One of the more pernicious bromides that infects American life is the idea that you can do anything you want, be anything you want. You just have to be willing to put the time and effort into it. Of course, there is some truth to it. Yes, some people are lucky enough to achieve their dream but not terribly many and some start with hidden advantages that makes their journey to success a bit less bumpy.

The American ethos is built around the stories of the very few winners in the race and not the millions who struggle on the less glamorous sidelines. But we know it in our hearts. Millions of people will not be Super Bowl Quarterbacks. Millions of people will not be Rock Stars. Millions of people will not be President. Millions of people will not become billionaires. An overwhelming number of Americans will lead regular lives with regular incomes no matter how hard they try to be something else.

Yet, we still hold to this idea that you can do and be anything you want. It’s unhealthy and it is cleverly couched in language that conveniently blames the individual for not fulfilling his dream. There is always that if you willing to put the time and effort into it part of the equation that makes this idea impossible to refute. Obviously, it’s not the system that failed, it’s you. You just didn’t put enough effort into it, did you?

Yes there are people who beat the odds. We love to hear their inspirational stories hence the mind numbing blather about Olympic athletes overcoming impossible odds to follow their dreams. On the other hand, you don’t hear the stories of all those athletes who fought impossible odds and didn’t make to the Olympics. Obviously, there are more of these stories than the success stories but these stories don’t get heard. We only want stories that reveal something great about America. The problem is that these failure stories are telling an important American story. Everybody doesn’t make it to the top. Most people don’t. It could be lack of money. It could be bad breaks. It could be the slightest lack of talent. She sings well but there are other singers just the slightest bit better. Or how does five foot tall basketball player get into NBA?

People have to be realistic. That doesn’t somehow fit into the idea as presented. You can be anything you want to be. How is this a good idea to pass onto children? Telling children to have big dreams, go for it and then when they fail, letting them think it’s their fault for failing. Because they will, because there is always that second part of the idea, if you try hard enough. Yes, let’s be realistic, but not too realistic because we wouldn’t want to discourage young people from beating their heads against the wall trying to be something they didn’t have a chance in Hell of becoming.