The Secret

The claim goes that “great thinkers” (curiously, all men) throughout history have known “The Secret.” It is “The Secret” to whatever you want, riches, fame, whatever. “Like attracts Like,” they claim, calling it the “Law of Attraction.” And of course, everyone, everywhere is bound by this Law.

Sound familiar? It should.

Protestants viewed wealth and success as their god’s reward for hard work. Conservatives ignore mountains of sociological evidence that the vast majority of wealth is inherited to assume that wealth is a reward for merit, a combination of hard work and talent; therefore the rich deserve their money.

It is all a scam for persuading the poor to accept their condition. You are poor because you haven’t worked hard enough, or you haven’t the talent, or, with “The Secret,” you don’t think the right way. It has nothing to do with socioeconomic class (which sociologists think may be the American equivalent of apartheid), corporate welfare, tax breaks for the rich, control of resources, globalization, “downsizing,” or the export of jobs.

Dress it all up as “new age” and bliss out. Ignore the rich, let them carry on, starting all these wars, messing up the environment, and devaluing the work of workers. Just bliss out. You’ll get your reward (in heaven, perhaps?). That is “The Secret.”