Article in the New York Times - or, as I call it, "The Times" - suggesting that the American notion of "going it alone!" is killing us:
Some independence is worth honoring. But other strains are not as positive. For instance, being required to be “independent” when we are ill and without adequate health insurance coverage is not to be recommended. Neither is having to take care of our children entirely on our own, in the silo of our immediate family, without a state-supported nursery in sight. And going into debt for simply covering the cost of our own or our children’s college education is far from salutary. But because Americans are taught that we must go it alone, we often force ourselves to slog through these — and other crucial human experiences — in solitude. And when we do get assistance, we may feel we must play down the help we receive from our government, our families or our neighbors. In a society that pathologizes dependence — even as every human being is born into it — being vulnerable takes courage.
Much like the idea of American Exceptionalism or the absolute bullshit that is the American Dream, do we just stand around inventing ways to make our own lives way more miserable than they need to be? Dafuck, America?
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