(This post is prompted by a meme that’s been widely popular among some “blue liberals” as the election draws nearer. It’s a graphic showing a color-coded list of the 12 US states with the highest poverty rates, and the fact that, other than New Mexico, they are all politically “red.” Oftentimes this graphic is accompanied by some commentary like, “I don’t understand why people are voting against their best interests.”)
To which I say: Time to look deeper. It might give a burst of smug righteousness — or maybe frustration? — to look down on the “other” side, and assume they are “voting against their own best interests” because they are “uneducated” and “don’t know better.” But if we want real change, we have to actually put our hearts into understanding where people are coming from.
I’ve made ample posts about this general topic over the past few months and even longer, on ALL of my platforms. And I’ve shared information from people who are much better informed than I am, and express things much better.
But some people who I consider to be roughly in the camp of “fellow liberals” (even though I’m technically NPA/libertarian/lefty anarchist) get defensive and don’t want to hear it. I’ll keep plugging away.
We have all been part of the problem in our own way, and it can be painful to confront that.
#LaborDay #InconvenientTruths
More thoughts as they came to me:
• What I’ve noticed is that a lot of the problem comes down to extreme income inequality. Things have become such that it’s almost like fellow Americans are living in completely different worlds. Even within the category of people who identify as a middle class. There are different income/asset clumps which are almost like different worlds. And it’s even more extreme on a total global level. The ramifications are staggering. Ecological, social, economic, political.
Suggested action steps if this resonates with you:
— Check out Degrowth – it’s urgent (public Facebook group, lots of informational posts)
— Join Degrowth – join the revolution (private group, and probably a main cell of the Degrowth movement)
— Read these 2 books by Jason Hickel: THE DIVIDE; and LESS IS MORE
• On my TikTok account, I have two pinned posts. One is “15 pillars of supremacy culture.” The other is “14 early warning signs of fascism.” I have them pinned for a reason.
They may seem different but they are deeply related. Interestingly, the one about fascism has gotten many more views & likes than the one about white supremacy culture.
• So how did the Democrats become no longer the party that working people felt represented by? Following are links to four articles; they were the first four search results that popped up when I typed in google, “how the Democrats alienated working class people”:
— How the Democrats lost the white working class. Published: April 30, 2023, 8:45 p.m. MDT. https://www.deseret.com/2023/3/30/23452288/working-class-democrats-politics-socioeconomics/
— Why and Where the Working Class Turned Right. A new book documents the lost (and pro-Democratic) world of Pennsylvania steelworkers and how it became Republican.
BY HAROLD MEYERSON JANUARY 8, 2024. https://prospect.org/politics/2024-01-08-why-working-class-turned-right/
— Why so many blue-collar workers drifted away from Democratic Party. Christy DeSmith, Harvard Staff Writer; October 26, 2023. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/10/why-so-many-blue-collar-workers-drifted-from-democrats/
— How Democrats Alienated Their Working-Class Voter Base. Yaakov Kornreich; August 23, 2023. https://yated.com/how-democrats-alienated-their-working-class-voter-base/
There are many more results as well. Hope this helps!
— And another article link just in from a friend, with this comment: “There may be a more nefarious reason why white working class didn’t vote Democrat.” https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/12/hillary-clinton-working-class/509477/
• Class definitions according to income and net worth. Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dincome-fall-americas-lower-middle-122100515.html (I found similar figures on other websites too.)
BY INCOME:
“According to the Census Bureau’s Income in the United States: 2022 report, … household income levels for each class level are as follows:
Lower class: less than or equal to $30,000
Lower-middle class: $30,001 – $58,020
Middle class: $58,021 – $94,000
Upper-middle class: $94,001 – $153,000
Upper class: greater than $153,000″ …
BY NET WORTH:
“Some finance experts prefer to view classes in terms of net worth because they believe it accounts for people’s financial habits. If you have a high income but spend much of what you make, you may not have much to show for it. Based on U.S. census data from 2021, here’s the median net worth of each class:
Lower class: $12,000
Lower-middle class: $61,260
Middle class: $145,200
Upper-middle class: $269,100
Upper class: $805,400″
• Speaking of Labor Day … Watch “Fight Like Hell” – The Testimony of Mother Jones at home FOR FREE this Labor Day Weekend. From midnight on Fri Aug 30 through midnight on Mon Sept 2. (The free link may not be working anymore. But even if you missed the free viewing window, this film is well worth watching.)
Go to Bullfrog Films: vimeopro.com/bullfrogfilms/… Then copy and paste this password: FLFF1GHT
I watched it last night. Very powerful and moving. A lot of people might be tempted to only take away from this film “oh what a relief — things are so much better today” … BUT there is a deeper truth.
The fact of the matter is that many people today in the USA, and of course around the world, are being forced to work under absolutely inhumane conditions.
We can be grateful for the progress, while also recognizing that there is much more that needs to be done.
PS. I actually see my low-footprint lifestyle as a kind of labor strike. It’s a strike by those of us who can afford to withhold our labor; refuse unreasonable conditions.
As I am fond of repeating, one of the first pieces of advice I heard when I started learning Permaculture was, “Reduce your need to earn.”
Or as Henry David Thoreau put it, “A man is rich in proportion to the things which he can afford to let alone.”
And maybe our withholding and refusal of our labor under unreasonable terms will help give leverage to the majority who can’t strike, or feel unable to risk doing so.