Do we preach the American Dream, but when it comes right down to it, we admire the American Fantasy?

Question

Sen Obama worked hard, earning scholarships to Ivy League schools and chose a life of service to his community rather than a life on Wall Street. He wrote an exceptional book and has been richly rewarded for his work and his integrity both with family and royalties.

Why do we condemn him as an elitist, rather than Sen McCain, who obtained his wealth divorcing a wife to marry a millionairess?

The article that inspires this question:

http://writerpo.livejournal.com/222554.html

Answer 1

i also think that's a really interesting phenomenon. i think that part of it is media bias and part of it is that people are less likely to think of class as personal history, but instead judge class on the conspicuous symbols of class that a person exhibits in the here and now. for example, bush was a millionaire and a son of a president, yet people identified with his "folksy" ways and thought that he was one of their own because he effectively manipulated the symbols of "every day american" - living on the ranch, cowboy hat, simple speech, "clearing the brush," etc. etc. etc.

so you see obama get defined (by other people) as a member of the upper middle class (which he is now) by the fact that he eats healthy, has a nice house, has kids in private school, works out, etc. etc. - these are all symbols of the upper middle class lifestyle in the US now. i think that if democrats can effectively shift the question of class to an examination of the life story and life-progression narrative of the candidates, then obama will lose the "elitist" image that he has in the eyes of many americans right now. but i agree, it's surprising that given the absolute dominance of "rags to riches" in american mythology that people don't identify obama with that aspect of his life first and foremost. i guess it's all consumerism and bought markers of class these days instead...

Answer 2

I worked full time to put myself through college.  I earned degrees which lead to a great career.  Why should my American Dream be taken away and redistributed to people who don't want to put forth the effort?

Answer 3

As the Dream is getting harder and harder to acheive, someone like Obama grates on people who believe he is where he is due to his race and not his abilities.  May not seem fair, but fairness is in the eye of the beholder.

Answer 4

No. I don't at least.

McCain signed a prenup so I'm not sure why you guys keep acting like the wealth is his. Unless of course you are lying for political gain. Maybe that could be it.

Answer 5

He's condemned as an elitist because of the attitide towards others he considers below him. Such as him demeaning the people of Pennsylvania as ignorant Bible-thumping xenophobic gun nuts because they're bitter and ignorant. That's elitist. It's about snobbery, not the condition one was born in or has achieved.

And if such a simple concept has to be explained to you... you're probably an Obama fan.

Answer 6

Obama is the by product of an affirmative action policy in this country gone terribly wrong.

Answer 7

I guess what we want in America is for minorities to make up our beds, pick up our trash or cut our lawns.  If they have the audacity to actually get an education and make something out of their life they are suppose to move in a gated community and turn their backs on the communities they left behind.

What Barack and Michelle have accomplished is the American Dream.  What better person to put in the White House than someone that has achieved what we all say is possible.  Or maybe we are afraid that more people will start to believe that they too can achieve greatness.  Maybe we are afraid there will be no one left to make our beds, pick up our trash or cut our lawns.