Episode 15: A Local Bookstore, Politics, & The American Dream

Today I want to talk about something called the “American Dream” — this notion where anyone can succeed in life, despite their background.

Well, in some sort of grand ironic twist, I guess, America is now terrible at helping its own citizens achieve the American Dream.

A person’s ability to move towards the American Dream is closely related to something called “social mobility” —  which is essentially how quickly and effectively people can change their “social status,” if you will. 


Moving from a low income class to a middle income class, for example.

Ideally, I suspect most of us would like to see this kind of thing happen over time — that our kids will be better off than we were.

But a recent study from the World Economic Forum reports that the U.S. isn’t even in the Top 10 of countries with good social mobility. 

In fact, we’re not even in the Top 20. 


We’re 27th.

And honestly, I don’t think it’s really a huge mystery why this is the case.

It all has to do with how much we need a #workrevolution 

If you’re new to these conversations, I’ll repeat something pretty important — that this thing we call “work” is tied to absolutely everything: healthcare, finance, technology, ecology, and even, maybe especially, politics.

Work is the dominant organizing story of our lives.

So when I talk about a work revolution, remember — a work revolution really means an *everything* revolution.

Let’s talk specifically about the last item I mentioned a minute ago — politics — as it has a special place in the discourse, especially at this moment in time.

Right now in the US, and around the world, we are seeing a rapid acceleration in the conversation about racial injustice in the Black community. 

Where I live, in Denver Colorado, there’s a local, and I would say beloved, bookstore called the Tattered Cover. 

In the wake of the protests that broke out after George Floyd was murdered, this bookstore released a statement — I’ll put a link in the show notes.

Essentially their statement was a very well-written piece about how they have a long history of not standing up for anything — not for LGBTQ rights, not for less violence in schools, even though Columbine is literally down the street — and how they see their attempt at neutrality being related to free speech and therefore the right thing to do.

This response was not very well received.

Now, I’ll give them credit because after the swift backlash they learned quickly and apologized sincerely — I’ll link to that too — but their initial statement really made me stop and think.

Is this a “free speech” kind of situation?

I’ve heard varying degrees of this argument for decades — and probably said versions of it myself in the past — that I don’t want to “get involved” with politics. 

I want to “stay out of it” — remain neutral.

I even grew up with awareness of a general communication principle along these lines — that politics was one of those things on the “off-limits list” when it came to conversations outside the immediate family home.

Don’t ask, don’t tell.

But what I’ve learned is that this position in itself is a byproduct of privilege. 

To have the OPTION to be ignorant is itself highlighting the deep injustice of the current reality, because