y va marquer wrote:
Here's where I have a big issue with that article-
the answer to the problems of voters supporting a candidate who runs on a racist and sexist ticket?economic policies that give the WWC steady jobs and restores their sense of manly dignity.
Hey presto no more racism (because the argument here is that the WWC are not racist) and sure sexism and homophobia are no biggies.
Basic human dignity applies to the manly variety only it would seem.
Working in manufacturing I've worked with WWC for years now, WWC who have those settled decent paid jobs for 20 to 30 years on average - mortgages fully paid, holiday homes abroad
ie better off in a material sense than any of the under 40 college educated who manage them.
And yet of the people that I know they are the most openly and coldly racist.
Excellent post, Y va. I was trying to formulate something similar earlier.
There is a tendency from white people to see progressive ideals about equality and human rights as something they have 'granted' people such as blacks, women and homosexuals, and not something these groups have sacrificed their lives to fight for, against said white people, throughout the centuries. The idea that an economic downturn for the working class would be the main drive behind racism and bigotry is revisionistic to say the least. It's a history-less and benighted view, and you see it being peddled mainly by white men right now. It's not a coincidence.
y va marquer wrote:
I'm coming to the conclusion that there are a multitude of reasons for the rise of Trump - from the influence of his reality TV persona, to social media and the acceptance of lies, to the disaffection of WWC, to the hatred evangelical Christians had for Hilary's stance on abortion, to Hilary's age and gender, to inherent racism and misogyny and so on
.
Pinning so much on America's class cluelessness, suggesting that if the WWC could be mollified with good jobs that the racism and hatred exposed in this campaign would not be an issue in the future avoids the thorny subject that the WWC are a group who have zero interest in the dignity of those who are "other" and that it was a voting public broader and bigger than WWC who voted for Trump.
Agreed.
I wrote that the reporting on Comey's letter to congress was a typical example of the gender politics surrounding this election, and some were bewildered over the idea that gender had anything to do with it. This during a time when Trump was scheduled to appear in court in November, accused of raping a 13 year old girl (the case has since been abandoned because she got so many rape and death threats from his supporters that she feared for her life). Where was this parallel story on the 7 o'clock news?
But sure, let's pretend that this was all just because Hillary wanted a hotdog without a bun for lunch.
People have similarly theorized about her being secretly ill with alzheimers, reumatism, and-so-forth. All this despite the fact that she released her medical records while Trump released an email he had obviously written himself, and couldn't beat the common cold in the month that transpired between the first and the last presidential debate.
Speaking of 'not getting the message out to people' or capturing enough heart or whatever, apparently Clinton is now de facto the presidential candidate who has gotten the second most votes ever in American history, the only one ranking higher being Barack Obama.
