I've been debating this rhetoric of the american dream for a while now

...and more and more people are starting to see the disconnect.

I just read an interesting article that touches upon it called "American's Don't Resent the Super-Rich Because They Think They Are Super Rich" by Kiri Blakeley (Forbes: Americans Don't Resent the Super Rich.  She introduces the topic by recalling different riots that were meant to start revolutions throughout our recent past, such as the 1992 LA Riots, pointing out that Americans will fight back against injustice.  However, when it comes to the injustice of our tax system the fight is lacking. No one will riot against the super rich not being taxed, because most people believe in the American Dream. The American Dream dictates that hard work alone will bring you success and so it is up to you to become super rich, and once you do you will be rewarded with lower taxes!

Blakeley brings up individuals such as Bill Gates of Jay Z as examples of people who worked hard and became super rich, but she also points out the resources and little bit of luck they had to help them achieve great success.  She mentions the author Malclom Gladwell who "points out over and over again that success is not just a function of hard work, brains, and dreaming big—but of privilege, timing, and often in the form of government help via loans or programs." So while the average american supports lower to no taxes for millionaires, thinking he will benefit from it someday, he is becoming poorer and poorer by not taking advantage or resources that have been proven to help others succeed. 

It seems to me that this "American Dream" is a little destructive.  Instead of valuing the community and what the community can do for the individual to succeed, it values solely the individual and his or her ability to become super rich.  And this relates directly to the whole debt/budget crisis. There is a division between people who believe in the individual and his ability to fix the economy through small business and the people who believe strong communities helping each other in time of need will fix the economy.  One believes taxes will debilitate the economy and the other believes extra taxes will bring more money to programs that are making our communities stronger.