Which has morphed into the lie that not only are we all in this alone, any notion that we live in a society/community where our actions impact others is treated as heresy to be cast out completely. It's insanity. The cult of the individual that has been created isn't just insane and anti-human, it's anti-American.
Read De Tocqueville -- he captured the essence of America at its founding. He LITERALLY wrote about what made America great and unique - and it was our ability and drive to form associations, to work together for a collective good.
Balancing individual liberties with the obvious and human truth that we live in community, and that we all depend on each other and none of us are in this world alone, is how we can thrive as a nation.
And no, not all individuals have a fair shot at "determining their own destiny." As has been stated here eleventy billion times, some people start the race with great training, great shoes, a great diet, and a support team around them. Others start the race malnourished, untrained, barefoot, and alone. In that race.....who are you betting on to finish? Come on, for fuck's sake. Yeah, maybe one of those starving barefoot guys has the greatest human will in history, and ekes out a finish. But the odds are WAY against him. Just like they are WAY in favor of the guy with shoes, training, and a support team.
The American Dream starts with what is actually the first word in our charter document -- WE. I am very successful. I would be an egotistical narcissist liar if I said that my achievements are mine, and mine alone. I had supportive parents. I had great educators. I have had good mentors. I had a public university of the first class educate me. I benefit from a system of laws and rules that helps me succeed and prosper. I have benefited from simple acts of kindness. I have gotten lucky breaks. I have a supportive spouse. "I" have done only a part of what it takes for me to succeed -- "WE" have done a great deal to help me succeed. America's toxic obsession with "me" at the expense of (and outright demonization of) "we" is killing us. Literally, it's killing us. We are dying from secondary effects of loneliness, isolation, and broken communities. The worship of the individual to the exclusion of anything else is the worship of a false god.