"Waking up from Our American Dream
As Seneca First Nation member and psychologist Terry Cross defines it in this keynote presentation, 'culture is one group or people’s preferred way of meeting their basic human needs.' The American Dream tells us that we meet our basic needs by working hard to 'pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.' That way, we become free from having to depend on anyone else.
Who benefits from this story being told? Is it even true? As Daniel Suelo says in The Man Who Quit Money, 'There’s not a creature or even a particle in the universe that’s self-sufficient. We’re all dependent on everybody else' (p. 133). Who sewed the clothes you’re wearing right now? How many materials from how many different parts of the world are inside the device you’re reading this post on? How many hands touched the food you ate for lunch on its way to your table? How many living beings participated in the creation of your home, in your education, and in your emotional state? Even if you purchased these goods with money you earned, you are relying on a community to care for you. Our lives are inextricably tied up with one another. Indigenous communities offer us an example of what is possible when we embrace this reality."
~ Teju Ravilochan (contributing editors: Vidya Ravilochan and Colette Kessler)
"Could the Blackfoot Wisdom that Inspired Maslow Guide Us Now?"
https://gatherfor.medium.com/maslow-got-it-wrong-ae45d6217a8c
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