Who, really, is deplorable?
A half dozen people have sent me a link to an opinion article by David Brooks in the New York Times. They all said it was excellent and I should read it.
Brooks wrote:
This story begins in the 1960s, when high school grads had to go off to fight in Vietnam but the children of the educated class got college deferments. It continues in the 1970s, when the authorities imposed busing on working-class areas in Boston but not on the upscale communities like Wellesley where they themselves lived.
The ideal that we’re all in this together was replaced with the reality that the educated class lives in a world up here and everybody else is forced into a world down there.
He goes on to say that people in "our class," created resentment among those excluded from it. He includes himself among the fortunate, well-educated, and financially comfortable people who do well in the current economic and technology environment. The article drips with self-satisfaction, even as he writes about how toxic elitism is to progressive politics. Meritocracy created Trump, Brooks wrote, because it created Trump's populist base.
It’s easy to understand why people in less-educated classes would conclude that they are under economic, political, cultural and moral assault — and why they’ve rallied around Trump as their best warrior against the educated class.
Here is the article, with no paywall.
Jim Stodder was one of the many people who wrote to me after engaging with Brook's article. The conversation took a turn, saying that White working class estrangement from Democrats was really about racial resentment, not resentment against the professional class. Stodder is a college classmate. He later received a Ph.D. from Yale in economics. He taught international economics and securities regulation at Boston University, with recent research on how carbon taxes and rebates can be income equalizing. His website is: www.jimstodder.com
Jim Stodder Guest Post
I would never deny that the majority of white Trump voters have been motivated by racism. But we need to account for the 11 to 13% of 2016 Trump voters who voted for Obama in 2012, depending on the survey, like this one. That's more than enough to have otherwise swung it for Hillary. Nor does Brooks deny the racist, sexist, and anti-immigrant hatred on the Trump side. His 'liberal persona' in this dialogue -- and his anti-Trump record -- begin with that presumption.
His point here is that the social costs of racial and immigrant integration were largely borne by the white working-class in the form of schools, crime, and job competition. Our elites congratulated themselves and were scarcely affected.
There's always been tension on the U.S. Left between class and race. It minimized race in the '30s, as shown by FDR's Dixiecrats and by Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison writing on the CPUSA. The New Left swung the other way, and our cultural left has largely forgotten class -- very much so in its mainstream corporate embodiment.It's not fair that Joe Biden takes the blame for this. He's more working class 'adjacent' and done more to boost U.S. manufacturing than any President of my lifetime, But he may just be too old, too nice, and too surrounded by young meritocrats to break through.Don't forget that income inequality has gotten much worse in our lifetimes. Getting white working class men to embrace racial or sexual equality was always going to be tough. But expecting them to accept a lower status while their real wages stay flat for a generation and high-paid manufacturing jobs disappear -- that's politically impossible.Instead, they have voted for Vance, DeSantis, or Trump. Or succumbed to "deaths of despair" -- suicide fast or slow. If we're scornful of this pain, if they're just a "basket of deplorables", then we can kiss those Obama-to-Trump voters goodbye forever. Trump's never going to help them. But he sure knows how to sing their song. He even knows how to make our disapproving voices part of his chorus.
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24 comments:
George Carlin said: The Rich do no work and pay no taxes. The Middle Class do all the work and pay all the taxes. The Poor are just there to scare the shit out of everyone else.
America at it's best is aspirational. This is what gives the US it's edge and is the basis of prosperity. Class envy is intellectually lazy and hypocritical, which Republicans exploit, on top of the racism. Plenty of successful people came from humble beginnings. Those that don't make it do so for many reasons, but blaming their disadvantage on "elites" is not one of them. When they do this they adopt the Black justifiable resentment of "the Man", which did hold them back by design.
How else can you explain the enamor of the Mr. Deplorables when the rest of us see the obvious utter contempt Republicans have for them? Are they blind to the "elites" who led them to the Capital and subsequently prison?
“The elites” is a pretty vague term that describes the rich and powerful. Race and politics are what they use to keep us divided and conquered. The growing disparity between rich and poor is cause for concern because at some point it becomes unacceptable, and there’s a revolution. CEO pay has increased by 1,460% since 1978, while that of the typical worker rose 18.1%. That’s pretty deplorable.
