Modern Mythology

Drew Carey has created a series of thoughtful videos for Reason.tv. Here, he takes a look at one of contemporary America's most popular myths: The decline of the middle class. While I'm not entirely satisfied with his explanation for the narrative's genesis, I am thankful that someone took the time to consider the claims critically. Our culture is full of stories like these, and we've been getting an earful of them lately.

The video seems to suggest that a conspiratorial press and complicit politicians live at the root of this myth, but I don't think we can discount our society's insatiable desire for more, our unwillingness to have any historical or cultural perspective, or the stress associated with consumer credit debt reflected in the retelling. It could also be the case that as a culture, we no longer value work.

Update (2/11/2008): Be sure to check out Will's post on the subject, which contains a link to a well-done radio broadcast by "Marketplace".