Cultural Myth

The first step in getting rid of a cultural myth is making sure that people know that it exists. If people don't think that there is a problem, then they won't help to fix it. And to get rid of such a vague, vast and intransigent concept as a myth lots of people need to understand what is happening.

Then you have to educate people against it. A lot of myths (this one too)exist simply because people don't know they exist. I certainly never thought about the misconception of the American Dream until when we read "Nickel and Dimed" over the summer.

Then you address what's wrong. In this case, what's wrong is that people are being discriminated against, are not getting enough payment/economic support and in general don't have the opportunities that could help them achieve success. All this is really hard to do and usually controversial.

I think why the cultural myths still exist is because people don't want to spend the energy needed to fix them. It's easier just to accept them than it is to disagree, and harder still to do something about them