Requiem for a Dream

Today seems like a good day to think about Hubert Selby's Requiem for a Dream, a dark examination of our American Protestant ethic told through the story of four drug addicts. Like our current political situation, it's not for the faint of heart. In her personal exploration of the lives of blue collar workers, Nickel and Dimed (which should be required reading for anyone who ever eats in a restaurant or shops at Wal-Mart), Barbara Ehrenreich expressed her astonishment at the tenacity with which the working poor hang on to the ideal of the American Dream. If they just work hard enough, they believe that everything will work out in the end. Even if they can't make ends meet, even if they can't afford decent housing or medical care or education, even if the world is literally crumbling around them: NEVERTHELESS, they believe that Success is still possible for everyone in America. Kudos to the late great Selby for exposing the flawed underpinnings of our great capitalist system in all its lurid glory. As this important election draws to a close, I am awestruck at our national addiction to untruth.