Bootstrapped
Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream
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- 23,99 €
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- 23,99 €
Publisher Description
An unsparing, incisive, yet ultimately hopeful look at how we can shed the American obsession with self-reliance that has made us less healthy, less secure, and less fulfilled
The promise that you can “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” is central to the story of the American Dream. It’s the belief that if you work hard and rely on your own resources, you will eventually succeed. However, time and again we have seen how this foundational myth, with its emphasis on individual determination, brittle self-sufficiency, and personal accomplishment, does not help us. Instead, as income inequality rises around us, we are left with shame and self-blame for our condition.
Acclaimed journalist Alissa Quart argues that at the heart of our suffering is a do-it-yourself ethos, the misplaced belief in our own independence and the conviction that we must rely on ourselves alone. Looking at a range of delusions and half solutions—from “grit” to the false Horatio Alger story to the rise of GoFundMe—Quart reveals how we have been steered away from robust social programs that would address the root causes of our problems. Meanwhile, the responsibility for survival has been shifted onto the backs of ordinary people, burdening generations with debt instead of providing the social safety net we so desperately need.
Insightful, sharply argued, and characterized by Quart’s lively writing and deep reporting, and for fans of Evicted and Nickel and Dimed, Bootstrapped is a powerful examination of what ails us at a societal level and a plan for how we can free ourselves from these self-defeating narratives.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist and poet Quart (Squeezed) delivers an impassioned and historically grounded argument for more economic and social interdependence in American society. Contending that "pulling oneself up by the bootstraps" has become a near-impossible moral aspiration for many Americans, Quart reveals the unexamined advantages and government assistance behind the self-made myths of public figures including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Horatio Alger, Ayn Rand, Donald Trump, and Elon Musk. Rather than upholding an unreachable ideal of independence and self-reliance that shames people for not achieving success, Quart argues that Americans should become comfortable acknowledging a more realistic state of interdependence, where lives are shaped by the help of parents, teachers, caretakers, and access to opportunity. She buttresses her claims with details about "the rise of small-scale democratic workplaces and novel forms of citizen altruism and activism" during the Covid-19 pandemic and vivid profiles of multiracial city co-ops, grassroots coalitions of activists and medical students performing ad-hoc community services, and a therapist whose work is "informed by social class awareness." Quart's vision of an America where no one needs to put on "codified theatrical performances via social media" to get the help they need is a breath of fresh air. This eloquent and incisive call to action inspires.