, we can deal with this crisis through political action if we understand its real nature clearly. So, let us dig a little deeper.

The Wreckage of American Neoliberalism

According to Sen. Murphy, the crisis comes from what he calls "the wreckage of American neoliberalism,” but what does that mean? Sen. Murphy identifies neoliberalism as "the idea that barrier-free international markets, rapidly advancing communications technology and automation, decreased regulation, and empowered citizen-consumers are the keys to prosperity, happiness, and strong democracy." In other words, what is good for markets is good for society. 

Murphy says that neoliberalism is no longer tenable. It has become obvious that what is good for markets is not always good for our society. The increasing concentration of wealth and income together with the “unspooling of meaning and identity” show unmistakably that we must find another path, but what exactly is the link between the increasing concentration of wealth on the one hand and the unspooling of meaning and identity on the other?

Our People Are Caught in a Contradiction

The link lies in a contradiction between our ideals and the real structure of our economy. Our ideals emphasize opportunity and achievement as measures of social justice and of human value. We strive to be a society of equality of opportunity, and we encourage our children to base their sense of their worth as human beings on their achievements. Although we never say directly that people who achieve great things are especially admirable human beings, the value our culture places on achievement is clear. We teach our children to admire people who have achieved a great deal.

In addition, we see certain kinds of achievements as basic. A person must stand on his/her own two feet and not depend on others. Parents must be good providers for their children. In old age, parents should not depend on their children. These are ideals that represent the minimum elements of success in our society. Our people measure themselves against these ideals, and inevitably, many see that they fall short.

Moreover, the share of our people who fall short has increased steadily in recent decades because our economy has changed in ways that have made it much harder for people to succeed in terms of these ideals. Wealth and income have become concentrated in a small upper class. Jobs have been shipped to other countries. Housing has become prohibitively expensive for many. And more recently, inflation has eaten away at people’s savings and incomes.

Thus, people are caught in a contradiction between the ideals that they believe in and the reality of their lives. They see that they cannot meet the minimum requirements for success as our society defines it because the structure of our economy makes success impossible for them. In their own eyes, they are condemned to failure by a system that does not allow them to do what they believe that every person ought to do. That contradiction between our ideals and our social reality is the core of the “unspooling of meaning and identity” that Sen. Murphy refers to.

We Can Make Success Possible Again

The good news is that this is an issue we can do something about through political action. We can make success possible again by changing the conditions under which our people live and work. We can provide affordable childcare to make it possible for families to increase their incomes. We can provide a decent healthcare system in which unexpected illness is no longer the number one cause of personal bankruptcy. We can fund post-secondary education in a way that does not require people to take on crippling levels of debt in order to acquire marketable skills. We can support labor unions that work to raise people’s wages. We can in short create a society in which our ideals can be realized.