Financial Stability in the US: Who Deserves It?

“Affordability” is today’s political buzzword. As people⁢ in the U.S. experience rising prices and fall ⁤behind financially, savvy politicians are tuning in.

getting by is getting harder, particularly for those with lower incomes and leaner ⁢socioeconomic resources.Federal budget cuts to healthcare coverage, food and housing assistance, and more⁣ contribute to the squeeze. Although the conversation around addressing inequality through social welfare policies and programs is usually defined by partisan divides, it’s vital to recognize that most Americans believe that it’s ⁣the government’s responsibility to help ensure people’s basic needs, like healthcare, at least in⁤ some form.

There’s little consensus, however, about the best way to provide such aid. Elected leaders too often politicize social welfare programs and‍ policies, driving polarization. the public is wary of increasing government spending; and trust in the ‍government, its representatives, and its institutions is at a major low. Undergirding these issues are the default norms and assumptions of the American dream, self-reliance, ⁤and individualism-pillars of ⁤the U.S.’s cultural story-which not only valorize hard work and economic success but equate them.These cultural defaults have powerful psychological ⁣and societal consequences for how Americans ⁣view economic policies and who deserves to benefit from them.

Weather you work as a changemaker or are looking to make a difference in your community, you’ll need to grapple with your culture’s defaults.*Cultural defaults* are taken-for-granted,enduring,often tacit assumptions about the self,others,and society that are woven throughout a culture’s “culture cycle” (like individualism⁢ in ⁣the U.S.). On the plus‍ side, when cultural defaults⁢ function as *core values*, research shows⁣ you can leverage them as powerful unifiers and motivators for culture change. But if those defaults get bound up with pernicious *biases* that position some people and ⁣groups as “better” than others, they can rather be meaningful ⁤barriers.

No culture is neutral-powerful ideas and assumptions are built in

No ⁢culture is neutral or value-free.As we saw in a previous post about Principle #1 (of the seven key principles of intentional culture change),cultures incorporate the ideas a