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Bootstrappin’ It!: The Musical

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As it becomes harder and harder to find a decent job and achieve The American Dream, I find stories of Bootstrappin’ It become more ubiquitous and more irritating.

What are Bootstrappin’ It stories? Thy are those stories you hear when people don’t want to talk about things like the disappearing middle class or extreme income inequality. These stories are conservatives’ Linus blanket of anecdotal evidence that we really don’t need to worry about poverty or equal access to good education. See, as long as there are stories of people who–by god–put their nose to the grindstone and escaped less-than-ideal circumstances, there’s nothing to see here. There’s no shrinking middle class, there are no people suffering food insecurity.

Don’t get me wrong. I know there are people who have, with grit, determination and luck, bootsrapped their way to great success. I like these stories; I think they’re inspiring. But there’s one thing that’s often missing from these stories: it’s the acknowledgment that these bootstrappers are both a.) lucky and b.) extraordinary. I’ve asked this before (at my old blog), but I’ll ask again: why are poor people and minorities the only people we demand be extraordinary?

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