Ah yes, the American Christian Remix of “You get what you deserve”--a heady blend of rugged individualism, divine justice, and prosperity theology, shaken vigorously and served in a Biggie Cup with a side of moral superiority.

You see, God helps those who help themselves (which, fun fact, is not in the Bible). And financial success is conveniently reframed as a spiritual blessing rather than, say, an accident of birth or systemic advantage. If you're rich, it's because God saw your hustle and rewarded you.

If you're struggling? Clearly, you're lacking faith, discipline, or you're not using the right brand of prayer.

Our bootstrap mentality adds an extra layer of divine sanction: Did Jesus not say, “Go forth and take personal responsibility” (or something close enough to justify cutting social programs)?

And of course, suffering isn’t a sign of an unfair system--it’s a test of character, a lesson in humility, or worse, something you deserve. The rich are righteous, the poor are just lazy sinners, and capitalism is not just an economic system...

It’s the ultimate moral sorting algorithm.

But if, perchance, you find yourself on the short end of the stick, clearly the problem isn't you. It's them.

The system isn’t broken; it’s just rigged against good, hardworking folks like you.

See, when you're winning, it's because of your grit, determination, and divine favor. But when you're losing, it's not that you made bad choices or that the game was unwinnable from the start; it’s because of corrupt elites, lazy moochers, or godless degenerates ruining everything.

This is where the American-Christian-bootstraps philosophy doubles back on itself--you still get what you deserve, unless you didn’t.

And if you didn’t, then someone took what was rightfully yours. Suddenly, personal responsibility takes a back seat to resentment, and rugged individualism turns into blaming external enemies--immigrants, welfare recipients, cultural "decline," or whatever convenient scapegoat you've been fed that keeps the myth intact.

Because if you actually admitted that the system itself might be flawed, well, then you might have to do something about it. And that’s a lot harder than just finding someone to blame.

But easiest of all? Just voting for the first corrupt loudmouth who comes along and tells you he'll "fix everything"... just as soon as we get rid of those people.