On the other hand, Trump is a wannabe dictator. My father was a WWII bomber pilot who flew missions over German, risking his life every time he went up, to protect us against just such a madman. Now here madman is, trying to subvert our democracy and rule of law with the power of my father’s political party behind him. That’s truly deplorable, as are those who support him.
David Brooks is a fake expert. He has been accused of "fearless generalizing" and he just did it again. (See his Wikipedia page for more criticism of the man and his "work.") He is a native Canadian, by the way.
Like many others, I have first-hand knowledge of the busing situation in Boston. I am not a lawyer or civil rights expert, so others can chime in about the legal basis for integrating the schools in America. (Side note: Kamala Harris raised this issue during the Democratic debates. She attacked Joe Biden for opposing "forced busing," as I recall.)
Judge Arthur Garrity was targeted for ordering "forced busing" in Boston because the neighborhoods and neighborhood schools in Boston were segregated by race. Judge Garrity lived in Wellesley, MA, which is an affluent suburb of Boston. Many professionals and executives and their families live in that town. The town was predominantly, but not exclusively, white.
Judge Garrity and the town where he lived were criticized by the opponent's of "forced busing." This criticism led to a bombing incident in Wellesley (I need to refresh my memory of the incident).
Boston was not the only city that was required to integrate its schools. A suburb like Wellesley did not have racially segregated schools, so there was nothing to integrate.
Wellesley did have a program in the junior and senior high schools that allowed black students in Boston to attend and graduate from Wellesley Senior High School. It was called the METCO program. The students were bused from Boston to Wellesley and back 5 days a week. The METCO kids generally ate and socialized together at lunch, but the program seemed well accepted. Many of the METCO students graduated from Wellesley High School and went to college.
I am not claiming that everything was "perfect," not at all.
Calling Trump’s supporters names isn’t going to help. They will wear those names with pride while increasing their support for that giant orange middle finger directed at the elites.
It’s interesting to see the liberal commentariat finally waking up. It’s amazing how the prospect of an execution (in the form of an upcoming election) focuses the mind.
There’s an old saying that to get the attention of a mule you first have to hit it in the head with a 2 x 4. Politically speaking, it seems also to apply to donkeys; Trump’s supporters’ response to the indictments may finally be that 2 x 4.
Correction: David Brooks was born in Toronto, but grew up in New York City and near Philadelphia. He graduated from the University of Chicago.
Trump and his supporters want to replace our democratic system with an autocracy. In other words, they're traitorous. Those who make lame excuses for them aren't much better. The way to get that "giant orange finger" out of our face is to break it. Thank you, Jack Smith, for taking on that task.
Advocating that we understand a significant political phenomenon is not a “lame excuse”; it’s a prerequisite for effective political action. But it’s apparently easier for a closed mind to spew insults instead of booting up a few apparently unused neurons and thinking.
Describing Trump and his supporters as traitorous isn't an insult; it's a statement of fact. Understanding the MAGA movement isn't that difficult for those willing to employ a little gray matter rather than just booting up a few neurons: The cult of personality is the defining characteristic of fascism and the MAGA movement. Nor does understanding it in any way excuse it. These people are a serious threat to the form of government most Americans still hold dear.
I suggest that anyone who is actually interested in finding out new, interesting, and potentially constructive ideas about what’s going on politically in this country read the recent articles by David Brooks and Ruy Teixeira.
Summary: a heedless liberal elite has imposed economic and cultural policies that are way out of the mainstream of the American electorate. This has sparked enormous levels of indignation and alienation that could easily lead to the reelection of Donald Trump. Calling these people names just feeds into that; they make T-shirts bearing whatever names they are called and wear them proudly.
Insult-spewing tantrums feed into the very phenomenon they decry; they also get in the way of trying to have rational discussions.
Anyone imagining that it's possible to have rational discussions with MAGA-hatters must be suffering from delusions of adequacy. I'd love to listen in as someone rational tries to convince them Biden won the 2020 election. On second thought, I already know the ending.
The House and the Senate of the United States is suppose to be a representative body. The two-year term of the House is suppose to create a churn of the common citizen in touch with the issues of the day. The Senate, as originally considered, was suppose to be selected two by the each State and serve for six-year terms, as a deliberative body scotching the hot tempers of the day, i.e. a cooling saucer. That was the idea. In practice the selection process is shaped by money. Those with the most money win elections and if they are doing their benefactors bidding they appear to be elected again and again.
