Stakes is High: Life After the American Dream

The 2016 election of Donald Trump holds both symbolic and tangible power in various moments throughout the essays. Yet, as Smith remembers, Hillary Clinton received millions of more individual votes in that same election. How does Smith simultaneously acknowledge the implications of Trump’s election and the subsequent inferences drawn from Clinton’s popular vote victory?

In “Part 1: Delusions,” Smith critiques America’s overinflation of the role of the president, claiming that the elected president “is assumed to represent the totality of our values […]” (23). Despite Smith’s criticisms, how might a president actually be helpful in helping America realize its need for change and accomplish its ideals?

Smith is unapologetic in his defense of abolishing the police, as evidenced in this passage for instance: “I hate the police the same as I hate any institution that exists as an obstruction to justice” (93). Using examples from your own reading, experiences, and Stakes is High, what are some possible alternatives to the police, in a nation as vast and diverse as the United States? How might these alternatives help heal a country fractured by competing sociopolitical ideologies?

In “Part 3: Accountability,” Smith offers this perspective on the word “accountability,” an idea borrowed from a woman he loves: “true accountability is only possible when you consent to be destroyed” (135). As issues such as sexual assault and predatory behavior come to light through the stories and testimonies of victims, how can this “consent to be destroyed” practically function within the criminal justice system?

In his denunciation of American capitalism, Smith connects racial justice to economic justice. In “Part 2: Justice,” he writes, “so long as the racial caste system remains in place, poor and working-class whites will never be at the bottom” (78). How do you notice this phenomenon in America today? How can policies that implicitly link racial and economic justice make a long-term positive effect on American society?

Discuss the symbolic roles of each of the following figures, as Smith develops them throughout Stakes is High: Donald Trump, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Shirley Chisholm. Which of the three seems to have had the greatest impact on Smith, either positively or adversely?

According to Smith, the election of Donald Trump exposed the United States as “a country that can be taken for a known grafter so long as he speaks the language of our delusions” (163). Using evidence from your own observations, experiences, and reading, to which delusions is Smith referring? Is it possible that Trump’s election also represented a departure from these delusions?

Smith defines his role as a writer in the following manner: “My role is to write words and hope they land where they are useful. I can no more predict the impact of my work than I can lottery numbers or NBA free agency” (182). Citing specific passages from Stakes is High, discuss the potential outcomes for responding to Smith’s ideas, elaborating on how American society might benefit from taking these ideas seriously.