[Geckomlis]

Deccan,

Along the same theme...

"America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor,
and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves. To quote the American
humorist Kin Hubbard, "It ain't no disgrace to be poor, but it might as well
be." It is in fact a crime for an American to be poor, even though America
is a nation of poor. Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were
poor but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than
anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by the American poor.
They mock themselves and glorify their betters. The meanest eating or
drinking establishment, owned by a man who is himself poor, is very likely
to have a sign on its wall asking this cruel question: "If you're so smart,
why ain't you rich?" There will also be an American flag no larger than a
child's hand -- glued to a lollipop stick and flying from the cash register.

Americans, like human beings everywhere, believe many things that are
obviously untrue. Their most destructive untruth is that it is very easy for
any American to make money. They will not acknowledge how in fact hard money
is to come by, and, therefore, those who have no money blame and blame and
blame themselves. This inward blame has been a treasure for the rich and
powerful, who have had to do less for their poor, publicly and privately,
than any other ruling class since, say, Napoleonic times.

Many novelties have come from America. The most startling of these, a thing
without precedent, is a mass of undignified poor. They do not love one
another because they do not love themselves."

Howard W. Campbell, Jr. in Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-5"