The Jimmy Steward movie "Mr Chips goes to Washington" turns out to be a fantasy of what could be and certainly not what is. Is it any wonder a master communicator/reality tv celebrity billionaire blows the competition away and sets the agenda?
Buckle up the US is in for a wild ride. Get ready for the worst, Emperor Donald J. Trump!
IA lot of Whites want change, foall the reasons David Brooks says. Of this grop, a substantial number believed a B.lack person would share the same desire for change. These people voted for President Obama for two terms. This group of Whites would not and did not trust Hillary Clinton. They did and do believe that Donald Trump is a change agent; they are more than disappointed with the Obama administration and that administration included Joe Biden. The idea that President Obama, as a Black, stood for the change they sought and still seek, but Hillary Clinton doesn't stand for that, helped put us where we are.
Mike fundamentally misunderstands the point.
There is enormous political energy in this country. The non-college working class has been screwed over (both economically and culturally) by this country’s elites for decades, and they are (to quote an old movie), “Mad as hell and not going to take it any more.”
Trump is currently the only politician who is resonating with and channeling that energy. No one else is talking to those people.
You cannot make that energy go away via contempt, e.g. calling them names. You have to understand and empathize with them, and gain their trust, before you have any chance of channeling that energy in a better direction.
I am not the kind of political talent who figures gout how to do that (to respond to Mike’s latest gratuitous insult), but I am smart enough about politics to see the need.
Hysterical tantrums won’t do it, and I am happy to see that prominent columnists are starting to talk about it.
And too many people believed him, despite the fact that it's not true.
And too many people believed him, despite the fact that it's not true.
Michael could be right. Pointing out what deplorable traitors Trump and his supporters are does no good because they’re proud of it. Maybe what’s called for is a rational discussion, in which case he’s talking to the wrong people – we aren’t the ones threatening to take up arms. He should go and reason with Trump’s chumps and let us know how that works for him. Maybe he can convince them the election wasn’t stolen and it isn’t nice to threaten the lives of election officials.
Unfortunately, what’s far more likely is that even he might come to realize how impervious they are to facts and moral constraints. As Lindsey Graham said back in 2016, “My party’s gone batshit crazy!”
These elites "screwing over the country" are corporations, which donate mostly to Republicans.
Apparently MT wants country where corporations have more power than they already do, and citizens have even less.
Apparently MT wants country where corporations have more power than they already do, and citizens have even less.
I have no idea how you got that out of anything I said. It’s certainly not what I want.
I never said I knew how to talk people out of delusions. But you know what doesn’t work? Calling them all kinds of names.
What I hope is that someone with the requisite political skills will come along, approach those people from a different angle, and redirect their righteous anger from having been screwed over into a more productive direction.
In the meantime, Mike will probably continue to throw rocks at them (and at me for disagreeing with him), which I suppose will make him feel better while doing nothing at all to improve the situation.
Yes Mc, only in America: Money is free speech and corporations are people too. If that's what Trump's chumps were so upset about I could relate, but they're just pissed because their Feurer's coup attempt failed.
It's almost as if corporations, elites, and lesser people don't give donations to Democratic candidates and office holders. Recent days show D's not quite understanding how campaign funds should be used (see Corey Bush).
The commentariat only sees what they want to see.
I find it enlightening to read stories about conservatives, liberals, and progressives, all to learn there are few angels.
Politicking and running for office require special skills, as does keeping those offices once elected.
I just wish more of the commentariat would read and watch more of the arguments so they aren't stuck in their lanes. There are good, better, and best in the US, but what has bubbled to the top for 2024 iare worse and worst.
Many know this already, but few are willing to even admit that.
For me, I hope at least two better candidates rise.
Finally, let justice be served to the two in the lead...
"I never said I knew how to talk people out of delusions."
Don't sell yourself short, Michael. You said all it takes is understanding and empathy, and it sounds like you're full of it.
On the other hand, I'd be worried about someone who could empathize with those who want to blow up our system (your words) in favor of fascism. Maybe you're so quick to defend the indefensible because you share their sentiments. Sad!
Mike, Michael, you’re both wasting your breath, as you have a SERIOUS failure to communicate, maybe separate realities. booooring
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