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So the big argument seems to be that the nebulously defined here "working class", or rather people who explicitly consider themselves such, don't want things that the GOP has been demonizing for decades?
This is just an argument for dems to be more right to appeal to Republican voters. One of the citations is a link to an essay written by the senior editor of the American conservative.
What a worthless article.
That’s how I interpreted this as well.
Either that, or it reads that working class Americans aren’t very good people.
I used to think that but have come to the conclusion in recent years that people act the way they do because their lives are genuinely terrible and there is no possibility of them becoming better because there is nowhere for them to go. For those with great motivation, great intelligence, or great connections, there are plenty of things to do. For the average person brought up in and living in an average way, though, there is nothing but generational pain.
Sadly, most people don't have enough imagination to consider how things could be better for them or everyone.
This is also my takeaway. Moving to fascistic leaders is just an expression of overwhelming pain.
It’s similar to Weimar Germany. Shame and economic dislocation are enormously powerful motivators.
If you’ll give me some rope, I think the Democratic Party has lost their constituency because they have made two errors:
Dang.
I also think that the Democratic party is lead by people who are among the elite and have no real connection to the average person. The GOP doesn't either but they tell a story that will compel those with enlarged amygdalas.
I recently read a comment that claimed the Democratic Party was a hobby for old rich white people. It rang true
For the average person brought up in and living in an average way, though, there is nothing but generational pain.
And despite this, they seem hell-bent on perpetuating said generational pain.
That’s the unironically saddest thing in life.
Well what do they have to lose? And maybe with accelerationism something will change for them. Theres more hope there than in limping the status quo along. I keep hearing people on lemmy say you are either voting Dem or voting republican and theres nothing in between. But not voting in an attempt to hold the dems hostage for once is a possible choice too, and its as calculated and strategic as lesser evili-sm is.
It's difficult to get a man to learn a lesson when his paycheck depends on him not learning it.
What an absurd, right-wing article. The author clearly doesn't understand it either.
But even where working-class voters nominally agree with a Democratic policy goal, they don’t trust the institution being asked to deliver it – a distrust decades in the making.
This undermines the entire thesis that the Democrats "moved too far left" and that's what alienated the working class. How can it possibly be the case that that's the problem, if the Democrats are distrusted even when they align on policy?
The idea that Democrats are too focused on class, or have been historically, is just ridiculous, and relies on cherry-picking to an absurd degree. A handful of Democrats have recently begun talking about class, which is highly controversial within the party and goes against the party establishment. The article even goes so far as to cherry-pick Graham Platner, who hasn't even been elected! How is it possible that this recent trend in rhetoric could be responsible for "a distrust decades in the making?"
Meanwhile, the author's approach of moving right to appeal to this perceived silent majority has been the accepted, conventional wisdom during the very decades that the distrust was made! If this approach was actually effective, then where are the results to show for it?
Yeah, blame Democrats while 14 billionaires fund massive anti-intellect campaigns.
Who is it you think Democrats are taking money from to ignore our material needs?
You mean those same billionaires who fund the democrats?
Yes
Who is like -- "Trump's gonna turn the planet into a pile of ash, but I can't see voting the other way."
Yea it sucks but if you can't see a substantial difference, wow.
I think they do understand. They just are unwilling to acknowledge it because then they would be expected to change, which would upset the corpos and billionaires.
This is willful ignorance
"For every working class democrat we lose, we'll get 2 or 3 moderate republicans in the suburbs" -Chuck Schumer, 2016
What a strange way to say everyone, politicians have lost touch with people due to the constant infighting and across the aisle bullshit along with the temptation of easy money and no one can take control of the monsters they created.
No leader.
Sure there is. He just happens to be pleasing the Epstein class enough that the centrists don't have to do anything to sabatage the party.
What we need is a leader with a strong progressive message.
What was Trump's strong progressive message in 2016?
I would add that we keep producing leaders with our values, but then they get shot down by the super rich people who are actually in charge. Which then results in no leader. :/
We just had governor elections in California and not one candidate was picked by the democrats to lead the charge. They don't care
Don't get? More like don't care
damn, didn't ANYBODY in the comments section bother to read the article?
Nope! Most all everyone just reacts to headlines and doesn’t even click through.
I guess I’m just a coastal elite, but I didn’t find the argument that Dems have tacked left and the electorate has stayed the same particularly compelling. The part about the working class identity was annoying — there’s so many people who want to think of themselves as some kind of merchant or artisan class that I don’t think really exists, and they would be much better off if they realized that if you live off the income you get from your work, you’re working class. Overall, I didn’t find the analysis persuasive.
Everybody who says the democrats - who are right wing by international standards - are too left are just lying.
I also disagreed, but I can't coherently argue why, which is obviously a sign to reflect on my opinions.
One thing that stood out to me was the broad, encompassing usage of "left". The author lumps together the theatrical leftism like this photo with political leftism like codified worker protections.
I did think he made an excellent point that "down with oligarchs!" isn't going to resonate with a lot of working class people.
edit: I also think the author failed to acknowledge that conservative think tanks and media savvy have certainly influenced opinions and even the LANGUAGE used to discuss topics among all classes, so to imply that the working class hasn't changed at all isn't fair.
I agree. The author presents a thesis that Democrats have tracked left, and then presents two issues where they have (abortion, job guarantees), one issue where they have returned to where they were in 1990 and the working class has tracked right (healthcare), and then just an identity question (liberal) which is not actually an issue. It's far from a comprehensive data analysis.
The author misses out on a huge area where Democrats (and the left in general) have consistently gotten worse at: communication and persuasion. Part of this is the failure of the Democrats to identify, push, and promote charismatic candidates (find a single human being who feels more excited about left ideas after hearing Pelosi, Jeffries, or Schumer talk). The other big part is the concentration of media power in fewer organizations and more ideologically right owners. Even more, the party of the young whiffed on social media entirely which could have lessened the impact of the latter part.
They do know, they don't care.
Because stupid. My dog can choose correctly between 1 cookie and 2. These people either chose worse or just noped out.
Oh there you go bringing class into it again . . .